Tapio Bergholm

Globalization and the erosion of the Nordic model: A Swedish–Finnish comparison

In 1990 Swedish employers ended peak-level bargaining, while in 2007 the Finnish employers’ confederation withdrew from the tripartite bargaining system. This article compares the two events, examining the underlying dynamics of class struggle and in particular the shift in structural power resulting from the transnational organization of production. We argue that the far lower degree of transnationalization in Finland explains why the attack on the established class compromise happened much later than in Sweden and has been less successful.

Port Traffic and Structural Change in the Finnish Economy and Transport Network in the Twentieth Century

This article is based on research done with my colleagues Kari Teras and Ali Pylkkanen for the Finnish Ports Associations history project, the results of which were published as a book in Finnish in 2002. I Information on the quantity and quality of cargo, as well as the number of passengers, was collected by the authorities for each port and became basic source material for my part of the larger project. My intention here is to discuss obvious changes in the rhythm, quantity and structure of Finnish passenger traffic and foreign trade imports as well as exports and the links between these changes and the development of domestic transport networks and economic growth. This essay therefore is about the transformation of economic and social life in a peripheral country which even after the Second World War suffered from poor transport infrastructure and a serious lack of equipment. The historical development of Finnish port traffic provides a useful perspective from which to examine structural changes in transport systems, production and foreign trade. The Finnish experience is an interesting and important case study because of the countrys rapid economic growth and structural changes after 1945. My analysis includes a discussion of the processes that shaped the Finnish transport infrastructure. How did a primarily agrarian country with an underdeveloped productive capacity in 1950 become in five decades well connected to world markets? Why did Finland have such specialised import and export ports? Why have road shipments come to dominate Finnish inland transport?

Decade of Equality: Employment, Pay and Gender in Finland in the 1970s

The article discusses the great increase of female labour market participation in Finland in the 1970s. This had wider consequences for Finnish society. The phenomenon is seen in the context of the modernization of the economy, which turned the country from being largely agricultural in the 1950s to industrial thereafter. Economic growth was rapid after 1967, when the currency was devalued. In the early 1970s, however, there was a shortage of labour, largely due to emigration. This put employees in a strong bargaining position and a tradition of short successful strikes developed. Especially in 1971 and 1973 a very high number of working days was lost due to industrial conflict, while the incidence of such conflicts rose until 1976. But economic growth continued, and women joined the labour force with the support of both the Employers’ Confederation STK and the Trade Union Confederation SAK. A raft of employment legislation facilitated this development, such as the day care law of 1972 and increased maternal leave in 1974. The number of female trade union members increased dramatically. The article concludes that the 1970s were indeed a decade of equality.