NGOs and challenges confronted [612908]

NGOs and challenges confronted
in the implementation of active
labour market policies
The case of Finland and Sweden
Thomas Babila Sama
Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to find the challenges confronted by NGOs in the implementation of
the active labour market policies of Finland and Sweden, and how the challenges could be overcome.
Design/methodology/approach –This is a qualitative empirical case study where two NGOs were
selected in Finland and one NGO was selected in Sweden for the data collection. The two selected NGOs in
Finland were Jyväskylän Katulähetys in the City of Jyväskylä and Pirkanmaan Sininauha in the City of
Tampere. Meanwhile, the one selected NGO in Sweden was Stockholm ’s Stadsmission in the City
of Stockholm. Primary data for this study were collected through interviews with two senior executives of the
selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden. Secondary data were collected through the websites of the selected
NGOs in Finland and Sweden, the organizational records, books, published and unpublished research and
from internet websites. The data were analyzed through qualitative content and thematic analyses.
Findings –The findings revealed that the selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden were confronted with four
main challenges in their work, namely: funding challenge because the NGOs did not have sufficient funds to
carry out their activities effectively; credibility challenge mainly by the NGO in Sweden because Sweden is a
very secular country where there is political resistance for public money being given to faith-basedorganizations in the country; workforce recruitment challenge because the NGOs have to employ specifically
long-term unemployed people from disadvantaged groups in the case of the NGOs in Finland, and because
whenever they have to compete with other stakeholders for a bid to win a project funded by the city council,
the city council often demands that about 80 per cent of their staff need to have a social work qualification in
the case of the NGOs in Sweden; and competition challenge because of competition with other stakeholders towin bids from the city council in the case of the NGOs in Sweden. On the other hand, the findings revealed that
these challenges could be overcome if the Government of Finland and Sweden provide the NGOs with
sufficient funds for them to carry out their activities.Research limitations/implications –The limitations of this study are that this is a case study focused
only on two NGOs in Finland and one NGO in Sweden. Thus, in order to generalize the findings to include the
whole country, it is recommended that a more representative number of NGOs be studied in future studies.
This study also focused only on NGOs with a religious background in Finland and Sweden. Future studies
could include NGOs with a non-religious background.Practical implications –The practical implication of this study is that the study may be useful to policy
makers in the development of policies for NGOs involved in the area of social service provision.
Social implications –The social implication is that this study may contribute in making NGOs to become
more effective in their work in the society.
Originality/value –This study is original in that it is an empirical research.
Keywords Finland, Sweden, NGOs, Active labour market policies, Employment subsidies,
Long-term unemployment
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
Finland and Sweden are two “Nordic countries ”thought to be “social democratic ”welfare
states with a distinct “Nordic welfare model ”characterized among other things by generous
income transfer, local- and public-funded social and health care services and a high social
expenditure (Esping-Andersen, 1990; Kangas, 1994; Sipilä, 1997; Kautto et al., 1999). In this
light, the two countries have achieved low income and gender inequality, low poverty rates
and small disparities in living standards (Kvist, 1999). However, at the beginning of the 1990s,International Journal of Public
Leadership
Vol. 13 No. 3, 2017
pp. 118-133
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2056-4929
DOI 10.1108/IJPL-11-2016-0050Received 29 November 2016
Revised 3 January 2017Accepted 31 January 2017The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com /2056-4929.htm
118IJPL
13,3

the two countries suffered from a severe economic recession due to an international economic
slowdown. This led to a sharp rise in unemployment never seen before in the two countries
since the Great Depression (Räisänen, 2003; Roos, 2008). Due to the 1990s ’recession, there
emerged a new form of structural or long-term unemployment, which has become a perennial
problem in the two countries (Pehkonen and Klas, 2008).
Today, there are tens of thousands of people in Finland and Sweden who have been
unemployed for over a year due to structural or long-term unemployment. This group
of people is commonly referred to in the two countries as the long-term unemployed.
In April 2015, the number of long-term unemployed in Finland between the ages of 15 and
74 was 103,000 people ( Jokinen, 2015). In the same period, the rate of long-term unemployed
in Sweden was 1.6 per cent (see Statistics Sweden). The long-term unemployed in Finland
are mostly people who are difficult to employ particularly in the big cities due to the lack of
vocational training, poor health, disability or their ethnic background. Other problematic
groups of long-term unemployed in Finland include people who have interrupted their
studies, young people with multiple health problems, alcoholics, drug addicts and
ex-convicts (LOCIN, 2006). Similarly, in Sweden, the long-term unemployed are also people
who are difficult to employ and they include young people, ethnic minorities and the
disabled (Pehkonen and Klas, 2008). Owing to this perennial problem of long-term
unemployment, the Government of Finland and Sweden introduced active labour market
policies (ALMPs) in the 1990s to fight against the problem (Räisänen, 2003; Svedberg and
Lundström, 2003). The ALMPs include subsidized employment in NGOs and the other
sectors, and job training and re-training aimed at getting unemployed people back to work
(Santamäki-Vuori and Parviainen, 1996; Trydegård, 2001, Trädgårdh, 2005).
However, there is scepticism whether NGOs can play a significant role in the
implementation of the ALMPs in Finland and Sweden, considering that NGOs are voluntary
organizations with limited funding and other resources. Thus, the aim of this study was to
find the challenges confronted by NGOs in the implementation of the ALMPs in Finland and
Sweden, and how the challenges could be overcome.
1.1 Comparative setting
The choice of selecting Finland and Sweden for this study was based on the fact that first,
Finland and Sweden are two Nordic welfare states with a universalistic welfare regime
(incorporating comprehensive high-level benefits with an extensive employment policy),
where unemployed people have the lowest risk of poverty and social exclusion from the labour
market (Gallie and Paugam, 2000; Timonen, 2003). Second, in both countries, ALMPs areaimed at guaranteeing and increasing the employment of vulnerable groups of people in the
labour market. In practice, both countries have a wide range of active labour market measures
such as vocational rehabilitation, training and special employment schemes, based on
incentives or direct job creation to guarantee and increase the employment of vulnerable
groups of people in the labour market (Meager and Evans, 1998; Hvinden et al. , 2001).
Third, Finland and Sweden have set high targets for the participation of long-term
unemployed people in ALMPs through training, re-training, work practice, a job or other
employability measures. In the case of Finland, all unemployed people for more than 500 days
are considered long-term unemployed and are offered places for training, re-training, work
practice, subsidized jobs or other employability measures (World Bank, 2000; Kvist, 2001).
Similarly, in Sweden, all unemployed people between 6 months for young people, and
12 months for adults are considered long-term unemployed, and are offered training,
re-training, work practice, a job or ongoing job search assistance[1].
Fourth, to achieve the target for participation of the long-term unemployed in ALMPs,
the Government of Finland and Sweden have built local partnerships based on extensive
cooperation with the municipalities, NGOs and businesses. Hence, both countries channel119Active labour
market policies

financial resources to NGOs for the development of new forms of cooperation between the
employment services, social services, schools, the local business community and society in
general (LOCIN, 2006). Fifth, gender equality in the labour market is of top priority to the
Government of Finland and Sweden and thus, in the European Union, the two countries are
among the highest in terms of gender equality in the labour market (Kjeldstad, 2001;
Sørensen, 2001). The high rate of gender equality in the labour market is partly due to the
high level of social services in both countries, such as public childcare for women with kids
and care for the elderly. Generally speaking, the “Nordic countries ”are distinct in
social policies because the development of gender policies follows almost identical paths
(Kvist, 1999, 2000). Finally, Finland and Sweden were selected for this study because the
Finnish and Swedish Government want to reduce long-term unemployment and make it
easier for the long-term unemployed to find work, particularly vulnerable groups like the
disabled, the youth and ethnic minorities (Bergqvist and Nyberg, 2002).
1.2 Role of NGOs in Finland and Sweden
The Finnish and Swedish social welfare system is based on the Nordic welfare model and, to
a great extent, it is public and financed through taxes (Abrahamson, 1999). Since the
aftermath of the economic recession of the 1990s, the Government of Finland and Sweden
have come to recognize the increasing role NGOs play in the two countries. Part of the
recognition can be attributed to the key characteristics of NGOs not only in terms of their
resources and inputs, but also in terms of their social and political productivity. Thus, NGOs
are said to fill a great number of fundamental roles in Finnish and Swedish society
(Lundström and Wijkström, 1997; Särkelä, 2004).
NGOs in Finland and Sweden play the role of adv ocacy for different socio-economic groups
of people as well as the creation of social capital (Helander and Laaksonen, 1999; Lundström and
Svedberg, 2003). They also play the role of providing mainstream services within what can
be viewed as the core domains of the welfare state. Thus, they are seen as third sector
organizations because they fall between the publi c and the private profit-making sectors. Hence,
in Finland, 17 per cent of social services and 5 per cent of health services are provided by NGOs.
Similarly, in Sweden, 18 per cent of social ser vices and 6 per cent of health services are also
provided by NGOs (Pättiniemi, 2004, 2008; Pestoff, 1991, 1998/2005).
Additionally, NGOs in Finland and Sweden play the role of catalysts and mobilizers of
people for social work in their communities. Through social work, NGOs play the role
of recruiting marginalized people as volunteers, some of who acquire skills through the
experiential learning and training opportunities offered by their involvement, whichmay help them to find a job in the labour market (Lundström and Wijkström, 1997;
Cinneide, 2000; Wijkström and Lundström, 2002). Furthermore, NGOs in Finland and
Sweden play the role of improving employment possibilities for the unemployed, through
cooperation and partnership with the government. This cooperation takes place at the local
level through the city councils and the employment offices (Sama, 2012). Thus, NGOs have
found employment paths and boosted the working ability of many unemployed people in
the two countries (Lundström and Wijkström, 1997; New Work Project, 2000). For example,
in 2003, about 32,000 people worked with NGOs in Finland, and about 100,000 people
worked with NGOs in Sweden (Särkelä, 2004; Statistics Sweden).
NGOs in Finland and Sweden also play the role of a cooperation partnership which
produces joint visions and innovative ideas for employment and alternative forms of
employment in the two countries (Cinneide, 2000; Lundström, 1996). They are distinct
employers because they combine paid and voluntary work. Since there are many people
without a job in Finland and Sweden, NGOs play the role of creating job opportunities in the
borderline between the services provided by the public and private sectors. They also play
the role of enhancing the employability of long-term unemployed people so that they can120IJPL
13,3

become employable. Thus, through their engagement with NGOs in Finland and Sweden,
some unemployed people have come in contact with working life and have been able to
boost their employability and self-esteem. They have also been able to cut their
unemployment period and have gained valuable work experiences. NGOs in Finland and
Sweden have employed young people through practical training and an increasing
number of long-term unemployed, through labour market subsidy (New Work Project, 2000;
Statistics Sweden). Overall, the role of NGOs in Finland and Sweden increased following the
economic recession of the 1990s which led to high unemployment and cut backs in public
spending in the two countries (Saari, 2001; Olsson et al., 2005).
2. Theoretical framework
The following are some theories underlying the emergence of NGOs (Sama, 2010).
According to the public goods or the performance failure theory, NGOs emerged to satisfy
the residual unsatisfied demand for public goods in the society. Weisbrod (1977) and
Schmitz (2015) argue that people created NGOs when the government or market could not
provide public goods for all or serve the general interests of everybody. Similarly, Brown
and Korten (1991) argue that state failure creates a situation in which NGOs emerge as
innovative responses to different types of problems. Anheier (1990) argues that NGOs are
capable of providing services more economically than the government. In addition, NGOs do
not seek profits for their services and they undertake their projects at lower labour costs
than entrepreneurs because they rely on voluntary local inputs that do not include
transaction costs. Based on this sort of argument, failures with NGO-led projects compared
with those of the government have less consequences on the economy as a whole, since
nearly all NGO-led projects are carried out at the micro-level. On the contrary, in case of
government or market failure, the unsatisfied demand for public goods left by such a failure
attracts the emergence of NGOs. Thus, NGOs could fulfil unsatisfied needs like health care,
social work or education services. James (1987) argues that the more a society is
heterogeneous, the more conducive it becomes for the creation of many NGOs.
According to the contract failure theory, when people encounter difficulties in pursuing
contracts, they turn to find reliable agents in NGOs. This is because NGOs could be more
trustworthy as contractors between the people and entrepreneurs since entrepreneurs could
take undue advantage of the people ’s ignorance to make profit ( James, 1987). Brown and
Korten (1991) argue that NGOs could emerge in case of market failure because markets tend
to be potentially vulnerable to failure in developing countries. In such situations, NGOs
could emerge since people have trust in them more than profit-making entities (Williamson,1985; Krashinsky, 1986). Esman and Uphoff (1984) argue that NGOs could play the role of
local intermediaries by mobilizing the people for participation in government-initiated
projects. Additionally, they argue that NGOs could be profoundly effective as intermediaries
for the provision of services to disadvantaged groups of people in the society. NGOs could
be considered as alternative institutions through which the disadvantaged are better served
than conventionally. Similarly, Anheier (1990) argues that NGOs try to stimulate the
participation of the underprivileged and are able to reach those strata of society which are
bypassed by public service delivery systems.
According to the theory of partnership or interdependence, the relationship between the
government and NGOs could be “conflicting ”,“interdependent ”or a “partnership ”.I fi ti s
such that they have to share experiences, resources and expertise, the relationship would
be one of complementing each other. Under such arrangements, the “theory of
interdependence ”or the “theory of partnership ”would be argued for the emergence
of NGOs as partners (Salamon and Anheier, 1998). Politically, Anheier (1990) argues that
NGOs are relatively immune from political manoeuvring, whereas government policies and
agencies are vulnerable to an unexpected change. Moreover, the government may politicize121Active labour
market policies

its services if we consider the services as political in global politics. However, by using
NGOs as local and international operators, the problems of politicization or hidden agenda
can be better handled. Thus, generally speaking, NGOs are believed to be more reliable and
less guided by political considerations. Culturally, NGOs grounded in the local culture are
more sensitive to local needs and adaptation. Hence, rather than replacing the indigenous
social culture by large-scale organizations, NGOs try to nurture the local organizations
within their own cultural sphere.
3. Research methodology
This is a qualitative empirical case study whose aim was to find the challenges confronted
by NGOs in the implementation of the ALMPs of Finland and Sweden, and how the
challenges could be overcome. Qualitative method was selected because it allows multiple
sources of data, emphasizes theory and aims at a holistic, robust interpretation of the data
(Yin, 2003). Qualitative method was also selected because it is often used to explore complex
phenomena by policy makers such as for in-depth understanding of phenomena, to get
participants ’viewpoints and in reporting findings in a literary manner rich in participants ’
comments (Streubert and Carpenter, 2007; Tong et al., 2007). Qualitative approaches share a
similar goal in that they arrive at an understanding of a particular phenomenon from the
perspective of those experiencing it. They also share a broad philosophy such as person
centeredness, and a certain open-ended starting point (Holloway and Todres, 2003).
For the purpose of this study, two NGOs were selected in Finland and one NGO was
selected in Sweden for the data collection. The two selected NGOs in Finland were
Jyväskylän Katulähetys in the City of Jyväskylä and Pirkanmaan Sininauha in the City of
Tampere. Meanwhile, the one selected NGO in Sweden was Stockholm ’s Stadsmission in the
City of Stockholm. Two NGOs were selected in Finland and one NGO was selected in
Sweden because the two NGOs in Finland were considered equivalent to the one NGO
in Sweden in terms of size and employment potentials. Additionally, two NGOs were
selected in Finland and one NGO was selected in Sweden because no single NGO founded by
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland was equivalent to Stockholm ’s Stadsmission, in
terms of size and employment potentials. The NGOs were also selected on the basis that
they were founded by the Lutheran Church, had a long history of providing social welfare
services and had a significant number of both paid workers and volunteers. The cities were
selected because they were large cities where the selected NGOs employ a significant
number of people in the labour market.
The data for this study were collected by two sources, namely, primary and secondary
data (Schutt, 2006) sources. The reasons for collecting primary data, specifically through
interviews, were to get detailed information or the perspectives of the interviewees regarding
the challenges that their NGO was facing in the implementation of ALMPs and how the
challenges could be overcome. Primary data for this study were collected through interviews
with two senior executives of the selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden. The interviews were
conducted in the premises of the NGOs in Finland and Sweden by the author of this paper.
The executives were selected on grounds that as senior officials of the NGOs, they know
perfectly the operation of their NGO. All the interviews were recorded in a disc recorder and
later transcribed for analysis. The names of the interviewees were kept anonymous in this
paper for anonymity of their responses. The interviews included questions regarding
the challenges confronted by the NGOs and how the challenges could be overcome. Most of
the interview questions were open-ended which gave the interviewees ample chance to
elaborate on a particular question that was asked by the researcher. Secondary data for this
study were collected to complement the primary data. Secondary data for this study were
collected through the websites of the selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden, the organizational
records, books, published and unpublished research and from internet websites.122IJPL
13,3

The data for this study were analyzed through qualitative content and thematic analyses
since the two are often used interchangeably (Vaismoradi et al., 2013). Content analysis is a
general term for a number of different strategies used to analyze texts (Powers and
Knapp, 2006). It is a systematic coding and categorizing approach used for exploring large
amounts of textual data to determine trends and patterns of words used, their frequency,
their relationships, and the structures and discourses of communication (Mayring, 2000;
Pope et al., 2006; Gbrich, 2007). The aim of content analysis is to describe the characteristics of
the data by examining who says what, to whom and with what effect (Bloor and Wood, 2006).
In contrast, thematic analysis is described as “a method for identifying, analyzing and
reporting patterns (themes) within data ”(Braun and Clarke, 2006, p. 79).
Both were used interchangeably in the data analysis of this study because the analysis
involved cutting across data and searching for patterns and themes, as well as looking for
the frequency of different categories and themes for analysis. Content and thematic analysis
share the same aim of analytically examining narrative data from life stories by breaking
the data into relatively small units for d escriptive treatmen t (Sparker, 2005).
Both approaches are suitable for answering questions such as: what are the concerns of
people about an event? What reasons do people have for using or not using a service
or procedure? (Ayres, 2007). Content analysis may be suitable for reporting of the common
issues mentioned in the data if conducting exploratory studies in an area where not much is
known (Green and Thorogood, 2004). It has been suggested that thematic analysis, as a
flexible and useful research tool, provides a rich and detailed, yet complex account of the
data (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Clearly, thematic analysis involves the search for and
identification of common threads that extend across an entire interview or set of interviews
(DeSantis and Noel, 2000). It should be noted that both approaches allow for a qualitative
analysis of the data. By using content analysis, it is possible to analyze data qualitatively
and, at the same time, quantify the data (Gbrich, 2007). Content analysis uses a descriptive
approach in both coding of the data and the interpretation of quantitative counts
of the codes (Downe-Wamboldt, 1992; Morgan, 1993). Content analysis views data as
representations not of physical events but of texts, images and expressions created to be
seen, read, interpreted and acted on for their meanings, and must therefore be analyzed with
such uses in mind (Krippendorff, 2004). In contrast, thematic analysis applies minimaldescription to data sets, and interprets various aspects of the research topic (Braun and
Clarke, 2006). Thematic analysis provides a purely qualitative, detailed and nuanced
account of the data (Braun and Clarke, 2006). It has also been noted that both approaches
are largely based on the “factist ”perspective. A factist perspective assumes data to be more
or less accurate and truthful indexes of the reality from an outside perspective (Sandelowski,
2010). In other words, the researcher wants to find out about the attitudes or real motives of
the people being studied, or to detect something which has happened (Ten Have, 2004).
Regarding the data analysis process, the data of this study were analyzed through
“description and interpretation ”. In the description using content analysis, the primary aim
was to describe the phenomenon in a conceptual form (Elo and Kyngäs, 2008). The final
stage of data analysis in content and thematic analyses relate to reporting the results.
This stage is especially highlighted as the final phase of the data analysis in thematic
analysis. In addition, in both approaches, the creativity of the researcher in presenting the
results in terms of a story line, a map or model is encouraged. After data gathering and
transcribing, it is recommended that the data analyst immerses himself/herself in the data in
order to obtain the sense of the whole through reading and rereading (Polit and Beck, 2003).
4. Description of the selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden
One of the two selected NGOs in Finland for this study was Jyväskylän Katulähetys,
otherwise known in English as the Jyväskylä Street Mission Association. The NGO is a123Active labour
market policies

Jyväskylä-based Christian common good organization founded in 1953 with the aim to
provide social services such as accommodation, clothing and food distribution services to
homeless people and alcoholics in the City of Jyväskylä, located in Central Finland about
270 km north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland ( Jyväskylän Katulähetys). Today, the social
services of the organization have expanded to other areas including institutional
rehabilitation services, emergency services, family work services, youth work services and
recreational services. The organization also undertakes some activities in recycling and
income generation such as the sale of second-hand goods donated to them. Most of the social
services provided by the organization are targeted towards alcoholics, drug addicts,
delinquents, ex-convicts and the youth. These social services provision have enabled the
organization to create paid jobs for parti cularly long-term unemployed people.
The organization also has volunteers working there (Sama, 2007).
The second selected NGO in Finland for this study was Pirkanmaan Sininauha,
otherwise known in English as the Finnish Blue Ribbon Association. The NGO is a
Christian-based organization founded in 1961 in the City of Tampere, located 173 km north
of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The NGO was founded with the aim to provide its clients
with a life free of drug addiction and other forms of intoxication through the Christian
values. The NGO has expanded its social services and, today, it provides social services like
accommodation services, nursing home services, day care services, rehabilitation services,
recovery groups ’services, therapeutic services, pastoral guidance, counselling services and
spiritual services. The organization also has different kinds of projects. The social services
and projects have created both paid work for unemployed people and volunteers in the
organization (Pirkanmaan Sininauha).
Lastly, the selected NGO in Sweden for this study was Stockholm ’s Stadsmission.
The NGO was founded in the City of Stockholm, capital of Sweden in 1853 as part of the
Swedish Church which formed an association to help poor people –mainly children and
the youth in Stockholm. The NGO has grown since then and today, it provides different types
of social services including accommodation services, nursing home services, day care services,
rehabilitation services, therapeutic services, and pastoral guidance and counselling services.
Additionally, the NGO has its own school and a number of income generating activities like
second-hand shops where second-hand clothes and household equipments donated by charityare sold. Furthermore, the organization has some projects of various kinds (Stockholm ’s
Stadsmission). These social services and projects have created both paid and voluntary work
for unemployed people in the organization. Overall, the common thing about the selected
NGOs in Finland and Sweden is that they all have a religious background and traditionally,
they provide social services to disadvantaged groups of people, through which they are able to
create jobs for unemployed people. The next section contains the findings of this study.
5. Findings
This section contains the findings of this study. The findings are based on the primary data
which consists of the interviews conducted at the NGOs ’sites in Finland and Sweden.
The secondary data complement the findings from the primary data in this study.The findings of the two selected NGOs in Finland are grouped while those of the one
selected NGO in Sweden are separated. In the first research question, the respondents were
asked to give the main challenges confronted by their NGO, while in the second research
question, the respondents were asked to suggest ways by which the challenges could be
overcome. Details of the findings are seen in the next section.
5.1 Funding challenge
Funding was one of the main challenges the respondents of the two selected NGOs in
Finland said their NGOs were confronted wi th because the NGOs did not have sufficient124IJPL
13,3

funds to carry out their activities for j ob creation. Thus, the employees could
only be employed for a period of 1-2-year contract basis in the case of Jyväskylän
Katulähetys. The funding challenge was also due to the partnership agreement which
the NGO had with the city council and the l ocal employment office. According to the
partnership agreement with the city coun cil, the organization has to provide
accommodation and other social services to a lcoholics and drug ad dicts besides other
disadvantaged groups of people in the City of Jyväskylä, for a period of three years at a
time. For this purpose, the organization own sm o r et h a n2 0 0f l a t si nt h eC i t yo fJ y v ä s k y l ä
and the region. The organization also receive s some funding from the city council for their
services. In fact, the city council purchas es social services from the organization.
Similarly, according to the agreement with t he local employment office, the organization
has to employ specifically people who have been unemployed for more than 500 days
(Sama, 2007, 2012).
This group of people is known as the long-term unemployed in the Finnish context.
In return, the organization receives employm ent subsidies for each person employed from
the local employment office. In the same pe rspective, in Pirkanmaan Sininauha, the
respondents also said funding was a challenge and that was the reason why they could
employ only on short-term contract basis and project cycles after which their employees
had to become unemployed again or look for another job. Some comments from the
respondents on this included:
We do not have sufficient money to employ our workers permanently. You know in this area, we
think that we need this kind of support in our organization because our income is not enough tooffer employment to this number of people in our organization. But I know that in Finland, there aremany organizations that are not getting support from the government. The Employment Officeis giving this kind of money – 960 €a month to every organization which employs unemployed
people. Not all City Councils in Finland give this type of support to NGOs. Jyväskylä City Councilis an exception. Our partnership is very good because we get money from the Employment Officeand the City Council per person every month. So we pay out a salary and 30% more for everyworker. But we also pay our administrative staff and for the running costs of our facilities.The agreement we have with the Employment Office states that we must employ only people whohave been unemployed for more than 500 days. We only get money from the City Council, but weemploy our workers from the Employment Office.
Our employees are employed based on the projects we have and at the end of the project, they have
to leave.
In Sweden, the respondents said funding was also a challenge because their NGO did not
have sufficient funds for running their activities and due to this, the NGO was sometimes
forced to trim down services. Additionally, the respondents said they were vulnerable
because if people gave them less money or bought less of their products, they had to cut
down their services. Some comments from the respondents on this included:
Funding is our main problem and so from time to time, we trim our services.
We ’re also vulnerable because when people give us less money or buy less of our products, we have
to cut down. For example, this day shelter cost about 11 million kronors to run, but now we only get1.4 million Kronors from the City Council to run this project. So we actually provide the main cost ofrunning this project ourselves through donations, through funding from companies that want tocontribute for the various campaigns that we run, through selling goods.
5.2 Credibility challenge
The respondents of mainly the NGO in Sweden said they had the challenge of credibility
faced by faith-based organizations in Sweden l ike theirs, because Sweden is a very secular
country. Thus, due to secularism, there is poli tical resistance for public money being given125Active labour
market policies

to faith-based organizations in the country. The political resistance in Sweden against
state funding for NGOs mostly comes from the Swedish Left in politics. Besides, the
socialists and social democrats in Sweden ar e opposed to NGOs providing social services
that traditionally are provided by the state. Additionally, there is political resistance in
Sweden against state funding for NGOs because NGOs are sometimes seen as a “left-over ”
category in the overall welfare system and th us, politicians are reluctant to regulate
the sector for fear that the sector might b ecome influential on policy as a result
(Olsson et al. , 2005). Furthermore, some also argue t hat the political resistance against
state funding for NGOs in Sweden is due to the fact that NGOs make up a very small part
of welfare provision, in the country compa red to the public and pr ivate-profit sectors.
Some comments from the respondents on these included:
There are some problems of credibility because NGOs in Sweden are not well established as those
in Britain and the US particularly if they belong to a faith based organization. I think Sweden is avery circular society and as a faith based organization, there is political resistance to public moneybeing given to faith based organizations. Political resistance comes particularly from Swedish Leftin politics. Socialists and Social Democrats are opposed to NGOs providing services thattraditionally are provided by the state. But I think times are changing and so this year for example,the Swedish Government took out what is called a sort of Third Sector Contract which is a verybroadly drawn up agreement between the Third Sector and the government in terms ofcooperation, roles and funding. So it kind of opens the door to new partnerships but I thinkcredibility and a kind of political resistance are potential issues.
I think it ’s important to point out that we ’re a faith based organization and it ’s more to do with our
history and our values. But daily, the way we operate our services is such that a lot of our staff arenot religious and a lot of our clients and services aren ’t religious. In the services that we provide for
example, you don ’t have to express religion; you don ’t have to be a Christian; it ’s a kind of
inter-faith. And in fact, one of the services we recently started is in partnership with the CatholicChurch and the Moslem Congregation. So it ’s a kind of inter-faith project. So I think the notion of
Christianity is there but not in the form of evangelizing.
5.3 Workforce recruitment challenge
The respondents said workforce recruitment was a major challenge faced by their NGOs in
both Finland and Sweden, though there was some disparity between the two countries.
In Finland, the respondents said the challenge of workforce recruitment stems from the fact
that the NGOs have to employ specifica lly long-term unemployed people from
disadvantaged groups in the labour market such as alcoholics, drug addicts and
ex-convicts, some of who had very little or no professional skills. Additionally, each time the
NGOs request for workers, the local employment office often selects those that have little or
no professional skills and send to them, whereas the most skilled ones are sent to the other
sectors. The challenge here was that the NGOs in Finland have to cope with their newly
recruited workers who have little or no professional training, by training them.
In Jyväskylän Katulähetys, for example, the training usually lasts from two days to two
months. Most often, the training in the organization consists of learning by doing.
Some comments from the respondents on this included:
We have that kind of system that when we need a worker, we ask from the Employment Office
and they send us people who when they come here, we interview them and decide which to take.We have the right to make the decision of who to take for our work. So we ’re not told who to
employ. But we think that sometimes when we call the Employment Office that we need workers,they send us not so good people like alcoholics and drug addicts. Many of the people do not havevery good education. We think that they send the best people to other sectors and the not so goodones to us. But it ’s okay because the main thing is that these unemployed people can get work
with the private sector.126IJPL
13,3

In Sweden, the respondents also said their NGO faces a challenge in the recruitment of the
workforce because some of their newly employed have little or no professional training.
Some have also been long-term unemployed and come from disadvantaged groups in the
labour market like alcoholics, drug addicts and ex-convicts. These people are employed
directly from the open labour market and not from the local employment office like the case
of the NGOs in Finland. The less skilled employees of the organization are mostly employed
on a temporary basis, while the highly skilled ones who may have some sort of
qualifications are employed on a permanent basis. Similarly, the respondents of the NGO in
Sweden said they face a workforce recruitment challenge because whenever they have to
compete with other stakeholders for a bid to win a project funded by the City Council of
Stockholm, the city council often demands that about 80 per cent of their staff should have a
social work qualification, otherwise they will not be considered for the bid. This is not the
case with the NGOs in Finland who do not face any competition. Thus, it becomes
challenging for the NGO to look for people with a social work qualification. Regarding the
services they run, they also have to show that they have highly qualified staff before they
can get funding from the city council. This is not also the case with the NGOs in Finland.
Some comments from the respondents on this included:
A lot of the people have very little training at all; they may not have had any school training at all
and so there ’s a long gap between where they ’re now and where they would need to go in order to
get formal employment. So it almost becomes a social project in itself to provide purposefulactivities for people who would otherwise do nothing with their days. People when they ’re trying to
change their lives, when they ’re trying to get well, when they ’re trying to give up drugs, to have
that, enables many of them to feel better. Not necessarily does it enable them to get a job, but it alsoenables them to change their lives and so they can change their lifestyle. While they ’re here, they ’re
in a kind of stepping stone one.
The majority of the people who are employed full time and permanently have some sort
of qualifications –either a social work qualification or a therapeutic qualification, and they also
tend to have quite a lot of experience. They are mostly on a permanent contract. Then wealso employ some people with less experience maybe they are doing their training, their studying,but they tend to be on temporary contracts and they often aren ’t full time. They maybe coming
and helping out.
Everyone who works for the organization has a contract. You can either have a permanent contract
or a temporary contract. One part of the temporary contract is called intermittent contract which isbasically on an hourly basis which means that we sign you up for shifts. There ’s also what ’s called
a project contract which defines a set period. Say for example, for the next 6 months, you ’re gonna
be working in this project. During that time you always have a contract, you always get holiday,you get holiday pay. If you ’re ill, you get paid, you have to take time off for your children if they ’re
sick. So you have all of the benefits as long as you have that contract.
Another difficulty is that when we compete with other actors for providing services, the City
Council often demands a certain level of qualification for our staff. They say for example, in orderfor you to run this independent living scheme, 80% of your staff needs to have a social workqualification otherwise you can ’t provide the service for us. So instead of us competing with other
actors, often, we ’re competing with commercial profit-seeking companies.
For the services that we run, in order to get funding, we have to show that we have very highly
qualified staff. So we can ’t necessarily employ this people in the social services that we run, but we
can employ them in other parts of the organization.
5.4 Competition with other stakeholders to win bids from the city council
Competition with other stakeholders to win bids from the city council was another major
challenge which the respondents of mainly the NGO in Sweden said they were facing.
This sometimes occurred because whenever there was a project to provide social services,127Active labour
market policies

the City Council of Stockholm often advertises them and the best bidder wins the bid. Due to
this bidding system, the NGO will be competing with other actors in the provision of the
social services. This was challenging to the NGO because if they did not succeed in winning
a bid, they might not be able to have more services to provide that will create jobs for the
unemployed. Some comments from the respondents on this included:
We also run on behalf of the City Council a number of services that we won in competition with
other competitors. Some of the competitors have been commercial while others have been NGOs.Like we found yesterday that we ’ve won another bid to start in Autumn. The bid is to run advocacy
services for people with very severe mental health problems. We also run a number of housingschemes and with all these services, we have a very strict regulated contract with the City Council.This sets out what we are allowed to do and not to do, and we get a certain amount of money forrunning the services. In a sense the City Council still maintains the responsibility for providing the
services. We ’re merely service providers without any influence on how the services are structured
and what types of services have to be provided. They just say this is what they want to providewhen there ’s a bid. This is one way we interact with the government. Then, we also sell services to
the City Council. When we do that, we decide what type of services we want to provide and wecontact the City Council and say to them, this is what we provide, this is our price and the CityCouncil can then buy the services. But this is not the same negotiated deal with the other serviceswhere we are service providers.
5.5 Suggestions on how to overcome the challenges
The second research question was for the respondents to give suggestions on how
the challenges that they highlighted could be overcome. The respondents in both
Finland and Sweden gave one main suggestion: funding. In Finland, the respondents
of the two selected NGOs said that they need more funding from the government to
provide their employees with better training and employment opportunities considering
that most of them are employed with little or no training at all. This was the
case particularly with Jyväskylän Katulähe tys. Some suggestions from the respondents
on this included:
We need more money to provide our staff with better training.
Similarly, the respondents of the NGO in Sweden also said that the government shouldprovide the NGO with more funding to enable the organization operate more effectively.
Some suggestions from the respondents on this included:
Government should be more relaxed with regards to funding organizations.
We need more funding.
6. Discussion and conclusion
The aim of this study was to find the challenges confronted by NGOs in the implementation
of the ALMPs of Finland and Sweden, and how the challenges could be overcome.
Jyväskylän Katulähetys in the City of Jyväskylä and Pirkanmaan Sininauha in the City of
Tampere were selected for the data collection in Finland, while Stockholm ’s Stadsmission in
the City of Stockholm was selected for the data collection in Sweden.
The study found that the NGOs were confronted with four main challenges in the
implementation of the ALMPs in Finland and Sweden, namely: funding challenge;
credibility challenge; workforce recruitment challenge; and competition with other
stakeholders to win bids from the city council in the case of the NGO in Stockholm,
Sweden. Meanwhile, the main suggestion on how these challenges could be overcome was
that the government should provide the NGOs with sufficient funding for them to carry out
their activities effectively.128IJPL
13,3

The findings had some similarities as well as differences between Finland and Sweden.
The similarities are that ALMPs implementat ion with regard to NGOs in the two countries
is carried out at the local level. Additionally, the government of both countries support
NGOs through project funding and other sou rces of funding to enable them to provide
social services for job creation. Furth ermore, the NGOs also have their own income
generating activities to generate funds for th eir activities (Helander and Laaksonen, 1999;
Sama, 2007, 2012). On the other hand, the main d ifferences were that there is political
resistance in Sweden for public money t o be given to faith-based NGOs because the
socialists and social democrats are opposed to NGOs providing services that traditionally
are provided by the government. This was not found to be the case in Finland. Also, while
Finnish ALMPs implementation with regard to NGOs is centralized at the local
employment office from where all job seek e r sh a v et ob ee m p l o y e d ,t h a to fS w e d e ni s
liberal because Sweden has an open labour market policy. The NGO in Sweden was also
confronted with the challenge of credibil ity because Sweden is a very secular country,
which was not the case in Finland. Workforce recruitment was a challenge for the NGO in
Sweden since about 80 per cent of their staff had to have a social work qualification
otherwise they will not be considered for a bid, which was not the case in Finland. Lastly,
the NGO in Sweden competes with other stakeholders to win bids from the city council,
and if they did not succeed in winning a bid, th ey might not be able to provide more social
services for job creation, which was not the case in Finland.
The limitations of this study are that this is a case study focused only on two NGOs in
Finland and one NGO in Sweden ( Julkune n, 2000; Lundström and Svedberg, 2003).
The NGOs were selected because of their large size and employment potentials since they
employ a large number of people who work there as both paid workers and volunteers
( Jyväskylän Katulähetys; Pirkanmaan Sininauha; Stockholm ’s Stadsmission). Thus,
in order to generalize the findings to incl u d et h ew h o l ec o u n t r y ,i ti sr e c o m m e n d e d
that a more representative number of NGOs should be studied in future studies. This
study also focused only on NGOs with a relig ious background in Finland and Sweden
b e c a u s em a n yo ft h el a r g eN G O si nt h et w oc o u n t r i e sw e r ef o u n d e db yt h eL u t h e r a n
Church which has a strong relationship with the State. It is noteworthy that the NGO
movement in Finland and Sweden arose out of fundamentally simil ar traditions as they
had their historic roots from the church, where they began as “charity associations ”
dating back centuries. The historic roots o f the role of the church in the Finnish and
Swedish welfare system brought about the e mergence of NGOs and, since then, the State
and the Finnish and Swedish Lutheran Church are strongly intertwined ( Jaakkola, 1994;
Lundström and Wijkström, 1997) . For example, in 1996, NGOs in Finland employed 82,000
people and 655,000 volunteers (Helander and Laaksonen, 1999). Meanwhile, in 1996, NGOs
in Sweden employed 100,000 people and more than 800,000 volunteers (Lundström and
Wijkström, 1997). Hence, future studies could include NGOs with a non-religious
background. The practical implication of this study is that the study may be useful to
policy makers in the development of polici es for NGOs involved in the area of social
service provision. The social implication is that this study may contribute in making
NGOs more effective in their work. Weighing a l lt h ee v i d e n c e ,t h ec o n c l u s i o no ft h i ss t u d y
is that Finland and Sweden, which are two Nord ic welfare states (Esping-Andersen, 1990),
have similarities as well as differences in the implementation of their ALMPs with
regard to NGOs.
Note
1. The Swedish Reform Programme for Growth and Employment 2005-2008, available at: www.
sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/05/28/62/c0ecb152.pdf129Active labour
market policies

References
Abrahamson, P. (1999), “The scandinavian model of welfare ”, in Bouget, D. and Palier, B. (Eds),
Comparing Social Systems in Nordic Europe and France , MIRE, Maison des Sciences de l ’Homme
Ange-Guepin, Paris and Nantes.
Anheier, H.K. (1990), “Private voluntary organizations and the third world: the case of Africa ”,
in Anheier, H.K. and Seibel, W. (Eds), The Third Sector: Comparative Studies of Nonprofit
Organizations , Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York, NY, pp. 361-376.
Ayres, L. (2007), “Qualitative research proposals –part II: conceptual models and methodological
options ”,Journal of Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing , Vol. 34, pp. 131-133.
Bergqvist, C. and Nyberg, A. (2002), “Welfare state restructuring and child care in Sweden ”,i nM i c h e l ,S .
and Mahon, R. (Eds), Child Care Policy at the Crossroads , Gender and Welfare State Restructuring,
Routledge, London, pp. 287-307.
Bloor, M. and Wood, F. (2006), Keywords in Qualitative Methods: A Vocabulary of Research Concepts ,
1st ed., SAGE Publications, London.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006), “Using thematic analysis in psychology ”,Qualitative Research in
Psychology , Vol. 3, pp. 77-101.
Brown, L.D. and Korten, D.C. (1991), Working More Effectively with Non-Governmental Organizations ,
World Bank, Washington, DC.
Cinneide, M. (2000), Local Employment Partnerships in Finland , National University of Ireland, Galway.
DeSantis, L. and Noel, U.D. (2000), “The concept of theme as used in qualitative nursing research ”,
Western Journal of Nursing Research , Vol. 22, pp. 351-372.
Downe-Wamboldt, B. (1992), “Content analysis: methods, applications, and issues ”,Health Care for
Women International , Vol. 13, pp. 313-321.
Elo, S. and Kyngäs, H. (2008), “The qualitative content analysis process ”,Journal of Advance Nursing ,
Vol. 62, pp. 107-115.
Esman, M. and Uphoff, N. (1984), Local Organizations: Intermediaries in Rural Development ,
Conell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990), The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism , Polity Press, Cambridge.
Gallie, D. and Paugam, S. (2000), “The experience of unemployment in Europe: the debate ”, in Gallie, D.
and Paugam, S. (Eds), Welfare Regimes and the Experience of Unemployment in Europe ,
Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Gbrich, C. (2007), Qualitative Data Analysis: An Introduction , 1st ed., Sage Publications, London.
Green, J. and Thorogood, N. (2004), “Analysing qualitative data ”, in Silverman, D. (Ed.), Qualitative
Methods for Health Research , 1st ed., Sage Publications, London, pp. 173-200.
Helander, V. and Laaksonen, H. (1999), The Finnish Third Sector , Finnish Federation for Social Welfare
& Health, Helsinki.
Holloway, I. and Todres, L. (2003), “The status of method: flexibility, consistency and coherence ”,
Quality Research , Vol. 3, pp. 345-357.
Hvinden, B., Heikkilä, M. and Kankare, I. (2001), “Towards activation? The changing relationship
between social protection and employment in Western Europe ”, in Kautto, M., Fritzell, J.,
Hvinden, B., Kvist, J. and Uusitalo, H. (Eds), Nordic Welfare States in the European Context ,
Routledge, London, pp. 168-197.
Jaakkola, J. (1994), “Sosiaalisen Kysymyksen Yhteiskunta (A Society of the Social Question) ”, Helsinki.
James, E. (1987), The Nonprofit Sector in Comparative Perspective , Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
Jokinen, H. (2015), “Calculator: putting the price tag on long-term unemployment ”, Helsinki, 13 April,
available at: www.akava.fi/en/current_issues/calculator_putting_the_price_tag_on_long-term_unemployment.14662.news
Julkunen, R. (2000), Social Background of the Rise of the Third Sector , Jyväskylän Katulähetys, Helsinki,
available at: www.jyvaskylankatulahetys.fi/index.php?id =360130IJPL
13,3

Kangas, O. (1994), “The merging of welfare state models? Past and present trends in Finnish and
Swedish social policy ”,Journal of European Social Policy , Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 79-94.
Kautto, M., Heikkilä, M., Hvinden, B., Marklund, S. and Ploug, N. (Eds) (1999), Nordic Social Policy:
Changing Welfare States , Routledge, London.
Kjeldstad, R. (2001), “Gender policies and gender equality ”, in Kautto, M., Fritzell, J., Hvinden, B., Kvist, J.
and Uusitalo, H. (Eds), Nordic Welfare States in the European Context , Routledge, London,
pp. 66-97.
Krashinsky, M. (1986), Transaction Costs and a Theory of the Nonprofit Organization , Oxford
University Press, New York, NY.
Krippendorff, K. (2004), Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology , 2nd ed., Sage
Publications, London.
Kvist, J. (1999), “Welfare reform in the Nordic countries in the 1990s: using fuzzy-set theory to assess
conformity to ideal types ”,Journal of European Social Policy .
Kvist, J. (2000), “Activating welfare states. Scandinavian experiences in the 1990s ”, Working paper
No. 7:2000, The Danish National Institute of Social Research, Copenhagen.
Kvist, J. (2001), “Activating welfare states: how social policies can promote employment ”, in Clasen, J.
(Ed.), What Future for Social Security? , Kluwer Law International, The Hague, pp. 197-210.
LOCIN (2006), “Database on local initiatives to combat social exclusion ”, available at: http://locin.jrc.it/en/
page.gx?_app.page =national_context.html&countrySelected =Fi (accessed 13 February 2013).
Lundström, T. and Svedberg, L. (2003), “The voluntary sector in a social democratic welfare state: the
case of Sweden ”,Journal of Social Policy , Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 217-238.
Lundström, T. and Wijkström, F. (1997), “The nonprofit sector in Sweden ”,Johns Hopkins Nonprofit
Sector Series , Manchester University Press, Manchester.
Lundström, T. (1996), “The state and voluntary work in Sweden ”,Voluntas , Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 123-146.
Mayring, P. (2000), “Qualitative content analysis ”,Qualitative Social Research Forum ,V o l .1N o .2 ,
available at: www.qualitative-research.net/inde x.php/fqs/article/view/1089/2385 (accessed
13 February 2013).
Meager, N. and Evans, C. (1998), The Evaluation of Active Labor Market Measures for the Long-Term
Unemployed , International Labour Office, Geneva.
Morgan, D.L. (1993), “Qualitative content analysis: a guide to paths not taken ”,Qualitative Health
Research , Vol. 3, pp. 112-121.
New Work Project (2000), “Interim report ”, Helsinki, available at: www.google.com/search?hl =en&
lr=&q=the+role+of+Finnish +NGOs+in+employment
Olsson, L.E., Nordfeldt, M., Larsson, O. and Kendall, J. (2005), “The third sector and policy processes in
Sweden: a centralised horizontal third sector policy community under strain ”, Third Sector
European Policy Working Paper No. 3.
Pättiniemi, P. (2004), “Work integration social enterprises in Finland ”, Working Papers Series No. 07/04,
EMES European Research Network, Liège.
Pättiniemi, P. (2008), “Social economy in Finland ”, in Laurinkari (Ed.).
Pehkonen, J. and Klas, F. (2008), “Causes of structural unemployment in Finland and Sweden 1990-2004 ”,
Working Papers No. 2008:14, Lund University, Department of Economics.
Pestoff, V. (1991), Between the Market & Politics: Cooperatives in Sweden , Campus Verlag & Westview
Press, Frankfurt am Main and Boulder, CO.
Pestoff, V. (1998/2005), Beyond the Market and State. Civil Democracy and Social Enterprises in a
Welfare Society , Ashgate, Aldershot and Brookfield, NJ.
Pirkanmaan Sininauha. Tampere, available at: www.pirkanmaansininauha.fi/Polit, D. and Beck, C. (2003), Nursing Research: Principles and Methods , 7th ed., Lippincott Williams and
Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA.131Active labour
market policies

Pope, C., Ziebland, S. and Mays, N. (2006), “Analysing qualitative data ”, in Pope, C. and Mays, N. (Eds),
Qualitative Research in Health Care , 3rd ed., Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp. 63-81.
Powers, B. and Knapp, T. (2006), Dictionary of Nursing Theory and Research , 3rd ed., Springer
Publishing Company, New York, NY.
Räisänen, H. (2003), How to Cope with Labour Market Policy Tools in Economic Downturn: Finnish
Evidence , Government Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki.
Roos, J.P. (2008), The Consequences of the Crisis of 1990 ’s to the Nordic Welfare State , University of
Helsinki Press.
Saari, J. (2001), “The grounds of social politics in the beginning of 21st century ”, Helsinki.
Salamon, L.M. and Anheier, H.K. (1998), “Social origins of civil society: explaining the nonprofit sector
cross-nationally ”,Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations ,
Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 213-248.
Sama, T.B. (2007), “The role of a non-governmental organization in the improvement of employment in
Finland: a case study of Jyväskylän Katulähetys in the City of Jyväskylä ”, University of
Jyväskylä.
Sama, T.B. (2010), “Conceptualizing non-governmental organizations: still searching for conceptual
clarity ”,Journal of Social and Psychological Sciences , Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 32-54.
Sama, T.B. (2012), “Role of NGOs in the implementation of active labour market policies: the case
of Finland and Sweden ”,International Journal of Leadership in Public Services , Vol. 8 No. 3,
pp. 121-143.
Sandelowski, M. (2010), “What ’s in a name? Qualitative description revisited ”,Research in Nursing
and Health , Vol. 33, pp. 77-84.
Santamäki-Vuori, T. and Parviainen, S. (1996), “The labour market in Finland ”, Studies 64, Labour
Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki.
Särkelä, R. (2004), “Role of NGOs in public service delivery in Finland ”, available at: www.ngo.ee/orb.
aw/class =file/action =preview/id =8597/Riitta +Särkelä.ppt (accessed 10 January 2013).
Schmitz, P.W. (2015), “Government versus private ownership of public goods: the role of bargaining
frictions ”,Journal of Public Economics , Vol. 132, pp. 23-31, doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2015.09.009.
Schutt, R. (2006), Investigating the Social World , Sage Publications, pp. 423-426, 412-416.
Sipilä, J. (Ed.) (1997), Social Care Services: The Key to the Scandinavian Model , Avebury, Aldershot.
Sørensen, A. (2001), “Gender equality in earnings at work and at home ”, in Kautto, M., Fritzell, J.,
Hvinden, B., Kvist, J. and Uusitalo, H. (Eds), Nordic Welfare States in the European Context ,
Routledge, London, pp. 98-115.
Sparker, A. (2005), “Narrative analysis: exploring the whats and hows of personal stories ”, in Holloway, I.
(Ed.), Qualitative Research in Health Care , 1st ed., Open University Press, Berkshire,
pp. 191-208.
Statistics Sweden. Stockholm, available at: www.scb.seStockholm ’s Stadsmission. Stockholm, available at: www.stadsmissionen.se
Streubert, S.H. and Carpenter, D. (2007), Qualitative Research in Nursing: Advancing the Humanistic
Imperative , 4th ed., Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA.
Svedberg, L. and Lundström, T. (2003), “The voluntary sector in a social democratic welfare state: the
case of Sweden ”,Journal of Social Policy , Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 217-238.
Ten Have, P. (2004), Understanding Qualitative Research and Ethnomethodology ,1 s te d . ,
Sage Publications, London.
Timonen, V. (2003), Restructuring the Welfare State: Globalization and Social Policy Reforms in
Finland and Sweden , Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.
Tong, A., Sainsbury, P. and Craig, J. (2007), “Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research
(COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups ”,International Journal for Quality
in Health Care , Vol. 19, pp. 349-357.132IJPL
13,3

Trädgårdh, L. (2005), “Governance and the Swedish welfare state ”, in Trägårdh, L. (Ed.), The Swedish
Model Reconsidered: The Civil Society Perspective , Berghahn Books, Oxford.
Trydegård, G.B. (2001), “Välfärdstjänster till salu. (Welfare services for sale) ”, in Szebehely, M. (Ed.), SOU
2001:52. Välfärdstjänster i omvandling (Restructuring of Welfare Services), Fritzes, Stockholm.
Vaismoradi, M., Turunen, H. and Bondas, T. (2013), “Content analysis and thematic analysis:
implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study ”,Nursing and Health Sciences ,
Vol. 15, pp. 398-405, doi: 10.1111/nhs.12048.
Weisbrod, B. (1977), “Toward a theory of the voluntary nonprofit sector in a three-sector economy ”,
in Weisbrod, B. (Ed.), The Voluntary Nonprofit Sector , D.C. Heath, Lexington, MA, pp. 51-76.
Wijkström, F. and Lundström, T. (2002), “Den ideella sektorn. Organisationerna I det civila samhället
(The ‘Ideell ’sector. The Organisations in the Civil Society) ”, Sober Förlag, Stockholm.
Williamson, O. (1985), The Economic Institutions of Capitalism , Free Press, New York, NY.
World Bank (2000), “Entering the 21st century ”, World Development Report No. 1999/2000, World Bank,
Washington DC.
Yin, R.K. (2003), Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 3rd ed., Sage, London.
Further reading
Korten, D.C. (1990), Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and the Global Agenda , Kumarian
Press, West Hartford, CT.
Salamon, L.M. and Anheier, H.K. (1996), The Emerging Nonprofit Sector: An Overview , Manchester
University Press, Manchester.
SOU 2000:03 (2000), “Välfärd vid vägskäl. Utveckling under 1990-talet. (Welfare at Crossroad.
Development during the 1990s) ”, Fritzes, Stockholm.
Corresponding author
Thomas Babila Sama can be contacted at: babilasama@yahoo.com
For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com133Active labour
market policies