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

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  • Eli F. Heckscher Lectures

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  • Labour Market Research
  • Competitiveness Research
  • Climate and Environmental Research
  • Ongoing research
  • Working Paper Series

Selected publication

Absolute income mobility and the effect of parent generation inequality: An extended decomposition approach
Liss, E., Korpi, M., & Wennberg, K.
People

Publications

  • Publications
  • Publications

Selected publication

No evidence of counteracting policy effects on European solar power invention and diffusion
Grafström, J., & Poudineh, R.
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About

  • About us

    • About
    • Contact us

  • Media

    • News archive

  • Cooperations

    • Eli F. Heckscher Lectures

Research

  • Areas

    • Labour Market Research
    • Competitiveness Research
    • Climate and Environmental Research

  • Ongoing research

    • Working Paper Series
  • People

    • Publications

    • Publications

      • Publications

    Företagandets villkor i internationell belysning

    PublicationReports
    Anne-Sophie Larsson, Arbetsmarknad, Entreprenörskap, Företagandets villkor, Innovation, Karl Blom, Konkurrens, Nationalekonomi, Nils Karlson
    Företagandets villkor i internationell belysning 2015
    Download

    Abstract

    I en ny rapport har Ratio analyserat vad de nio viktigast internationella indexen om länders konkurrenskraft, regelbörda, ekonomiska frihet, entreprenörskap och innovationsförmåga säger om det svenska företagsklimatet. Trots flera topplaceringar har Sveriges position i förhållande till viktiga konkurrentländer försämrats.

    Karlson, N., Larsson, A-S. & Blom, K. (2015). Företagandets villkor i internationell belysning. Rapport, 9 november. Ratio.

    Details

    Author

    Karlson, N., Larsson, A-S. & Blom, K.

    Publication year

    2015

    Related

    Nils Karlson
    Professor, Founder and former CEO

    +46708670351

    nils.karlson@ratio.se

    Similar content

    Working Paper No. 383 Insider activism in the forest industry: An empirical public choice analysis
    Working paperPublication
    Jonas Grafström & Nils Karlson
    Download
    Publication year

    2025

    Published in

    Ratio Working Paper Series

    Abstract

    Insider activism—where bureaucrats use discretionary power to advance own ideological goals—has significant implications for regulatory stability and property rights security. Using the Swedish forestry industry as a case study, the purpose of this study is to investigate if insider activism affects the Swedish forestry sector and how such possible regulatory uncertainty influences economic decision-making. Assembled survey data suggest that forest owners perceive regulatory enforcement as unpredictable, leading to defensive actions such as premature harvesting to preempt restrictive future regulations. To explain these patterns, we apply public choice theory and a game-theoretic approach, demonstrating how bureaucratic drift, regulatory ratcheting, and time-inconsistency problems contribute to persistent distortions in forestry policies. Policy wise, the findings emphasize the need for judicial review, regulatory impact assessments, and clearer legislative mandates to reduce enforcement uncertainty and improve institutional trust. This research advances discussions on bureaucratic incentives, regulatory capture, and legal certainty in environmental policy.

    Reviving Classical Liberalism Against Populism
    BookPublication
    Karlson, N. (2024). Reviving Classical Liberalism Against Populism. Palgrave Macmillan Cham.
    Publication year

    2024

    Published in

    Palgrave Macmillan Cham.

    Abstract

    How can we fight back against the populist threat to liberty, free markets, and the open society?

    This open access book by Nils Karlson explores the strategies used by left- and right-wing populists to make populism intelligible, recognizable, and contestable. Karlson argues that to fight back requires the revival of liberalism itself by defending and developing the liberal institutions, the liberal spirit, liberal narratives, and liberal statecraft. The book presents a synthesized explanatory model for how populists promote autocratization through the deliberate polarization of society and traces the ideational roots of the core populist ideas that form a collectivistic identity politics. Written within the tradition of political theory and institutional economics, this book uses a wide variety of sources, including results and analyses from social psychology, ethics, law, and history.

    The book is open source and can be downloaded through the link below.

    Third-Generation Innovation Policy: System Transformation or Reinforcing Business as Usual?
    Book chapterPublication
    Bergkvist, J. E., Moodysson, J., & Sandström, C.
    Publication year

    2022

    Published in

    Questioning the Entrepreneurial State, 201.

    Abstract

    There has been a shift in innovation policy in recent years toward more focus on systemic transformation and changed directionality. In this chapter, we describe a collection of challenges that such policies need to address. Based on a review of dominant frameworks regarding socio-technical transitions, we compare these theories with examples of innovation policy in different countries. Systemic transformation across an economy usually requires a process of creative destruction in which new competencies may be required, actors need to be connected in novel ways, and institutions may need to be changed. Our empirical illustrations show that support programs and initiatives across Europe do not always seem to result in such a process, as they include mechanisms favoring large, established firms and universities. These actors have often fine-tuned their activities and capabilities to the existing order, and therefore have few incentives to engage in renewal. As the incumbent actors also control superior financial and relational resources, there is a risk that they captivate innovation policies and thus reinforce established structures rather than contributing to systemic transformation.

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