Ratio is an interdisciplinary research institute, with a research focus on the conditions of business and enterprise.

08-441 59 00 info@ratio.se

802002-5212

Sveavägen 59 4trp

11359 Stockholm

Bankgiro: 512-6578

Publications Seminars People

Popular

Labour market research

Competitiveness research

Climate and environmental research

PublicationBook

Bureaucrats or Markets in Innovation Policy?

Abstract

How can innovation best be promoted? Based on a major interdisciplinary research program
with a special focus on Sweden, paired with international research, this book shows that targeted
interventions and firm subsidies do not have the intended effects but instead creates policy failures,
government waste and rent-seeking.

Instead, innovation policy should focus on supplying the right competencies and on improving the
institutions of the market economy and the general
conditions for enterprise.

Markets rather than bureaucrats are decisive for
innovation, industrial development and growth.

Sandström, C., Wennberg, K. & Karlson, N. (2019). Bureaucrats or Markets in Innovation Policy? Stockholm: Ratio.

Details

Author: Sandström, C., Wennberg, K. & Karlson, N.
Publication year: 2019
Published in: Stockholm: Ratio

Related

Professor
Karl Wennberg
+46705105366karl.wennberg@ratio.se
Professor, Founder and former CEO
Nils Karlson
+46708670351nils.karlson@ratio.se

Similar content

Article (with peer review)

Public Sector Innovation

Publication year

2026

Published in

Administrative Science Quarterly

Abstract

Wennberg, K. (2026). Public Sector Innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Article (with peer review)

Competition and Voice in Public Education: Evidence from Sweden

Sebhatu, A., Wennberg, K., Lakomaa, E., & Brandén, M.

Publication year

2026

Published in

Education Finance and Policy, 1-40

Abstract

While numerous studies examine the effects of school competition on student performance, little research directly addresses a key critique of competition: its potential to negatively affect parental engagement and voice. We draw on Hirschman’s theory of voice to argue that voucher-based school competition increases opportunities for exit but may crowd out voice. To assess the causal effects of competition on parental voice, we employ a robust two-way fixed effects difference-in-differences framework, comparing municipalities in Sweden that introduced competition with those that did not. Our findings indicate that school complaints decline following the introduction of competition. This decrease in voice is driven by neither a decrease in problems in school nor by changes in teaching staff quality or attrition. This suggests that the decrease in complaints is driven not by an increase in school quality but rather by a substitution from voice to exit.

Article (with peer review)

Insider activism in the forest industry: An emerging phenomenon?

Grafström, J., & Karlson, N.

Publication year

2026

Published in

Forest Policy and Economics, 185, 103732

Abstract

Insider activism refers to situations where public officials use administrative discretion to advance personal or ideological preferences. Although the concept has received increasing attention in organizational and political science research, empirical evidence remains limited. This research note examines whether insider activism may influence regulatory practice in the Swedish forestry sector and how perceived enforcement uncertainty affects forest owners’ behavior. A survey of forest owner representatives in southern Sweden indicates low trust in regulatory objectivity and weak perceptions of legal security. Many respondents report experiences of officials acting beyond their formal mandate. The findings suggest that perceived activism-driven uncertainty encourages defensive strategies among forest owners, including early harvesting and reduced willingness to report environmental values.