| 1. |
- Braunerhjelm, Pontus, et al.
(författare)
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The Old and the New : The Evolution of Polymer and Biomedical Clusters in Ohio and in Sweden
- 2000
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Ingår i: Journal of evolutionary economics. - : Springer. - 0936-9937 .- 1432-1386. ; 10:5, s. 471-488
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper examines the rapid growth of the polymer-based and biomedical clusters in Ohio and Sweden – two regions of similar size and with similar traditions undergoing similar industrial restructuring.Two issues are addressed: First, why has growth been so strong in these particular clusters, i.e., can we identify the sources of the growth and dynamics in these sectors? Second, why do these two clusters differ in Ohio and Sweden in terms of size, level and type of activity, number and composition of actors, size structure of firms and growth patterns over the last couple of decades? In particular, what is the role of public policies as well as cultural, historical, and geographic factors?Our main conclusions are (1) that there is strong path dependence in both clusters in both countries, and (2) that the key to rapid development is a high absorptive capacity combined with rapid diffusion to new potential users. Our policy discussion addresses these issues.
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| 2. |
- Henrekson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Where Schumpeter Was Nearly Right--The Swedish Model and Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
- 2001
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Ingår i: Journal of evolutionary economics. - : Springer. - 1432-1386 .- 0936-9937. ; 11:3, s. 331-358
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy Joseph A. Schumpeter concluded that socialism would eventually displace capitalism in Western democracies. This would come about as a result of the superior performance of capitalism. We extract six “stylized” propositions that are essential elements of Schumpeter's prediction about the fate of capitalism. These propositions are confronted with the development of the Swedish economy. The three main results of the analysis are: (1) The evolution of the Swedish economy closely followed Schumpeter's predictions until about 1980: Large firms became increasingly predominant in production and innovative activity, ownership of firms became more and more concentrated, individual entrepreneurship waned in importance, the general public grew increasingly hostile towards capitalism, and by the late 1970s explicit proposals for a gradual transfer of ownership of firms from private hands were launched. (2) Design of tax and industrial policies fueled a development of the economy along the lines predicted by Schumpeter. In general, the policies discouraged private wealth accumulation. In particular, the policies favored concentration of firms and concentration of private ownership. (3) The turning point away from the path to socialism coincides with real world developments that disclosed two major flaws in Schumpeter's analysis. First, the ever more obvious failure of socialism in Eastern Europe went against Schumpeter's assertion that socialism can work. Second, Schumpeter, who thought that modern technology would make the giant corporation increasingly predominant, did not foresee the revival of entrepreneurship that took place in the Western countries around 1980.
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