In the Nordic welfare model, and especially in the Finnish welfare model, public services have been produced only by government agencies. During the past twenty years, that tradition has changed due to extensive reforms in the public sector. The normative foundation of the Nordic welfare model has been based on four specific elements which are large-scale public responsibility, social-political equality, full employment, and strong income redistribution. In the case of Finland, changes in the normative basis of the welfare model have occurred in the partial abatement of regional equality, full employment and income redistribution. However, publicly financed collective responsibility for welfare is still a very strongly rooted value in Finland. (Heikkilä 2005: 1.)