Municipally Owned Enterprises as Danger Zones for Corruption? How Politicians Having Feet in Two Camps May Undermine Conditions for Accountability

PublikationArtikel (med peer review)

Anders Gustafsson, Andreas Bergh, Bolagsstyrning, Emanuel Wittberg, Företagandets villkor, Gissur Ó. Erlingsson, IFN, Jönköping International Business School, Kommun, Linköpings universitet, Nationalekonomi, Politisk ekonomi, Statsvetenskap

Sammanfattning

The market-inspired reforms of New Public Management have been particularly pronounced in Swedish local government. Notably, municipally owned enterprises (MOEs) have rapidly grown in numbers. Principal-agent theory gives rise to the hypothesis that the massive introduction of MOEs has impacted negatively on the conditions for accountability in Swedish local government. To study this, social network analysis was employed in mapping networks for 223 MOEs in 11 strategically chosen municipalities, covering a total of 732 politicians. The analysis reveals substantial overlaps between principals (representatives of the ultimate stakeholders, citizens) and agents (the boards of the MOEs). Hence, corporatization of public services seems to imply worrisome entanglements between the politicians who are set to steer, govern, and oversee MOEs on the one hand, and the board members of MOEs on the other. The increasing numbers of MOEs may therefore have adverse effects on accountability in important and growing parts of Swedish local government.

Bergh, A., Erlingsson, G., Gustafsson, A. & Wittberg, E. (2019). Municipally Owned Enterprises as Danger Zones for Corruption? How Politicians Having Feet in Two Camps May Undermine Conditions for Accountability. Public Integrity. DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2018.1522182

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Ratio Working Paper No 343: Populism, Liberalism and the Quest for Meaning and Community

Working paperPublikation

Karlson, N.

Ladda ner

Publiceringsår

2020

Publicerat i

Ratio Working Paper

Sammanfattning

Liberalism is losing ground, while populist or even authoritarian nationalist regimes are on the rise. This paper argues that the causes of the decline are, at least partly, endogenous, that a narrow focus on economic efficiency and the successful critique of socialism and the welfare state have created an idea vacuum that has opened up for these illiberal tendencies. The conclusion is that a central challenge for liberalism is to offer a comprehensive idea and narrative about meaning and community that is not socialistic, conservative or nationalistic, but distinctly liberal, to counter these developments.

Hur många jobb med jobbskatteavdraget?

Artikel (utan peer review)Publikation

Lundberg, J.

Publiceringsår

2020

Publicerat i

Ekonomisk Debatt

Sammanfattning

Enligt ekonomisk teori kommer fler att vara villiga att arbeta ju större den finansiella vinsten av att arbeta är. I Sverige är deltagandeskatten över 80 procent för normala lönelägen, vilket innebär att staten får den allra största delen av värdet av att någon börjar arbeta. Empirisk forskning ger stöd för att högre deltagandeskatt leder till lägre sysselsättning, med starkare effekter för kvinnor med barn. Med hjälp av denna forskning kan man dra slutsatser om jobbskatteavdragets sysselsättningseffekt, som uppskattas till 94 000–180 000 personer.

The openness of open innovation in ecosystems

Artikel (med peer review)Publikation

Öberg, C., & Alexander, A.

Publiceringsår

2019

Publicerat i

Journal of Innovation & Knowledge

Sammanfattning

Open innovation has rendered increased interest both in practice and research, and has expanded from dyadic transfers of ideas, to ecosystem levels. Knowledge is at the heart of open innovation, and this paper describes and discusses knowledge-transfer linkages for open innovation. It does so based on a literature review. The paper links together open innovation research with general management research to categorise and discuss linkages among parties in terms of their openness and how they relate to knowledge management. Conclusions indicate that openness needs to be considered in different dimensions that also links to different knowledge management outcomes. The paper’s contribution consists of how it connects open innovation research to the general management literature, and how it builds a practical understanding of how linkages between firms can be categorised to aid firms to consider which mechanisms they may choose and why.

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