The transferability of welfare models: A comparison of the Scandinavian and state socialist models in relation to Finland and Estonia

In this paper, two examples of the close relationship between a national so cial welfare system, and explicit transnational influences are discussed. B ath the state socialist and Scandinavian models have a recognized structure independent of the particular countries in which they have been implemente d, although they are both associated with a home base, Russia and Sweden re spectively. Our examples, Estonia and Finland,faced both common and specifi c national problems following 1991, which fed to rapid change in each count ry's economic situation and pressure on their respective welfare systems. T here were elements of continuity and discontinuity with the main tenets of their respective welfare models, and both structural factors and cultural d iffusion will be explored to understand the origin of these changer. The pa per could be seen as a care study of welfare changes in the "borderlands" w here "old empires meet". The countries were chosen because they are periphe ral to what were rival spheres of influence and because they sec themselves as having much in common. We also expect changer to occur more rapidly in peripheral areas.