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Flexicurity: The Danish Model

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The Palgrave Handbook of Management History

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Abstract

The Danish labor market system is often referred to as the Danish Model. It is an example of flexicurity, a term that combines the words security and flexibility.

This system boasts of more than 100 years of history, and it is one of the preconditions for the rich Danish welfare state, which has a generally high income based on rather small but adaptable firms. The basis for this system is the collective agreements established through negotiation with a “balance of compromise” accepted by both employers and employees. The state normally does not interfere in the negotiations.

The well-functioning Danish Model has many similarities with the systems in the other Nordic countries. The word flexicurity was first used in the Netherlands in the mid-1990s to refer to political initiatives. Flexicurity inspired by the Danish Model became official EU policy incorporated into the European Employment Strategy in 2007, and it has since become a political initiative promoted in different plans and closely monitored.

Policy is probably not transferable from one country to another. The Danish society is a sizeable welfare state with high taxes and social benefits, but the Danish Model is itself under pressure from both internal and external forces during a time of rapid globalization and international competition. Regardless, the Danish labor market and government policy still effectively balance both employers’ and employees’ interests. The Danish Model is still alive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum Vestfyn, Assens, Denmark

    Jørgen Burchardt

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  1. Jørgen Burchardt
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Correspondence to Jørgen Burchardt .

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Burchardt, J. (2019). Flexicurity: The Danish Model. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Management History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_96-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_96-1

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