Cities, hinterlands and agglomeration shadows: Spatial developments in Finland during 1880–2004

This paper analyzes long-term spatial developments in Finland by focusing on two predictions of the new economic geography (NEG) models: the increasing persistence of locational patterns and the rising dominance of growth centers. The empirical analysis is based on regional population data from 1880 to 2004. The results support the hypotheses. Evolutions in rank and rank-size distributions during the processes of industrialization and urbanization suggest increasing persistence of regional structures. The analysis of causal processes between population centers and their hinterlands shows that these regions grew hand-in-hand in the pre-war period, whereas agglomeration shadows started to come about during the post-war period.     

When value co-creation fails: Reasons that lead to value co-destruction

Value co-destruction is a possible outcome of business, public and consumer collaboration. We examine reasons that lead to value co-destruction and when these reasons emerge. Since previous research on the topic is limited, our research approach is abductive qualitative research. The empirical data emerges from 19 semi-structured interviews conducted in seven organizations operating in Finland. Results indicate that value co-destruction emerges due to eight reasons. Our empirically grounded framework for value co-destruction demonstrates when these reasons emerge (before or after the collaboration or interaction) or they are time-independent. Results provide important insights for academics and managers into how value co-creation efforts can have negative outcomes and at what stage each reason is more likely to happen.     

Sectoral Differences in Plant Start-up Size in the Finnish Economy

New knowledge on the factors behind the choice of plant entry scale is important for understanding the entry process and the recruitment decisions of new plants in different sectors of the economy. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of various industry attributes on plant start-up size, measured with employment, using data on the entire Finnish business sector. The paper extends previous research by examining the differences between manufacturing and services and by using a richer set of explanatory variables. The relative importance of the covariates for different-sized entrants is taken into account by using a quantile regression approach. The results for manufacturing and services are remarkably similar. However, the findings imply that in the future analysis it is also important to consider the effect of the regional availability of educated and experienced work force on plant start-up size in these two sectors. The findings on the importance of scale economies and industry turbulence in determining start-up size correspond to the earlier studies. The results also show that single plant and multiplant entrants face a rather different entry environment. In addition, the employment share of foreign-owned entrants in the industry has to be taken into account.