The Nordic expericence revisited: labour market booms and slumps since the 1990s in Finland and Sweden

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an account of the unemployment performance of two Nordic countries during their recent labour market booms and slumps.Design/methodology/approachBased on the empirical models of Karanassou et al., we conduct dynamic simulation exercises and explore the determinants of unemployment.FindingsThe analysis yields two main findings. First, the capital stock was the most important determinant of the unemployment trajectory in both countries. This result appears in all periods considered: in the slump of the early 1990s and the boom of the late 1990s, as well as in the stabilisation period of the early 2000s. Second, the role of the foreign sector on the unemployme…

Labour market dynamics in the Nordic countries according to the chain reaction theory