Economic sustainability and social outcomes. Nordic welfare states confronting financial crisis

www.reassess.no

We are arranging a three-day workshop in Oslo 14.-16.of January 2009. As in the previous joint workshop, we wish to combine general discussions about the economic sustainability of the Nordic welfare states with more specific studies of changes in pension systems and their economic and social impact. The ongoing dramatic changes in the global macro-economic climate is likely to have far reaching repercussions both for the general political economy of the Nordic welfare states and for the provision of retirement income.
 
We invite papers and presentations (see below). Please indicate before 1 January - preferably before Christmas - what you would like to present: Paper/presentation title + a few lines about content. Please send this to both of the strand leaders: Axel West Pedersen: awp@nova.no and Jørgen Goul Andersen: goul@epa.aau.dk.
 
 
Program
We plan to divide the three days of the workshop in the following way: (detailed program in the first week of 2009)
 
January 14. 12.00 - 18.00
General issues of globalization (and other economic challenges) and the Nordic welfare states. Is the Nordic Welfare Model in trouble? How is it discussed politically? How can it be measured by means of national and cross-national data?
 
January 15. 09.00 - 17.30      
Update on the financial crisis and a discussion of the challenges it poses to various aspects of the Nordic welfare states, including funded pensions
 
January 16. 09.00 - 15.30      
Pension reform and retirement provision in the Nordic countries
 
You are strongly encouraged to present papers on one of these three partly overlapping topics - both fully drafted papers and paper embryos are welcome. Particularly on issues related to the current financial crisis we suspect that few will have fully developed papers to present, but we intend to ask people to give short country reports in addition to inviting people to speculate on the challenges that are raised by the dramatic changes that are now unfolding in the global economy - and how they can be researched. 
 
 
More specifically, papers/presentations are invited that cover:
 
 
Globalization and the current economic crisis:
(1) The current economic crisis and its impact on the situation of each individual country;
(2) Conceptual reflections on “globalization" / “globalization regimes";
(3) The national political discourses on globalization;
(4) Research strategies and findings regarding tests of the impact on the economic performance of Scandinavian welfare institutions;
(5) Research strategies and findings regarding institutional change and its relationship to the challenges of globalization
(6) Country reports on the impact of the current crisis, including impact on pensions
 
Pension/ Retirement:
(1) The politics of pension reform
(2) Changes in the nature of minimum-protection
(3) Changes in the public/private mix of Nordic pensions systems
(4) Transformation of occupational pension systems (from defined benefit to defined contribution)
(5) Research strategies and findings concerning the impact of pension reform on the distribution of risks and financial resources between generations
(6) Research strategies and finding concerning the impact of pensions reform on the distribution of risks and financial resources within each generation

Axel West Pedersen and Jørgen Goul Andersen

Nordic Centre of Excellence: Reassessing the Nordic Welfare Model, www.reassess.no