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In recent years, there has been lively discussion in Finland on why the country does not have more young and fast-growing companies. These debates usually lack historical perspective. Entrepreneurship has always existed in Finland. Yet, the operational environment, values, gender roles and social structures have had an impact throughout history on who is willing and able to establish a company. These factors also influence the ability and willingness of new companies to grow. History can provide us with insights into why the Finnish economy has certain weaknesses, for example a lack of economic and social diversity and a shortage of old and successful middle-sized companies as well as younger high-growth companies. The most successful startup period in Finland was 1850–1914. Many of the companies founded during that time grew quite large. Since then, it has been more difficult for the country to replicate this early success.

Eero O. Erkko (1899–1969) oli diplomi-insinööri, kemisti, nationalisti ja Helsingin Sanomien omistajasuvun jäsen. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan hänen urakehitystään ja toimintaansa maailmansotien välisenä aikana. Erkko halusi vahvistaa kotimaansa taloutta ja heikentää ulkomaalaisten roolia. Työtoverina hän oli vaikea. Erkko työskenteli useiden valtionyritysten palveluksessa ja heittäytyi innolla mukaan niiden sisäisiin valtataisteluihin. Erkon voimakkain ase oli julkisuus: hän ujutti sukulehtensä sivuille epäedullisia artikkeleita valtionyritysten johtajien toiminnasta. Lopulta lahjakkaan, mutta monia siltoja polttaneen, diplomi-insinöörin oli vaikea löytää uutta työtä, joten hän päätti muuttaa Yhdysvaltoihin., Eero O. Erkko (1899–1969) was a Finnish engineer, chemist, nationalist and a member of the family, which owned Helsingin Sanomat. In this article, we look at his career and actions during the interwar years. Erkko wanted to strengthen Finnish economy and weaken the role of foreigners. As a colleague, he was difficult. Erkko worked for a number of state-owned companies, and participated eagerly in their internal power struggles. His strongest weapon was publicity: He planted negative articles on the managers on the pages of his family paper. Eventually, the talented engineer had burned so many bridges that it was hard for him to find a new job. Therefore, he decided to move to the United States.

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Kirja-arvostelu teoksesta: David Edgerton, The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth-Century History. Paperback edition, Penguin Books 2019. A book review of David Edgerton, The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth-Century History. Paperback edition, Penguin Books 2019. Non

When the United States and its leading Western European allies decided at the end of the 1940s to limit exports of strategic raw materials, products, and technology to communist countries, this policy came into conflict with the desire of many non-communist European countries not to take part in the East-West conflict. Many of these nations were also eager to trade with Eastern Europe. In this chapter, we explore the role of neutral countries in the context of Western embargo. Such an exercise was last completed in 1968, although many scholars have since looked at individual countries. We seek answers to a few interrelated key questions: How did the Western alliance, and in particular the United States, try to incorporate Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland within the Western alliance’s export control system, usually known as the CoCom? 1 How did these neutral countries respond? How successful were the Americans and their allies in their efforts?

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Book review. Reviewed book: Familjedynastier: så blev Sverige rikt [Family dynasties: How Sweden became rich] by Hans Sjögren. Stockholm: Volante, 2017. 190 pp. ISBN 978-91-88123-92-3. Non

Kirja-arvio. Arvioitu teos: Suomen rahoitusmarkkinoiden murros 1980-luvulla: Oikeushistoriallinen tutkimus [The transformation of the Finnish financial markets in the 1980s: A study of legal history] by Markus Kari, Helsinki, Into Kustannus Oy, 2016, 563 pp., ISBN: 978-952-264-631-6. Non

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library. Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla. Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler. Albert O. Hirschman argued in 1945 that asymmetrical interdependence is an important source of power for the less-dependent country. Since then, many scholars have supported this argument. However, students of asymmetrical interdependence have given little attention to the administrative aspects of trade or to the significance of trade regimes. Most have assumed that governments can manipulate trade relations if they wish in order to use them as tools of policy. In this thesis it will be argued that the ability of a government to do this is crucially dependent on institutional factors, particularly regarding its ability to control foreign trade. A government that has inadequate regulatory tools to direct the flow of trade cannot benefit from asymmetrical dependence. This kind of dependence is therefore not as important a source of economic power to the government of a larger country as most scholars seem to think. During the period looked at in this study, Argentina, Denmark and Finland were all strongly dependent on the UK for trade. Based on the theories of asymmetrical interdependence, one could conclude that the British government must have been capable of putting effective pressure on these smaller countries. In the 1930s this was certainly the case, but after the war the British influence declined dramatically. In the cases of Finland and Argentina, this initially reflected a British need to buy primary products from these countries. However, in the long run, the main factor that reduced the British government’s bargaining power was the liberalisation of foreign trade that occurred during the 1950s and 1960s. After liberalisation, most foreign goods entered the UK without government involvement; it was difficult for the authorities to cut or limit this trade simply because they wanted to put pressure on those countries that were reluctant to buy enough British goods. Furthermore, as the other governments similarly relinquished control of their foreign trade, their ability to implement policies beneficial to the British declined. This study is mostly based on the previously classified internal records of the British government, as well as on published works.