The name is absent

Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship?

Diagram 6: The Danish “golden triangle”

Active labour market policies                                         Generous social benefits

Despite the fact that some segments of the workforce fall outside the borders of this golden tri-
angle, in particular unskilled and older workers and newly arrived immigrants, it has not led to labour
market segmentation and the emergence of in-work poverty, as has been the case in many liberal
economies (Viebrock & Clasen, 2009). The question inevitably arises: is this Danish “success story”
transferable to the other EU countries and what lessons can be drawn from it?

Some scholars claim that the Danish flexicurity model would be difficult to sustain in countries
which lack a strong ‘public-spiritedness’ (reflected in the low inclination to cheat on social benefit
systems), or without strong public enforcement mechanisms that control for moral hazard in a gen-
erous and efficient social security system (Viebrock & Clasen, 2009). Apart from civic attitudes and
mentality, there are other factors at play that make the Danish model unique. As Bredgaard, Larsen
and Madsen (2005) point out, Denmark’s positive labour market and overall growth performance is
the result of a long evolutionary process, rooted in particular historical pre-conditions and firmly
supported by stable state institutions and social compromises between capital and labour; the capac-
ity for change and the adaptability of both businesses and workers, their involvement in the drafting
and implementation of legislation, and the increased sense of responsibility of the trade unions
towards economic development, have been at the heart of the Danish success. The resilience of the

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