Niels Westergaard-Nielsen

Niels Westergaard-Nielsen, Professor of Economics, Aarhus School of Business, Denmark, will analyze Denmark’s success in helping people escape low-wage work relatively quickly compared to other advanced economies. He will examine the Danish system – dubbed “flexicurity” for its combination of U.S.-style labor market flexibility with the security of the Nordic welfare system – to determine whether Denmark’s success in alleviating low-wage work is due to the efficiency of its labor market institutions or is more a result of its generous social welfare system, which provides about 25 percent of its population with a high de facto minimum wage. Westergård-Nielsen will also study the effects of globalization on firms and employment in Denmark.