ABSTRACT
The Scandinavian countries have not only developed from a market economy to a mixed economy, but have experienced important trends that might be interpreted as a development from a mixed to a negotiated economy. The concept of the negotiated economy is no doubt rather unknown outside of Scandinavia, although others have expressed similar concepts (Devine, 1988; Moore and Booth, 1989). The expression was coined about ten years ago in connection with a lengthy and ambitious Norwegian public investigation that sought to uncover the power relations in modem Norwegian society (Hemes, 1979; NOU, 1982). Since then, theoretical discussions have taken place and efforts have been made to apply this concept in empirical studies of the different Scandinavian countries (Nielsen and Pedersen, 1988, 1989a; Berrefjord and Nore, 1988; Midttun, 1988; Pestoff, 1988a, 1988b).
