KJCKorea
Journal Central

This study examines how the Nordic labour market model’s capacity to protect outsiders has been reconfigured under the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on Sweden and Finland. Although the Nordic model has traditionally been regarded as effective in containing labour market dualisation through strong trade unions, extensive collective bargaining coverage, active labour market policies, and generous unemployment protection, AI-driven reductions in recruitment and entry-level jobs may leave young labour market entrants and workers with limited employment histories inadequately protected. The analysis demonstrates that, despite following different reform trajectories, both countries have developed increasingly insider-oriented protection structures. Decentralised collective bargaining has widened the representational gap between incumbent workers and new jobseekers, while retraining support has increasingly favoured workers with established employment histories. Stricter eligibility conditions and lower unemployment benefits have also reinforced disparities based on employment history and unemployment fund membership. These findings suggest that the Nordic model has not simply weakened; rather, access to protective resources has been reconfigured in ways that favour insiders. As AI further constrains pathways into the labour market, these institutional asymmetries may deepen.

This study examines how ESG and green industrial transition discourses are politically constructed and transformed through an analysis of Swedish parliamentary discourse surrounding the battery company Northvolt. Drawing on parliamentary documents from the Swedish Riksdag, this study collected and analyzed a corpus related to Northvolt using Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework, focusing on core representations, actor construction, legitimization strategies, the construction of risks and costs, and processes of politicization. The findings show that, in the early stages, Northvolt was represented as a strategic project capable of simultaneously achieving green industrial transition and national competitiveness, while environmental protection and industrial growth were framed as mutually compatible goals. However, over time, issues such as electricity supply, housing shortages, public financial burdens, and investment risks became increasingly visible, intensifying tensions within the existing discourse. In particular, following Northvolt's bankruptcy, political conflicts surrounding government intervention and industrial policy failure deepened, leading to the politicization of ESG and green industrial transition discourses themselves. Nevertheless, despite these tensions and ruptures, the legitimacy of green industrial transition did not completely collapse. This study interprets this phenomenon as reflecting the characteristic of “contingent stability” within the Swedish ESG discourse.

This study provides an in-depth case analysis of the social responsibility and sustainability investment practices of AMF-Pension, a Swedish occupational pension fund under joint labor-management ownership. This study aims to raise awareness and derive policy implications for implementing socially responsible and sustainability investment that remain a blind spot in Korean occupational pension asset management, which is currently undergoing a major transition amid ongoing discussions to introduce trust-based retirement pensions involving labor, management, and public entities. Although AMF Pension started as a collective pension manager for blue-collar workers, it has now become a major player in the Swedish occupational pension market. As of 2024, it manages approximately 4.5 million accounts with total assets under management (AUM) exceeding SEK 849billion, while achieving a low-cost operation with a 0.11% expense ratio and a high long-term return averaging around 7% over 15 years. The analysis reveals that AMF-Pension integrates social responsibility and sustainability into its entire asset portfolio and across all types of investments rather than managing separate ESG funds, thereby embedding these principles into every stage of the investment process. In particular, AMF-Pension goes beyond simple investment exclusion to practice active shareholder engagement. Regarding the Environment(E), the funds operates a Carbon Budgets and conducts Structured Advocacy under its 2050 Net-Zero target. In terms of the Social(S), it has pursued active shareholder activism concerning labor rights at high-tech companies like Apple and Tesla. For Governance(G), it has actively promoted gender-balanced boards through participation in nomination committees. These efforts have played a highly positive role in driving corporate climate action and achieving gender balance. This case suggests that for Korean occupational pensions in this transitional phase, several shifts are necessary. First, A paradigm shift to recognize that socially responsible and sustainable investment serves as a tool for enhancing long-term returns and managing risk. Second, The establishment of guidelines for socially responsible and sustainable investment that align with international standards. Third, The introduction of an operational framework to execute these guidelines, alongside alternative long-term evaluation methods.