Samfundsøkonomi

Samfundsøkonomi is the study of how societies allocate scarce resources to meet the needs and preferences of their members, balancing efficiency with equity. It covers both microeconomic analysis of households and firms and macroeconomic analysis of aggregates such as growth, employment, inflation, and public finance, with particular attention to outcomes for society as a whole, including welfare, income distribution, and sustainability. The term is used in Danish- and Norwegian-speaking contexts to denote the economics of society or policy-oriented economics.

Key topics include taxation and public expenditure, welfare-state design, labor markets, education and health economics, environmental and resource economics, public goods and externalities, and issues of inequality and development. Institutions, governance, and policy frameworks—such as regulation, subsidies, and social insurance—are central to many analyses. Methodologically, samfundsøkonomi relies on economic theory, empirical econometrics, and policy evaluation techniques, including cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses, simulations, and experiments where feasible.

Data commonly used include national accounts, household and firm surveys, and labor statistics, alongside macroeconomic indicators. The field informs public decision-making by analyzing trade-offs between efficiency and equity, growth and stability, and short-term policy versus long-term sustainability. Education in samfundsøkonomi prepares graduates for work in government ministries, think tanks, academia, international organizations, and private sector roles in consulting, finance, and research. Critics note challenges in measuring welfare, capturing distributional effects, and avoiding normative bias in policy recommendations.