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Privatisation and Public Ownership in Finland

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  • Johan Willner

Abstract

Finland’s state-enterprise sector has been larger than in most countries and included several manufacturing companies. These were usually established because of a scarcity of private venture capital, with a mission to contribute to industrialisation. Some companies have now been privatised in a process that has been fairly successful in its stated aims of generating revenues and achieving industrial restructuring. But the state-owned companies have also been fairly successful, so there is no evidence of improved financial performance or cost efficiency despite stronger focus on profits. Costs have on the other hand often been reduced in traditional public-sector industries, where private provision has increased with deregulation and/or competitive tendering and more commercial objectives. The consequences for allocative efficiency are however ambiguous, because of changes in quality and working conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Johan Willner, 2003. "Privatisation and Public Ownership in Finland," CESifo Working Paper Series 1012, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Bozec & Mohamed Dia & Gaétan Breton, 2006. "Ownership–efficiency relationship and the measurement selection bias," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(5), pages 733-754, December.
    2. Filippo Belloc, 2014. "Innovation in State-Owned Enterprises: Reconsidering the Conventional Wisdom," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 821-848.
    3. Jordan Rosenblum, 2024. "Politics, markets, and CEO pay: a congruence analysis of two competing theoretical explanations of executive compensation at large firms in Finland," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 413-444, February.
    4. Rainer Bartel, 2007. "Der öffentliche Sektor in der Defensive," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 33(2), pages 199-230.
    5. Hall, Derek, 2010. "Transport geography and new European realities: a critique," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 1-13.

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    Keywords

    privatisation; public ownership; Finland;
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