Technologies in Finland in 2020 valued by ZEF-tool

In Northern Finland, information and communication technology, biotechnology, environmental technology and wellness technology have been subjects of special interest in recent times. These technologies are believed to create competence and bring welfare to the area. The aim of this study was to produce possible, probable and desirable pictures of the future for discussion and debate, and for use in strategic processes in different organisations. The idea was to explore the future based on experts’ opinions. The article discusses not only the technologies the experts saw as attractive and credible but also the issues they believed to be directing the development of the technologies in question.     

Thinking about industry decline: A qualitative meta-analysis and future research directions

We analyze historical and longitudinal research focusing on industry decline. Our analysis suggests that the literature’s general reliance on a few meta-theoretical arguments has important consequences for how decline is framed and explained. We identify four meta-theoretical clusters in the literature: politics and market dynamics are seen as exogenous factors with deterministic features, whereas technology and management capabilities are framed as firm-internal failures with causally questionable explanations of how firm-level characteristics explain industry-level decline. We propose that it is important to understand the limitations of distinct meta-theoretical arguments for an enhanced theoretical and methodological understanding of what industry decline is, how it takes place, and why. Accordingly, this study contributes to business history research by restructuring and clarifying latent theoretical issues, demonstrating the pros and cons of researchers’ choices, and offering guidelines and propositions for researchers interested in industry decline.     

The Benefits of Relationship Banking: Evidence from Small Business Financing in Finland

Using unique small business credit-file data from a major Finnish bank, I analyze how relationship characteristics are associated with loan interest rates. Data includes the effective loan rate and variables that describe the duration and scope of relationship, collateralization, firm characteristics, bank’s internal risk rating, and loan characteristics. The results show that longer duration tends to lower the cost of credit and that a long-term bank/firm relationship is beneficial especially to high-risk firms. As the relationship matures, the loan premiums for high-risk firms decrease at higher rate than for low-risk firms.     

How do the determinants of firm survival change in the course of the industry life cycle? A fuzzy-set analysis

Industry life-cycle research on firm survival often tests the effects of innovativeness, entry timing, and experience from related industries. However, findings on how these effects change over different stages of the life cycle are scarce. To fill this gap, we perform a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on a data-set of 58 video game device producers in six product generations. We find that innovation provides a consistent survival advantage only in the mature stage of the life cycle. We also find that experience accumulated within the industry loses its value in the mature stage, and the advantage shifts to de alio entrants only after shake-out. These findings are discussed relating to technological uncertainty, the role of internal and external knowledge, and the construction of sufficient technological performance.