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The organisation of services of general interest in Finland

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  • Johan Willner
  • Sonja Gronblom

Abstract

Like in most European countries, SGIs in Finland have in recent years been subject to competition and increased private provision or privatisation. This development is motivated by expected cost reductions, by EU-regulations, by ideology and fashion, and in some cases by expected sales revenues. The empirical evaluations of SGI-reforms are few and somewhat contradictory, but the relative success of Finland?s manufacturing SOEs suggests that the public sector is hardly unable to organise efficient SGIs. A number of potential market failures suggest that public ownership should be taken seriously as an alternative to regulation. An increased emphasis on public ownership would be fairly easy to implement in Finland, because the state is still a significant owner, but EU?s policy on liberalisation and unbundling needs an overhaul.

Suggested Citation

  • Johan Willner & Sonja Gronblom, 2016. "The organisation of services of general interest in Finland," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(3), pages 89-116.
    • Handle: RePEc:fan:epepep:v:html10.3280/ep2016-003004
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    1. Luc Bernier & Massimo Florio & Johan Willner, 2016. "Rationales, performance and governance of public entreprises. Editorial introduction," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(3), pages 5-10.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • H44 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • L90 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - General

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