About
Axel West Pedersen is professor at NOVA and the Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Oslo Metropolitan University. He is trained as a political scientist at the University of Aarhus and holds a PhD in Political and Social Science from the European University Institute in Florence. Pedersen’s research interests include historical-comparative studies of the development of pension systems, studies of welfare opinion, and studies of the consequences of welfare policies for income inequality and income poverty.
Fields of study
Academic disciplines
Subject areas
Distribution of Income Security Pension policy Welfare attitudes
Research groups
Research projects
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Children's Level of Living: The Impact of Family Economy for Children's Lives
The aim of the project was to explore how income influence different aspects of children's lives.
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Coping with Flexibility. Behavioral Adaptations to the New Pension System and their Consequences in a Lifetime Perspective
The aim of this project is to study how people adapt to the reformed pension system. In particular, we look at adaptations to the increasing flexibility offered – both in terms of savings, and in terms of job planning and ways of combining work and pension uptake.
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Crisis Management in a Polycentric Nordic Local Democracy: Different Governance Structures – Different Results? (POLYGOV)
The overall goal of the project is to identify the differences in the Nordic countries’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the outcomes thereof and to relate these differences to policy, governance, organisation and management.
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New Pension System: Legitimacy, Behavioural Effects and Sustainability (PensjonsLAB)
A long-term research contract on the issues of old age pension and labour market activity among seniors financed by The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
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Shades of Grey: Negotiating Age Norms, Class and Gender in the time of Pension Reform
How employers and employees maneuver under the new circumstances in The Norwegian pension reform.
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Sustainable Societies in the 21st Century: From Welfare States to Eco-social States (WEST)
The WEST project examines what we call the ecological dilemma of the Norwegian welfare state.
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The Work-retirement Transition
The project aims to investigate characteristics of the work-retirement transition and the factors contributing to when and how the transition takes place.
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Elstad, Jon Ivar
;
Heggebø, Kristian
;
Pedersen, Axel West
(2023).
Lønner det seg å jobbe? Inntektsutvikling blant stønadsmottakere som øker sin arbeidsdeltakelse.
15 p.
Søkelys på arbeidslivet.
https://doi.org/10.18261/spa.40.2.3
Heggebø, Kristian
;
Pedersen, Axel West
(2023).
The Norwegian Welfare State Adjusting to Crisis: Temporary Changes in Unemployment Benefit Regulations during the COVID-19 Pandemic and their Long-Term Implications.
Takle, Marianne; Vedeler, Janikke Solstad; Schoyen, Mi Ah; Bøhler, Kjetil Klette; Falch-Eriksen, Asgeir (Ed.).
Citizenship and Social Exclusion at the Margins of the Welfare State. p. 48-63.
Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003347279-5
Hellevik, Tale
;
Herlofson, Katharina
;
Pedersen, Axel West
(2023).
Hvordan måle tidspunkt for avgang fra yrkeslivet i Norge? Om ulike definisjoner, metoder og resultater.
Søkelys på arbeidslivet.
Vol. 40.
https://doi.org/10.18261/spa.40.1.3
Halvorsen, Elin;
Pedersen, Axel West
(2022).
Bidrar folketrygdens pensjonssystem til inntektsutjevning i et livsløpsperspektiv?.
Søkelys på arbeidslivet.
Vol. 39.
https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1504-7989-2022-01-02
Bay, Ann-Helén
;
Pedersen, Axel West
(2021).
The age profile of European welfare states. A source of intergenerational conflict?.
Falch-Eriksen, Asgeir; Takle, Marianne; Britt, Slagsvold (Ed.).
Generational Tensions and Solidarity Within Advanced Welfare States. p. 38-58.
Routledge.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2825698
Barth, Erling; Moene, Karl Ove (Kalle);
Pedersen, Axel West
(2021).
Rising Inequality in the Egalitarian Nordics.
Fischer, Georg; Strauss, Robert (Ed.).
Europe's Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality. p. 219-246.
Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197545706.003.0006
Pedersen, Axel West
;
Schøyen, Mi Ah
(2021).
Welfare state redistribution between overlapping generations – normative theories applied to two contemporary debates.
Falch-Eriksen, Asgeir; Takle, Marianne; Britt, Slagsvold (Ed.).
Generational Tensions and Solidarity Within Advanced Welfare States. p. 19-37.
Routledge.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2825697
Kitterød, Hege;
Grødem, Anne Skevik
;
Pedersen, Axel West
(2021).
Kjønnsgap i holdninger til pensjonssystemet – verdikamp eller økonomisk egeninteresse?.
Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning.
Vol. 24.
https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.2464-3076-2021-03-02
Pedersen, Axel West
(2021).
Approaches to minimum-income protection in old age: comparing the three Scandinavian countries.
Aidukaite, Jolanta; Hort, Sven E. O.; Kuhnle, Stein (Ed.).
Challenges to the Welfare State: Family and Pension Policies in the Baltic and Nordic Countries. p. 181-202.
Edward Elgar Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839106118.00018
Kitterød, Ragni Hege;
Pedersen, Axel West
(2020).
Deling av pensjonsrettigheter mellom ektefeller. Hva sier opinionen?.
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning.
Vol. 61.
https://doi.org/10.18261/ISSN.1504-291X-2020-03-01
