ABSTRACT
As the 1990s began, the four Nordic countries were at the egalitarian end of the continuum among industrial democracies in distribution of disposable household income; and each, along with the Netherlands and Belgium, topped the 30 per cent level on public spending on medical, educational, and social services. 1 Sweden was the earliest to achieve this distinction; Finland the last. Though there were important differences in the methods used to attain these results, there were also similarities, similarities that expressed common principles underlying institutional arrangements. That such principles existed is belied by the fact that each ministry in each state designates an official responsible for taking account of any new legislation in the other three countries in order to avoid incompatibility.
