Axel West Pedersen
Biographic Data
| ID | 4174680 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Axel West Pedersen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Axel West |
| FAMILY NAME | Pedersen |
| SIGNATURE | PEDERSEN A W |
| AFFILIATIONS | Institute for Social Research |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0645-767X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 162 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Popular support for a universal basic income – still sensitive to playing the immigration card
This article aims to investigate the persuasive power of immigration on people's attitudes towards a universal basic income (UBI). We use a survey experiment in which respondents, after being asked about their immediate reaction to the idea of introducing an unconditional basic income, are confronted with a counterargument referring to immigration. The experiment was undertaken in November 2021 as part of the Norwegian Citizen Panel, a representa…
Rising Inequality in the Egalitarian Nordics
The chapter demonstrates that while the Nordic countries remain relatively affluent and egalitarian, inequality of disposable household income has been on the rise over the past 30 years. The increase in income inequality and relative income poverty has been strongest in Sweden and more modest in three other countries. In Sweden and, to a lesser extent, in Finland and Denmark, a reduced role for social transfers among the working age population h…
Deling av pensjonsrettigheter mellom ektefeller.Hva sier opinionen
I Norge, som i mange andre land, får kvinner gjennomgående vesentlig lavere pensjon enn menn. Det norske pensjonssystemet har flere elementer som bidrar til å redusere dette kjønnsgapet, som omsorgsopptjening blant småbarnsforeldre og arv av pensjonsrettigheter etter avdød ektefelle, men disse ordningene innebærer økonomisk subsidiering av par med en tradisjonell, kjønnet fordeling av yrkesarbeidet. Et alternativt virkemiddel, som har vært diskut…
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning: «Problemorientertempirisme» gjennom 60 år
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning vil prøve å gi et norsk publikum vitenskapelig orientering om samfunnsforhold og mellommenneskelige spørsmål. [...] Vår oppgave er å legge fram resultater av forskning, ikke å fremme sosiale «saker» eller å være forum for ideologisk og politisk samfunnsdebatt. [...] Vi håper å kunne bidra til å utvikle et nytt «språk» – i vid forstand – et språk som kan gjøre det mulig å fremstille generelle, ofte fjerne eller uti…
Deling av pensjonsrettigheter mellom ektefeller. Hva sier opinionen
I Norge, som i mange andre land, får kvinner gjennomgående vesentlig lavere pensjon enn menn. Det norske pensjonssystemet har flere elementer som bidrar til å redusere dette kjønnsgapet, som omsorgsopptjening blant småbarnsforeldre og arv av pensjonsrettigheter etter avdød ektefelle, men disse ordningene innebærer økonomisk subsidiering av par med en tradisjonell, kjønnet fordeling av yrkesarbeidet. Et alternativt virkemiddel, som har vært diskut…
A woman’s cause? Popular attitudes towards pension credits for childcare in Norway
In many countries – including Norway – concerns about the persistent gender gap in pensions have led to the introduction of child credits that compensate mothers for losing accrued pension rights while they care for small children. In political debates child credits are typically framed as being unequivocally women-friendly. But, although they help to reduce the gender gap in pension income, they tend to discourage mothers’ paid work and favour c…
Innvandring og sosial mobilitet – forskere møterfagfeller
Ubehaget i migrasjonsforskningen
Norsk migrasjonsforskning kan se tilbake på en snart 50 år lang historie. Mens det hele startet med sosiologen Aud Korbøls banebrytende studie av de første pakistanske arbeidsinnvandrerne som hadde kommet til Oslo i 1970, er feltet i dag preget av et mangfold av fagdisipliner, teoretiske perspektiver og empiriske innfallsvinkler. Historien om norsk migrasjonsforskning er imidlertid også en historie om faglig konflikt, steile fronter og kamper om …
Trade unions and the politics of occupational pensions in Denmark and Norway
Around 1990, trade unions in both Norway and Denmark moved away from their previous hostile stance, and started actively to promote occupational pensions. Over time, full coverage of occupational pensions was achieved in both countries, yet with different scopes, degrees of risk-sharing and modes of governance. Why did both countries go through similar institutional changes, and why were the outcomes still so different? The roads to full coverage…
Closing the gender gap in pensions: A microsimulation analysis of the Norwegian NDC pension system
In this article, we use an advanced microsimulation model to study the distributional effects of the reformed Norwegian pension system with a particular focus on gender equality. The reformed Norwegian system is based on the notional defined contribution (NDC)-formula with fixed contribution/accrual rates over the active life-phase and with accumulated pension wealth being transformed into an annuity upon retirement. A number of redistributive co…
Welfare Nationalism and Popular Support for Raising the Child Allowance: Evidence from a Norwegian Survey Experiment
Refugee and labour immigration have placed the issue of immigrants’ access to welfare benefits high on the political agenda. This article explores how voter preferences for increases in the child benefit change when respondents are reminded about immigrants’ access to benefits. The survey experiment shows that information about newly arrived immigrants’ access to child benefit has only a small impact on support for increasing the child allowance.…
When the Going Gets Tough: The Differential Impact of National Unemployment on the Perceived Threats of Immigration
Economic competition theory predicts that anti-immigration sentiments will increase in periods with high unem-ployment, in particular among low-skilled workers. Using five rounds of cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey and utilising the rise in unemployment in many European countries due to the financial crisis, this article provides a more effective empirical test of interest-based theories than previous studies. It employs hiera…
Økonomisk ulikhet og kapitalismens fremtid
Comfort in Numbers? Social Integration and Political Participation among Disability Benefit Recipients in Norway
There are growing concerns both in academic and political debates that the provision of cash transfers to people in economically active age groups does not support and might even undermine active social citizenship. In this article we study the social integration and political participation of disability benefit recipients in Norway. We anticipate that disability benefit recipients are less likely than others to participate in social and politica…
Kausalitet – i teori og praksis
Welfare Dualism in Two Scandinavian Welfare States: Public Opinion and Party Politics
Recent research on the legitimacy of the welfare state has pointed to a potential negative impact of immigration. While much of this research has been concerned with a possible weakening of the general support for economic redistribution, this article analyses popular support for the introduction of a two-tier (dualist) welfare system, and focuses on the interplay between public opinion and party competition. It uses survey data from Denmark and …
The Impact of Relative Poverty on Norwegian Adolescents’ Subjective Health: A Causal Analysis with Propensity Score Matching
Studies have revealed that relative poverty is associated with ill health, but the interpretations of this correlation vary. This article asks whether relative poverty among Norwegian adolescents is causally related to poor subjective health, i.e., self-reported somatic and mental symptoms. Data consist of interview responses from a sample of adolescents (N = 510) and their parents, combined with register data on the family's economic situation. …
Child Poverty — A Persisting Challenge
Gender, employment and social security in Norway
The Limits of Social Solidarity: Basic Income, Immigration and the Legitimacy of the Universal Welfare State
Does mass immigration and increasing ethnic diversity challenge the legitimacy of the universal welfare state? Assuming that basic income can be seen as a radical extension of the universal welfare state, we pursue this question by investigating whether popular reactions towards a basic income proposal are susceptible to persuasion that invokes attitudes towards immigration. The study is based on survey data covering a representative sample of th…
National pension systems and mass opinion: A case study of confidence, satisfaction and political attitudes in Norway
It is commonly assumed that popular support for national pension systems depends on widespread satisfaction with projected benefit levels among the working age population, and in particular that public support for the system will be jeopardised if the taxpayers do not feel confident about eventually receiving the promised benefits. On the basis of Norwegian survey data, two sets of questions are addressed in the article: (1) Is there a widespread…
The Privatization of Retirement Income? Variation and Trends in the Income Packages of Old Age Pensioners
The aim of this article is to investigate the changing balance between public and private components in the income packages of old age pensioners in a selection of nine OECD countries. Four waves of data from the Luxembourg Income Study databank are used to analyse variation across countries and across time in the public/private mix of retirement income. The article seeks to address two main questions: (a) Is there a general trend towards a stron…
Inequality as Relative Deprivation: A Sociological Approach to Inequality Measurement
Although concerns for inequality are at the heart of the sociological tradition, few sociologists have taken a serious interest in the normative and methodological issues involved in the choice between different measures of inequality. It is argued in this article that the widely used but also widely criticized Gini index can be seen to incorporate a particularly sociological conception of inequality. The Gini index has features that are alien to…
The Limits of Social Solidarity: Basic Income, Immigration and the Legitimacy of the Universal Welfare State
Does mass immigration and increasing ethnic diversity challenge the legitimacy of the universal welfare state? Assuming that basic income can be seen as a radical extension of the universal welfare state, we pursue this question by investigating whether popular reactions towards a basic income proposal are susceptible to persuasion that invokes attitudes towards immigration. The study is based on survey data covering a representative sample of th…
Welfare Dualism in Two Scandinavian Welfare States: Public Opinion and Party Politics
Recent research on the legitimacy of the welfare state has pointed to a potential negative impact of immigration. While much of this research has been concerned with a possible weakening of the general support for economic redistribution, this article analyses popular support for the introduction of a two-tier (dualist) welfare system, and focuses on the interplay between public opinion and party competition. It uses survey data from Denmark and …
Inequality as Relative Deprivation: A Sociological Approach to Inequality Measurement
Although concerns for inequality are at the heart of the sociological tradition, few sociologists have taken a serious interest in the normative and methodological issues involved in the choice between different measures of inequality. It is argued in this article that the widely used but also widely criticized Gini index can be seen to incorporate a particularly sociological conception of inequality. The Gini index has features that are alien to…
When the Going Gets Tough: The Differential Impact of National Unemployment on the Perceived Threats of Immigration
Economic competition theory predicts that anti-immigration sentiments will increase in periods with high unem-ployment, in particular among low-skilled workers. Using five rounds of cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey and utilising the rise in unemployment in many European countries due to the financial crisis, this article provides a more effective empirical test of interest-based theories than previous studies. It employs hiera…
The Privatization of Retirement Income? Variation and Trends in the Income Packages of Old Age Pensioners
The aim of this article is to investigate the changing balance between public and private components in the income packages of old age pensioners in a selection of nine OECD countries. Four waves of data from the Luxembourg Income Study databank are used to analyse variation across countries and across time in the public/private mix of retirement income. The article seeks to address two main questions: (a) Is there a general trend towards a stron…
Welfare Nationalism and Popular Support for Raising the Child Allowance: Evidence from a Norwegian Survey Experiment
Refugee and labour immigration have placed the issue of immigrants’ access to welfare benefits high on the political agenda. This article explores how voter preferences for increases in the child benefit change when respondents are reminded about immigrants’ access to benefits. The survey experiment shows that information about newly arrived immigrants’ access to child benefit has only a small impact on support for increasing the child allowance.…
Closing the gender gap in pensions: A microsimulation analysis of the Norwegian NDC pension system
In this article, we use an advanced microsimulation model to study the distributional effects of the reformed Norwegian pension system with a particular focus on gender equality. The reformed Norwegian system is based on the notional defined contribution (NDC)-formula with fixed contribution/accrual rates over the active life-phase and with accumulated pension wealth being transformed into an annuity upon retirement. A number of redistributive co…
National pension systems and mass opinion: A case study of confidence, satisfaction and political attitudes in Norway
It is commonly assumed that popular support for national pension systems depends on widespread satisfaction with projected benefit levels among the working age population, and in particular that public support for the system will be jeopardised if the taxpayers do not feel confident about eventually receiving the promised benefits. On the basis of Norwegian survey data, two sets of questions are addressed in the article: (1) Is there a widespread…
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning: «Problemorientertempirisme» gjennom 60 år
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning vil prøve å gi et norsk publikum vitenskapelig orientering om samfunnsforhold og mellommenneskelige spørsmål. [...] Vår oppgave er å legge fram resultater av forskning, ikke å fremme sosiale «saker» eller å være forum for ideologisk og politisk samfunnsdebatt. [...] Vi håper å kunne bidra til å utvikle et nytt «språk» – i vid forstand – et språk som kan gjøre det mulig å fremstille generelle, ofte fjerne eller uti…
Innvandring og sosial mobilitet – forskere møterfagfeller
Ubehaget i migrasjonsforskningen
Norsk migrasjonsforskning kan se tilbake på en snart 50 år lang historie. Mens det hele startet med sosiologen Aud Korbøls banebrytende studie av de første pakistanske arbeidsinnvandrerne som hadde kommet til Oslo i 1970, er feltet i dag preget av et mangfold av fagdisipliner, teoretiske perspektiver og empiriske innfallsvinkler. Historien om norsk migrasjonsforskning er imidlertid også en historie om faglig konflikt, steile fronter og kamper om …
Kausalitet – i teori og praksis
Gender, employment and social security in Norway
National pension systems and mass opinion: A case study of confidence, satisfaction and political attitudes in Norway
It is commonly assumed that popular support for national pension systems depends on widespread satisfaction with projected benefit levels among the working age population, and in particular that public support for the system will be jeopardised if the taxpayers do not feel confident about eventually receiving the promised benefits. On the basis of Norwegian survey data, two sets of questions are addressed in the article: (1) Is there a widespread…
The Privatization of Retirement Income? Variation and Trends in the Income Packages of Old Age Pensioners
The aim of this article is to investigate the changing balance between public and private components in the income packages of old age pensioners in a selection of nine OECD countries. Four waves of data from the Luxembourg Income Study databank are used to analyse variation across countries and across time in the public/private mix of retirement income. The article seeks to address two main questions: (a) Is there a general trend towards a stron…
Inequality as Relative Deprivation: A Sociological Approach to Inequality Measurement
Although concerns for inequality are at the heart of the sociological tradition, few sociologists have taken a serious interest in the normative and methodological issues involved in the choice between different measures of inequality. It is argued in this article that the widely used but also widely criticized Gini index can be seen to incorporate a particularly sociological conception of inequality. The Gini index has features that are alien to…
Child Poverty — A Persisting Challenge
Gender, employment and social security in Norway
The Limits of Social Solidarity: Basic Income, Immigration and the Legitimacy of the Universal Welfare State
Does mass immigration and increasing ethnic diversity challenge the legitimacy of the universal welfare state? Assuming that basic income can be seen as a radical extension of the universal welfare state, we pursue this question by investigating whether popular reactions towards a basic income proposal are susceptible to persuasion that invokes attitudes towards immigration. The study is based on survey data covering a representative sample of th…
The Impact of Relative Poverty on Norwegian Adolescents’ Subjective Health: A Causal Analysis with Propensity Score Matching
Studies have revealed that relative poverty is associated with ill health, but the interpretations of this correlation vary. This article asks whether relative poverty among Norwegian adolescents is causally related to poor subjective health, i.e., self-reported somatic and mental symptoms. Data consist of interview responses from a sample of adolescents (N = 510) and their parents, combined with register data on the family's economic situation. …
Kausalitet – i teori og praksis
Welfare Dualism in Two Scandinavian Welfare States: Public Opinion and Party Politics
Recent research on the legitimacy of the welfare state has pointed to a potential negative impact of immigration. While much of this research has been concerned with a possible weakening of the general support for economic redistribution, this article analyses popular support for the introduction of a two-tier (dualist) welfare system, and focuses on the interplay between public opinion and party competition. It uses survey data from Denmark and …
Comfort in Numbers? Social Integration and Political Participation among Disability Benefit Recipients in Norway
There are growing concerns both in academic and political debates that the provision of cash transfers to people in economically active age groups does not support and might even undermine active social citizenship. In this article we study the social integration and political participation of disability benefit recipients in Norway. We anticipate that disability benefit recipients are less likely than others to participate in social and politica…
Økonomisk ulikhet og kapitalismens fremtid
Welfare Nationalism and Popular Support for Raising the Child Allowance: Evidence from a Norwegian Survey Experiment
Refugee and labour immigration have placed the issue of immigrants’ access to welfare benefits high on the political agenda. This article explores how voter preferences for increases in the child benefit change when respondents are reminded about immigrants’ access to benefits. The survey experiment shows that information about newly arrived immigrants’ access to child benefit has only a small impact on support for increasing the child allowance.…
When the Going Gets Tough: The Differential Impact of National Unemployment on the Perceived Threats of Immigration
Economic competition theory predicts that anti-immigration sentiments will increase in periods with high unem-ployment, in particular among low-skilled workers. Using five rounds of cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey and utilising the rise in unemployment in many European countries due to the financial crisis, this article provides a more effective empirical test of interest-based theories than previous studies. It employs hiera…
Trade unions and the politics of occupational pensions in Denmark and Norway
Around 1990, trade unions in both Norway and Denmark moved away from their previous hostile stance, and started actively to promote occupational pensions. Over time, full coverage of occupational pensions was achieved in both countries, yet with different scopes, degrees of risk-sharing and modes of governance. Why did both countries go through similar institutional changes, and why were the outcomes still so different? The roads to full coverage…
Closing the gender gap in pensions: A microsimulation analysis of the Norwegian NDC pension system
In this article, we use an advanced microsimulation model to study the distributional effects of the reformed Norwegian pension system with a particular focus on gender equality. The reformed Norwegian system is based on the notional defined contribution (NDC)-formula with fixed contribution/accrual rates over the active life-phase and with accumulated pension wealth being transformed into an annuity upon retirement. A number of redistributive co…
A woman’s cause? Popular attitudes towards pension credits for childcare in Norway
In many countries – including Norway – concerns about the persistent gender gap in pensions have led to the introduction of child credits that compensate mothers for losing accrued pension rights while they care for small children. In political debates child credits are typically framed as being unequivocally women-friendly. But, although they help to reduce the gender gap in pension income, they tend to discourage mothers’ paid work and favour c…
Innvandring og sosial mobilitet – forskere møterfagfeller
Ubehaget i migrasjonsforskningen
Norsk migrasjonsforskning kan se tilbake på en snart 50 år lang historie. Mens det hele startet med sosiologen Aud Korbøls banebrytende studie av de første pakistanske arbeidsinnvandrerne som hadde kommet til Oslo i 1970, er feltet i dag preget av et mangfold av fagdisipliner, teoretiske perspektiver og empiriske innfallsvinkler. Historien om norsk migrasjonsforskning er imidlertid også en historie om faglig konflikt, steile fronter og kamper om …
Deling av pensjonsrettigheter mellom ektefeller.Hva sier opinionen
I Norge, som i mange andre land, får kvinner gjennomgående vesentlig lavere pensjon enn menn. Det norske pensjonssystemet har flere elementer som bidrar til å redusere dette kjønnsgapet, som omsorgsopptjening blant småbarnsforeldre og arv av pensjonsrettigheter etter avdød ektefelle, men disse ordningene innebærer økonomisk subsidiering av par med en tradisjonell, kjønnet fordeling av yrkesarbeidet. Et alternativt virkemiddel, som har vært diskut…
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning: «Problemorientertempirisme» gjennom 60 år
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning vil prøve å gi et norsk publikum vitenskapelig orientering om samfunnsforhold og mellommenneskelige spørsmål. [...] Vår oppgave er å legge fram resultater av forskning, ikke å fremme sosiale «saker» eller å være forum for ideologisk og politisk samfunnsdebatt. [...] Vi håper å kunne bidra til å utvikle et nytt «språk» – i vid forstand – et språk som kan gjøre det mulig å fremstille generelle, ofte fjerne eller uti…
Deling av pensjonsrettigheter mellom ektefeller. Hva sier opinionen
I Norge, som i mange andre land, får kvinner gjennomgående vesentlig lavere pensjon enn menn. Det norske pensjonssystemet har flere elementer som bidrar til å redusere dette kjønnsgapet, som omsorgsopptjening blant småbarnsforeldre og arv av pensjonsrettigheter etter avdød ektefelle, men disse ordningene innebærer økonomisk subsidiering av par med en tradisjonell, kjønnet fordeling av yrkesarbeidet. Et alternativt virkemiddel, som har vært diskut…
Rising Inequality in the Egalitarian Nordics
The chapter demonstrates that while the Nordic countries remain relatively affluent and egalitarian, inequality of disposable household income has been on the rise over the past 30 years. The increase in income inequality and relative income poverty has been strongest in Sweden and more modest in three other countries. In Sweden and, to a lesser extent, in Finland and Denmark, a reduced role for social transfers among the working age population h…
Popular support for a universal basic income – still sensitive to playing the immigration card
This article aims to investigate the persuasive power of immigration on people's attitudes towards a universal basic income (UBI). We use a survey experiment in which respondents, after being asked about their immediate reaction to the idea of introducing an unconditional basic income, are confronted with a counterargument referring to immigration. The experiment was undertaken in November 2021 as part of the Norwegian Citizen Panel, a representa…
Political science (18 works) · Economics (15 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (13 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Demographic economics (9 works) · Law (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (6 works)