ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the specific bargaining relations in the two countries (Denmark and Sweden) have produced these differences and how these differences might affect the future ability of social partners to sustain a ‘high road’ approach to employment relations in construction. The construction sectors in Denmark and Sweden have historically followed the Nordic 'high road' of coordinated market economies by combining high educational levels, high-quality production, high productivity and high wage levels at par or even higher than the economy in general. To some extent, Swedish construction is an outlier in Sweden with its traditional use of workplace-based learning and tighter connection to employers through apprenticeships. One of the key rationales for wage moderation and a tight coordination of wages around the key bargaining sector of a manufacturing is that it provides for steady real wage increases and high levels of an employment.
