Business and government in twentieth-century Sweden: a tale of income redistribution and rent-seeking?

Lindgren, Håkan

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511550416.003

Cited by 2 publications

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“…These crises are therefore to be thought of as “formative moments” or “critical junctures” in the sense discussed above (cf. Lindgren 2003).…”

Section: The (Trans)formative Years and The Birth Of The Swedish Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The new focus rested on the conviction that the industry's efficacy in production and competitive capabilities directly affected people's income levels and standards of living, especially in a small and export‐dependent country such as Sweden. The belief that the industry's terms were decisive in attaining a durable rise in national wealth and standard of living for a majority of people led to a rapprochement between the Swedish capitalists and the labor movement (Johansson 1989; Lindgren 1994, 2003; Lundberg 1985; Therborn 1984).…”

Section: Social Exchange In the Swedish Political Economy 1930–197mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Business Groups in 20^th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective

Smångs

2008

American J Econ Sociol

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Since the interwar period, the Swedish economy has been dominated by a few business groups that control practically all Swedish industry of any importance. This article provides a sociologically informed account of the existence and lasting dominance of business groups in Sweden. In challenging efficiency‐based accounts of business groups in Sweden offered by transaction‐cost economists, I adopt a historical and dynamic approach that understands economic institutions not as efficient responses to external circumstances, such as market conditions, but as “social constructions.” This approach emphasizes the role of contingency as well as agency in the formation and reproduction of institutions. The article demonstrates the historical contingencies of the emergence of the business groups—in the form of economic crises in the interwar period—and how the groups became institutionalized in the postwar period through a process of social exchange among the key actors in the Swedish political economy: the business elite, the trade unions, and the state.

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“…These crises are therefore to be thought of as “formative moments” or “critical junctures” in the sense discussed above (cf. Lindgren 2003).…”

Section: The (Trans)formative Years and The Birth Of The Swedish Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social Exchange In the Swedish Political Economy 1930–197mentioning

confidence: 99%

Business Groups in 20^th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective

Smångs

2008

American J Econ Sociol

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From Marxist Venture to Venture Capitalists: The Swedish Wage-Earner Funds and the Market Turn, 1983–1994

Westerberg¹

2022

Enterp. Soc.

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A renewed political interest in profit sharing and employee codetermination prompts an analysis of the Swedish wage-earner funds, implemented by a Social Democratic government in 1983 and dismantled by a center-right government in 1991. This article explains the funds’ financial performance and the political decisions surrounding their dismantlement. It finds that the funds underperformed slightly in relation to financial targets. Reasons include inexperienced boards, limited investment opportunities, and a hostile attitude from the business community. For the center-right parties, getting rid of the funds was an ideological decision. Transferring the assets to research foundations and public venture capital funds would improve the business climate, compensate firms for taxes paid to finance the wage-earner funds, and ensure that the Social Democrats would not be able to reinstate the funds. The intense debate surrounding the wage-earner funds, their implementation, how they functioned in practice, and their dismantlement clearly contributed to Sweden’s sharp market turn in the 1980s and 1990s.

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Business and government in twentieth-century Sweden: a tale of income redistribution and rent-seeking?

Cited by 2 publications

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Business Groups in 20^th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective

Business Groups in 20^th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective

From Marxist Venture to Venture Capitalists: The Swedish Wage-Earner Funds and the Market Turn, 1983–1994

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Business and government in twentieth-century Sweden: a tale of income redistribution and rent-seeking?

Cited by 2 publications

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Business Groups in 20th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective

Business Groups in 20th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective

From Marxist Venture to Venture Capitalists: The Swedish Wage-Earner Funds and the Market Turn, 1983–1994

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Business Groups in 20^th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective

Business Groups in 20^th‐Century Swedish Political Economy: A Sociological Perspective