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Lost between state and business. Economic defence and the funding of metal stockpiling in Sweden, 1973–1987

An Economic and Industrial Democracy meet-the-editor session plus working lunch will take place from 12:00 onwards at G07. PhD students and colleagues beyond BBS are welcomed.

Hosted by Andrew Smith 

Abstract

The turmoil of conflict and international crisis affects government and business interests. This article investigates how government-business relationships developed in Sweden during the 1970s and 1980s to tackle the potential problems of so-called peacetime crises that could adversely affect the country's steel and metal industries if the imports of alloy metals were metal imports were disrupted. Based on extensive archival material and with an Advocacy Coalition Framework, we examine how this problem was negotiated between key stakeholders in Sweden during the period 1973–1987, with special interest in the unions and the employer's organisations. We conclude that the outcomes are not determinable solely by the economic interests of those involved nor the most rational solution from the government's point of view. Instead, we highlight the complexity of multi-actor deliberations within an evolving institutional context. A complexity that in the end meant that there was no viable solution to the perceived problem. 

Bio

Professor Jan Ottosson is professor in economic history, Uppsala University, Sweden. He is Editor-in-Chief (together with Professor Lars Magnusson) of the journal Economic and Industrial Democracy, published by Sage. He has published in several fields, such as industrial relations, financial history, business history, transport history.