Hans Sjögren

A Note on Employment and Gross Domestic Product in Swedish Family-Owned Businesses: A Descriptive Analysis

The Swedish government gathers information that helps identify family-owned businesses and enabled the authors to analyze every business in the economy over a longer period than has heretofore been reported. Using these data, the authors found that family-owned businesses account for up to one fourth of total employment and one fifth of gross domestic product in Sweden. These shares have increased over time due, in part, to economic policy. The authors compare their findings with other studies and suggest how Sweden and other governments might make family firm data more readily available for researchers.

Characteristics of Collaboration in Product Innovation in the Regional System of Innovation of East Gothia

The focus of this article is on product innovations introduced by firms (establishments) and the collaborations they enter into with other firms and organizations in carrying out this activity. The theoretical framework combines innovation theories with the literature on regional innovation systems and the knowledge-based economy. Empirically we have investigated characteristics of collaboration among manufacturing establishments in the region of East Gothia in Sweden, with specific focus on the number of employees involved in the innovation projects, mechanisms of knowledge transfer between organizations, as well as financing and patenting in relation to product innovations.

Family Capitalism within Big Business

Abstract The article addresses central questions in the research of family business, corporate governance and the transformation of Swedish industry. The analysis is drawn from the example of the Wallenberg family in Sweden, an industrial dynasty of five generations. Ideas of ownership and overriding values are discussed in relation to pressures of change in international industries. In detail, the article deals with 1) the concepts of corporate governance, long-term active ownership and networking capacity and the chronology of successful family capitalism, 2) the pressures for change experienced in early post-World War II Swedish industry in general and in the three multinational companies in particular, 3) how the owners and top management of the three companies responded strategically to these pressures and 4) the extent to which the provision of capital was accompanied by industrial competence or if simple patience on the part of capital was sufficient.

New Perspectives on Economic Crime

Economic crime is, by definition, crime committed to gain profit within an otherwise legitimate business. Examples are illegal pollution, brand name infringement and tax evasion. The victims of suc ...

Why do Banking Crises Occur? An Evolutionary Model of Swedish Banking Crises

About 150 systemic banking crises have been documented globally throughout the period 1980–2009, where the latest are emanating from extensive sub-prime loans in the United States. As a contrast, no such crises were registered for the preceding 25 years. Reflecting on this historical process, academic interest in banking crises was almost nonexistent in mainstream economics during the post-war era. After 1990, however, this growth in the number of banking crises has spawned a substantial expansion of research into the causes and consequences of financial instability. The crisis related to sub-prime loans in the U.S. gives further interest into this type of study.

Has the Control-Oriented Industrial Finance Syste Faded Away? : A Comparative Analysis of Japan and Sweden

Abstract This article compares financial groups in Japan and Sweden in order to examine functional and structural changes and continuities since the 1980s. The main question is to what extent controlling blocks and symbiotic relationships to banks have faded away in favor of arms length distance between actors and a more market-oriented system reminiscent of those in the United Kingdom and the United States. The article gives an insight into how the industrial finance system in Japan and Sweden have responded to the deregulation of the credit market in the 1980s, the financial and industrial crises in the early 1990s and early twenty-first century, and the globalization of markets and businesses. The choice of Japan and Sweden is motivated by the fact that these countries by tradition have been two of the strongest representatives of a control-oriented industrial finance system in the world. In this article, a diachronic and synchronic comparative analysis is used, with focus on four distinctive parameters of the industrial finance system: ownership and control, bank relationships, crisis management and personal networks. The article draws on empirical findings from a variety of sources, including archives.

Shipping as gambling:: Governance mechanisms and the 1984 bankruptcy of saléninvest

Abstract This article analyses the reasons behind the bankruptcy of Seienlnvesi in 1984, the largest Swedish shipping firm at that time. From a profitable and prominent position in the international shipping industry, the firm over ten years time reached a point where its financial strength was totally ruined. Since Seteninvest was one of many shipping firms that suffered from the OPEC I and OPEC II crises, external reasons have to be considered. However, since many other financially-distressed shipping firms were able to solve their problems, there were also certain internal causes behind the business failure of Saleninvest. The analytical scheme presented distinguishes between formal institutions and strategies (policy conditions), the factors that influenced the state of the playing-field and the resources and skills of the players (spatial and economic conditions). A further distinction is made between structural and organisational conditions.

The Timing of the Popping : Using the Log-Periodic Power Law Model to Predict the Bursting of Bubbles on Financial Markets

The occurrence and unpredictability of speculative bubbles on financial markets, and their accompanying crashes, have confounded economists and economic historians worldwide. We examine the ability ...

The Two Declines of Swedish Shipping

Over the last five decades the structure of the shipping industry has changed dramatically, and in this process numerous players and countries have declined, while others have prospered. Sweden, once home to vibrant shipping and shipbuilding industries, is a prime example of a maritime centre in decline. In 1960 Swedish shipping companies controlled approximately 2.9 per cent of the world fleet, but after 1973 the Swedish position was heavily eroded. By 2010 the figure was well below 1 per cent, and the Swedish industry itself currently anticipates a further decline (Sveriges Redareforening, 2010). A comparison of the structure of the industry in the late 1950s with the 2010 situation clearly demonstrates the magnitude of the decline.

The Transformation of Swedish Shipping, 1970–2010

Since the early 1970s, as shipping has undergone a period of structural change, Swedish shipping has rapidly declined from a position of global importance. The Swedish-controlled fleet has dwindled ...