3. Case studies
3.1. Norway
Norway is known for being the country with the highest taxes in the world. The authorities collect taxes from discretionary spending, automobiles, cosmetics, alcohol and tobacco. Not only do people help the government to collect more money for welfare this way, but they also diminish ther vices and reduce the pollution by not owing pollutant cars. Nevertheless, the highest government revenue comes from VAT collection. The standard VAT rate is 25%, for food, 15% for drinks and 8% for movie theatre tickets and public transportation. As a consequence, Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world. However, the government decided to cut the corporate taxes in order to attract foreign investors, who are …show more content…
The system as a whole contributes to a steady economic growth and shows its efficiency through a low unemployment level (only 4.8%) for a population of 5.3 million people.
3.2. Sweden
Environmental issues are present everywhere nowadays, including in Sweden, despite its low density population. These concernshave a strong international focus due to Sweden’s international interdependencies prompted by its entry into the European Union and other Nordic cooperative initiatives.
One of the most persistent environmental issues is plastic pollution in the oceans, which threatens aquatic life. The solution proposed by the Swedish governments consists of banning the use of micro plastic in some cosmetic products and implementing a program to help municipalities clean the beaches.
The program will allow local authorities to file for a grant in order to organise activities with the purpose of cleaning the environment, facilitate both tourism and day-to-day life in the vicinity of the beaches and save numerous types of fish. Its allocated budget reaches 17 million SEK per year and it was implemented in March …show more content…
Firstly, teachers are given the same status as doctors and lawyers and they are required to have a master’s degree. Aside from this, their starting salaries are above the OECD average.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, there are no tuition fees. As a consequence, they have the highest rate of students who go to college of all European countries, approximately 66%, and 96% of Finns graduate from high-school, as shown in Fig. 5.
And lastly, the children start school at the age of seven in a lax but creativity-oriented environment that allows them to both learn and grow as people. There is only one standardised test that pupils take at the age of 16.
It is worth mentioning that the drop-out rate in Finland is less than 1%, almost non-existent.
Something interesting in the Finnish educational system is that it is decentralized, there are no school inspectors, and there is a very high trust in the skills of the teachers.‘Our educational system is based on sampling, not on hierarchy. The purpose of the evaluation is to support development and learning,’ says Reijo Aholainen, experienced educational policy
3.1. Norway
Norway is known for being the country with the highest taxes in the world. The authorities collect taxes from discretionary spending, automobiles, cosmetics, alcohol and tobacco. Not only do people help the government to collect more money for welfare this way, but they also diminish ther vices and reduce the pollution by not owing pollutant cars. Nevertheless, the highest government revenue comes from VAT collection. The standard VAT rate is 25%, for food, 15% for drinks and 8% for movie theatre tickets and public transportation. As a consequence, Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world. However, the government decided to cut the corporate taxes in order to attract foreign investors, who are …show more content…
The system as a whole contributes to a steady economic growth and shows its efficiency through a low unemployment level (only 4.8%) for a population of 5.3 million people.
3.2. Sweden
Environmental issues are present everywhere nowadays, including in Sweden, despite its low density population. These concernshave a strong international focus due to Sweden’s international interdependencies prompted by its entry into the European Union and other Nordic cooperative initiatives.
One of the most persistent environmental issues is plastic pollution in the oceans, which threatens aquatic life. The solution proposed by the Swedish governments consists of banning the use of micro plastic in some cosmetic products and implementing a program to help municipalities clean the beaches.
The program will allow local authorities to file for a grant in order to organise activities with the purpose of cleaning the environment, facilitate both tourism and day-to-day life in the vicinity of the beaches and save numerous types of fish. Its allocated budget reaches 17 million SEK per year and it was implemented in March …show more content…
Firstly, teachers are given the same status as doctors and lawyers and they are required to have a master’s degree. Aside from this, their starting salaries are above the OECD average.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, there are no tuition fees. As a consequence, they have the highest rate of students who go to college of all European countries, approximately 66%, and 96% of Finns graduate from high-school, as shown in Fig. 5.
And lastly, the children start school at the age of seven in a lax but creativity-oriented environment that allows them to both learn and grow as people. There is only one standardised test that pupils take at the age of 16.
It is worth mentioning that the drop-out rate in Finland is less than 1%, almost non-existent.
Something interesting in the Finnish educational system is that it is decentralized, there are no school inspectors, and there is a very high trust in the skills of the teachers.‘Our educational system is based on sampling, not on hierarchy. The purpose of the evaluation is to support development and learning,’ says Reijo Aholainen, experienced educational policy