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Hans Sjögren

Professor

I study companies, sectors and nations to understand the importance of economic and technological change. For this I use theory and methods from institutional economic analysis.

Social transformation through institutional analysis

I am a professor of economic history and institutional economics at Linköping University. I study how institutional conditions affect corporate governance , profitability and economic growth.

Family Dynasties in the Nordic Business World

Currently I am working on a book "Family Dynasties in the Nordic Business World".

The objective is to analyse the evolution of Nordic family dynasties in the business world from the nineteenth century and onwards. The focus is on entrepreneurship, value creation, long-term active ownership, philanthropy and meritocracy.

I will explain how the unit of the commitment of the family has been used to exploit resources and guarantee the survival of businesses. Main question: what is the importance of family dynasties in the transformation of the market economy. The Nordic case show that family business groups are not just products of market imperfections: they start, grow and sustain in well-governed and highly industrialised countries. The controlling family seems to be a hub of competence backed by long-term active leadership and a supportive state. Their strategies reflect certain cultural identities, which indicate that business life is institutionally determined.

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