Photo of Hanna Almlöf

Hanna Almlöf

Associate professor

Most companies are closely held, but in Sweden they must follow the same rules as companies with dispersed ownership. In my research I study how company law better can match the needs of owner- managed firms. In my opinion – one size doesn’t fit all.

Company law tailored for closely held businesses!

Minority protection and corporate governance issues in owner-managed firms are the main topics of my research.

As a company law scholar, my research focus is on small and medium sized companies that are owner-managed or family-owned. I’m particularly interested in corporate governance issues and minority shareholder protection. I combine this legal core with Regulation Theory and Economics of Corporate law putting special attentions to different regulation techniques. 

In my dissertation, I discuss and evaluate the regulation of organisation in limited companies from a closely held company perspective. I also study how owner-managed limited companies via flexible decision-making procedures, such as informal meetings or family council, can make lawful decisions. The study includes suggestion for policy changes.

In my current research project, I study the protection of minority shareholders from a closely held company perspective. It is a two-year study financed by Ragnar Söderberg’s Foundation.

Current teaching activities

  • Course responsible, teacher and examiner for Law of Associations - Associationsrätt, 15 ECTS, (747G64/747G65)
  • Supervisor for Master Thesis 30 ECTS (747A28)
  • Supervisor for Bachelor Thesis, 15 ECTS, (747G69)

Research project

Title: Ownership Dynamics in Closely Held Companies – Causes, Effects and Regulation 

In this interdisciplinary project, we study ownership dynamics, i.e. all types of partial ownership changes. By focusing on this topic, we go beyond the limited aspects previously discussed in the literature, namely: succession, buy-outs and business failure. We aim to deepen the understanding of what causes ownership changes (e.g. conflicts, death or sales), who acquires the shares (e.g. current owners, family members or external parties), and how this affects business performance.

The project is a collaboration between Linköping University and Center for Family Enterprise and Ownership (CeFEO) at Jönköping International Business School.

The project has received a research grant from Jan Wallander & Tom Hedelius’ Foundation and Tore Browaldh’s Foundation.

 

Publications

2022

Hanna Almlöf (2022) Empowering Minority Shareholders Instruments of EU Corporate Governance: Effecting Changes in the Management ofCompanies in a Changing World, p. 239-260

2021

More about Hanna

CV

  • 2018 Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law /Company Law at Department of Management and Engineering, Commercial and Business Law division, Linköping University, Sweden.
  • 2016 Post doctor at Department of Management and Engineering, Commercial and Business Law division, Linköping University, Sweden. 
  • 2014 LL.D. PhD in Commercial law from Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping, Sweden
 

Fellow researcher 

CeFEO

CeFEO is a genuinely interdisciplinary and international center for research and disseminate knowledge on different family businesses and ownership topics. CeFEO is ranked No. 1 in Europe and 3rd in the world in the field of family business research.
Center for Family Enterprise and Ownership, CeFEO, Jönköping International Business School

The Ratio Institute

The Ratio Institute is an independent research institute based in Stockholm, Sweden, with research focus on how conditions for enterprise can be improved.
The Ratio Institute

Network

  • Member of the Research Division for Corporate Law and Securities Law, Stockholm Center for Commercial Law (SCCL)
  • Member of the steering group for the Nordic company law network (Nordisk selskapsrettsnettverk)

Organisation