Did taxes,decrees or credibility drive money? Early nineteenth century Finland from a chartalist perspective

Chartalist theories assume the government determines the currency used by the public. Finland’s experience following the Russo-Swedish war in 1808–1809 would seem to contradict the chartalist view. Having become a Grand Duchy under Russia, the Finnish Government sought to replace Swedish riksdalers in circulation with roubles. However, due to a resilient trade surplus with Sweden and the resulting flood of Swedish money into Finland, bans on the riksdaler were largely ineffective. Taxation proved a particularly clumsy tool for leveraging the switch to roubles. Taxpayers almost forced the government to accept payments in a foreign currency. Even the government had to use Swedish money. Issuing roubles was of limited use. As a result, the rouble failed to establish itself as Finland’s main currency until the introduction of a silver standard in 1840–1842.     

Business communities in the European confectionery sector: A U.K.-Finland comparison

This paper is based on the early stages of an international collaborative project investigating the structural changes of the confectionery sectors in Finland and the U.K. over the past two decades. An institutional perspective is used to extend conventional understandings of industries via the development of the sector concept. The network and community constructs are shown to be important devices for understanding the institutional character of a sector. Accordingly, the paper reveals the similarities and differences between the two national examples. An explanation is offered of the way domestic networks persist in both countries while contrasting community profiles are apparent.     

Antecedents of memorable tourism experience related to behavioral intentions

This study investigates the antecedent factors of memorable tourism experience (MTE) and their relationship to visitors’ behavioral intentions (BIs); Kim, Ritchie, & McCormick, 2012 ). Based on a survey of 314 structured interviews among visitors to the zoo and museum in Rovaniemi, Finland, the study reveals different MTE dimensions than in Kim et al.’s study. Only four factors—hedonism, local culture, involvement, and knowledge—influence visitors’ BIs. The results suggest the need to rebuild the scale of MTE by incorporating other relevant dimensions.     

Perceived trust in contractual channel dyads: an exploratory investigation of Finnish food retailers

Distributor firms have found long-term contracting an effective means of gaining competitive advantage. To realize these benefits, the alliance should involve trusting others. However, contracts can also be one-sided rather than reciprocal, favouring the larger business partner. Should trust develop naturally where there are formal contracts defining the terms of the relationship? And what inducements should a supplier take to gain retailers' trust? The trade-off is further complicated when the retailers operate in a small market with few suppliers and high barriers to entry. This study focuses on these questions. We use original field data from Finnish food retailers who have signed a written agreement with their focal wholesaler. We find that maintaining autonomy increases trust in the relationship. We also find that regular communication in the dyad and balance between perceived rewards and contributions are associated with higher levels of trust. In turn, intrachannel competition strongly reduces retailers' trust in the dyad.     

芬兰科技创新之路及对我国西部大开发的启示

在全球信息科技革命浪潮中,芬兰通过重视发展教育和对科技人才的培养、加大研发投入对科技自主创新的支持,迅速地从上世纪初落后的农业国而快速发展成为1960年代经济、科技高度发达的高福利制国家,同时在2003年之后又超过美国成为世界最具竞争力的经济体,被誉为"芬兰奇迹".当前,我国西部地区与芬兰经济腾飞前有许多相似之处.文章主要分析了芬兰走科技创新之路的前提,阐述了其高科技发展战略及相应举措,重点探讨了主要科技创新领域的发展现状,最后,结合我国当前的西部大开发提出了一些启示.     

The Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis and Air Pollution in Finland

Abstract

The historiography of mercantilism has been described as a series of disconnected still pictures which reflect the shifting viewpoints of economic thought.¹ However, historians have favoured different concepts of mercantilism not only in response to the shifts of economic science but also because they have held, explicitly or implicitly, different opinions on the problem of how economic ideas are formed and of the role they have played in historical development. The following reexamination of some of those ‘stills’ concentrate on such differences.²     

Teenagers on the Net

ABSTRACT

Both in business and in academic research, the Internet and electronic commerce grow exponentially. Attention has predominately been directed to developing the companies' capabilities and systems, while the consumers' perspective in contrast has received much less attention. This paper takes this perspective and focuses on online behavior of specifically 16- to 18-year-old teenagers. This particular segment tends to open to new things and know a great deal about using computers and the Internet. A questionnaire conducted among students in a high school in southern Finland showed that the overwhelming majority had computer and Internet access at home. Most of the young respondents had already used the Internet for various purposes and intend to do so even more in the future. For the young, information search and communication were the main purposes of using the Internet, and lower-value products related to mobile phones were the main products being bought online. At the same time they had different concerns that influence their behavior and, somewhat surprisingly, reported a slightly negative attitude towards electronic commerce. In line with previous studies, privacy and security issues were the primary concerns for the young Internet users. Gender aspects also emerged from the data since there were several differences in Internet usage and online purchasing between girls and boys. Based on the findings, the paper ends with implications and recommendations for companies attempting to approach teenagers in order to build relationships with them.     

芬兰林业发展及对我国林业建设的启示

介绍了芬兰林业发展状况,进一步从林业政策、林业立法和管理服务体系三方面对芬兰林业管理制度和管理服务体系进行了介绍。提出我国应从国家发展的战略高度,推进林业发展;应采用促进科技进步,发展适度规模经营,建设现代林业等建议。     

A Discursive Approach to Understanding Women Leaders in Working Life

In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding women leaders in working life. Our starting point is in statistics and earlier women-in-management literature, which show that women leaders represent a minority of the managerial population. We assume such underlying mechanisms causing discriminatory practices towards women leaders to exist which have become naturalized and invisible. Our concern is that everyone irrespective of gender should have a fair chance in career progression. This is both a moral and also an economic challenge. The framework we develop in this paper is an alternative approach to studying women leaders compared to traditional women-in-management literature. It aims at revealing the "natural and taken-for-granted" cultural mechanisms behind discriminatory practices. Our framework is based on a critical discursive approach, which draws on ideas of how women's leadership becomes symbolically represented and constructed in discursive practices. These symbolic constructions, which are mediated through language, often have an ideological loading which positions women leaders and builds their identities in ways that can help to legitimize unequal relations between the genders. However, our framework emphasizes the possibility of multiple discourses and a dynamic view of culture. The cultural constructions of women leaders are, thus, open to change.