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To Mr. Moro, and all,

Some time ago, you sent an inquiry on literature relevant to security,
broadly conceptualized.  In itself, as I'm sure you're aware, the concept
is too broad and needs to be broken down by considering various differing
aspects of the human condition in which security may be desired.  We need
in other words to ask the question:  security of what, and security against
what? There are mainly three areas in which I'm familiar enough with
literature and contacts to make recommendations for further reading:  job
security as guaranteed by state employment regulations, income security as
addressed through social insurance and services, and finally individual
security of life and property.  Relevant references, which may be of more
general interest to this list, are itemized under these respective headings
in a P.S., but need to be discussed somewhat more with references to the
other questions you raised in your original mail.  Their authors often
evaluate their object of study differently:  some see security as
desirable, others as having negative unintended effects.
        There are of course many different ways of measuring and assessing the
degrees of security in these respects prevailing for people living in
different societies.  In your mail, you called for theoretical and
empirical work on such different approaches to conceptualizing security,
preferably at an intermediate level of aggregation.  I believe that "level
of living" studies as pursued mainly by Scandinavian welfare researchers
may position themselves in the kind of middle ground you seek, between the
UN's gross welfare measures and locally specific program evaluations.  For
comparisons of these various traditions, see the asterisked reference by
Robert Erikson in the P.S. below.
        The survey data these Scandinavian researchers have worked with actually
cover a number of the aspects of "security" discussed above, including
security of life and property.  With respect to exposure of individuals to
criminal acts, there is data available for 1981 and 1991 in the Swedish
Level of Living Survey, a longitudinal interview study of living conditions
for 4,000-odd Swedish residents conducted at my home institute in 1968,
1974, 1981 and 1991.  Much of the literature published on the basis of this
data is unfortunately in Swedish, and the data on security of life and
property appears thus far underanalyzed in all available sources.  In a
recent survey, minor increases in exposure to crime are noted for Sweden in
recent years:  the percentual share of those interviewed who in the last
year had been victims of theft, property crimes, violence or threats
thereof increased between 1981 and 1991 from 18 to 22 percent (Tham 1994).
If you are interested in more details on this data, as well as on any
likely explanations for the trend, you are advised to contact the author,
Henrik Tham, at the Department of Criminology, Stockholm University (10691
Stockholm, Sweden).
        As far as security against environmental degradation and collective
violence are concerned, I'd have to plead greater ignorance for now.
General environmental reference sources I can recommend in the area are the
recurring State of the World reports from the Worldwatch Institute.  With
regard to collective violence, try the recurring World Military Expenditure
reports as well as other publications disseminated by SIPRI, the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (with a website at
http://www.sipri.se/), as well as publications possibly available through
the Carter Centre.  Hope all of this helps in getting you started.

Eero Carroll
Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University

References:

(general)

**Eriksson, Robert.  1993.  ”Descriptions of inequality:  The Swedish
approach to welfare research.”  In Nussbaum, Martha and Amartya Sen (Eds).
The Quality of Life.  Clarendon Press, Oxford.  pp. 67-83.

(job security)

OECD (1994).  The OECD Jobs Study.  Paris.

Lazear, Paul.  1990.  "Job Security Provisions and Employment."  Quarterly
Journal of Economics 105, 699-726.

Bentolila, S. and G. Bertola.  1990.  "Firing Costs and Labour Demand:  How
Bad is Eurosclerosis?"  Review of Economic Studies 57, 381-402.

Bertola, G.  1990.  "Job Security, Wages and Employment", European Economic
Review 34, 851-879.

(security of income, income equality)

Korpi, Walter.  1995.  ”The Position of the Elderly in the Welfare State:
Comparative     Perspectives on Old-Age Care in Sweden.”  Social Service
Review 69(2), 242-273.

OECD (1995).  Income Distribution in OECD Countries:  The Evidence from the
Luxembourg Income Study (LIS).  Paris.

Palme, Joakim.  1990.  Pension Rights in Welfare Capitalism. Dissertation
Series No. 14.  Swedish Institute for Social Research.

Smeeding, Timothy et al.  1993.  "Poverty, Inequality, and Family Living
Standards Impacts Across Seven Nations:  The Effect of Noncash Subsidies
for Health, Education and Housing."  Review of Income and Wealth 39(3):
229-256.

(security of life and property) (lots more refs. here than I know of..)

Tham, Henrik (1994).  "Oekar marginaliseringen i Sverige?" (Is
Marginalization Increasing in Sweden?) In Fritzell, Johan and Olle Lundberg
(Eds.), Vardagens Villkor (The Conditions of Everyday Life in Sweden).
Stockholm:  Brombergs.


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