OECD: 30-50 municipalities appropriate for Finland

Organisation urges Finland to raise retirement age and implement municipal reform

Henrik Braconier

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Henrik Braconier, the head of the Finland desk of the secretariat of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development says that Finland could get by with 30 to 50 municipalities.
      “Naturally there is no single right size for a municipality, but if we consider that in health care, the benefits of scale come out best in units of about 200,000 people, then Finland could get by with between 30 and 50 municipalities.”
      Braconier and economist Christophe André released the latest OECD economic survey of Finland in Helsinki on Tuesday.
     
The survey urges Finland to implement its politically sensitive plans for municipal reform. According to the survey, extensive reforms of the municipal system are needed to shore up sustainability and efficiency. Therefore announced plans for mergers should be pushed through.”
      The survey urges Finland to raise its retirement age and to make it more difficult to retire early. The survey also calls for more incentives for elderly Finns to work as a way of boosting the supply of labour, and cutting public expenses.
      The report states that these kinds of reforms at this stage would leave space for short-term stimulus if the economic slump were to turn out to be worse than anticipated.
     
The overall picture of the Finnish economy, as depicted in the survey, is somewhat bleak.
      Finland is not seen to have recovered from the recession that started in 2008, and it is possible that unemployment may rise again.
      The organisation is calling on Finland to implement active labour market policy to soften the blows.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Government to publish municipal reform maps next week (2.2.2012)
  OECD study finds Finns spend less time on work than many others (26.4.2011)

See also:
  Working group wants to reduce municipalities from 336 to about 70 (8.2.2012)

Links:
  OECD: Economic Survey of Finland

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