This paper investigates the regulation of publicly organized early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Denmark and Sweden, through the regulatory welfare state (RWS) framework. The analysis focuses on how alterations in funding and quality of care are shaped by governmental and nongovernmental actors at national and local levels of government. Through focused structured analysis, we examine how various actors have shaped the funding and quality of childcare in Denmark and Sweden, from the early 2000s to 2020, with special attention to the period during and after the 2008 financial crisis. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, concerns about quality in care were raised on the political agenda by various actors in both countries, leading to decisions to improve the quality of care. Yet, the regulatory dynamics differ: In Denmark, the debate led to a decision in 2019, to implement a minimum statutory requirement of regulatory quality standards. From an RWS perspective, this outcome can be qualified as “double expansion,” because regulatory quality standards, and public funding for childcare increased. In Sweden, the debates about quality of ECEC led, in 2016, to political guidelines about quality standard, but with no additional national funds, and no mandatory regulatory quality requirements. Analytically, this can be qualified as “regulatory-led expansion,” that is requirements for quality standards, although the lack of additional national funds suggests that it will be difficult to improve ECEC quality substantially. The RWS perspective, which focuses on national and municipal levels of governance, also gives insights into hidden inequalities between municipalities regarding funding and quality of ECEC, which are more pronounced in Sweden than in Denmark.

中文翻译：

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仍然是社会投资的典型代表吗？丹麦和瑞典幼儿教育和保育的监管动态不断变化

本文通过监管福利国家 (RWS) 框架调查了丹麦和瑞典对公共组织的幼儿教育和保育 (ECEC) 的监管。分析的重点是国家和地方各级政府的政府和非政府行为者如何影响资金和护理质量的变化。通过重点结构化分析，我们研究了从 2000 年代初到 2020 年，各个参与者如何影响丹麦和瑞典儿童保育的资金和质量，特别关注 2008 年金融危机期间和之后的时期。金融危机之后，两国各方面都将对护理质量的担忧提上了政治议程，从而做出了提高护理质量的决定。然而，监管动态有所不同：在丹麦，此次辩论导致 2019 年做出决定，实施监管质量标准的最低法定要求。从 RWS 的角度来看，这一结果可以称为“双重扩张”，因为监管质量标准和儿童保育公共资金的增加。在瑞典，关于 ECEC 质量的争论在 2016 年导致了有关质量标准的政治指导方针，但没有额外的国家资金，也没有强制性的监管质量要求。分析起来，这可以称为“监管主导的扩张”，即质量标准的要求，尽管缺乏额外的国家资金表明幼儿保育质量将难以大幅提高。RWS 视角侧重于国家和市级治理，