Miten yrityshistoriaa tutkitaan?

Peer reviewe

Introduction: Welcome to the endless engagement!

Non peer reviewe

Epilogue: The secret of a long union

Non peer reviewe

Building international diplomacy : The European timber cartel in the 1930s

Peer reviewe

Who wants a cartel? : Regulating European timber trade in the nineteen-thirties

This dissertation studies the making and maintaining of an international cartel; the European Timber Exporters’ Convention (ETEC), which regulated the yearly export volumes of seven to nine member states in 1936–1939. The first part explores the formative phase of the ETEC starting from 1931 and the second part follows the ETEC years 1935–1939. The ETEC has been mentioned in some academic works, but the topic has not been studied previously at length. The main research question of this PhD thesis is who supported, nationally and internationally, the making and maintaining of the ETEC, and why. Analysis on the national level concentrates on the biggest ETEC member, Finland, and to lesser extent Sweden. The key argument of this dissertation is that, first, the governments and banks in timber trading countries as well as the League of Nations supported the making and maintaining of the ETEC, while a large number of firms in the biggest timber exporting country, Finland, opposed it. National interests discouraged Finland from withdrawing from the ETEC process, but the conflict between state and firms remained throughout the 1930s. This work investigates how international cartels can be created without the full support of the firms even in liberal, non-interventionist countries, and why international cartels sometimes had a diplomatic weight. This PhD thesis discusses pressure in national and international networks in diplomacy, politics, and business. It concludes that, for Finnish timber firms, the ETEC was not a question of free choice even though they were not legally coerced to join it. The key concept of this work is ‘cartel’ and the main theoretical framework is the economic and organisational theories on cartel formation as well as business historical literature showing that governments, inter-governmental bodies, and banks have encouraged and otherwise influenced in the formation of cartels before World War II. Methods and materials used in this work follow the conventions of history research. Research material consists of nearly 17.000 pages of archive documents restored in twelve archives in three countries and its analysis is based on based on source criticism and triangulation.Väitöskirja tutkii 1930-lukua ja kansainvälistä kartellia, European Timber Exporters’ Convention (ETEC) –sopimusta, joka rajoitti kilpailua yhdellä Suomen tärkeimmistä vientisektoreista vuosina 1936–1939. ETEC:n allekirjoittivat kaikki Euroopan merkittävät sahatavaraviejämaat, Suomi suurimpana viejänä mukaan lukien. Väitöskirjan ensimmäinen osa käsittelee ETEC:n muodostumista vuodesta 1931 eteenpäin ja toinen osa seuraa ETEC:n toimintaa vuoden 1936 alusta toisen maailmansodan puhkeamiseen saakka. Aiemmassa tutkimuksessa ETEC:tä on sivuttu vain pintapuolisesti, mutta tarkemmin aihetta ei ole analysoitu ennen tätä tutkimusta; ei edes Suomessa, jossa sahatavara toi yli 30% koko ulkomaankaupan arvosta 1930-luvulla. Tutkimuksen pääkysymys on kenen kartelli ETEC oli; ketkä sitä kannattivat ja vastustivat kansallisesti ja kansainvälisesti? Tutkimus kartoittaa kansallista kannatusta Suomessa ja Ruotsissa sekä kansainvälisiä toimijoita muun muassa Neuvostoliiton, Kansainliiton sekä Englannin kauppapolitiikan näkökulmista. Tutkimuksen pääväite on, että ETEC ei ollut yritysten muodostama kilpailunrajoitusklubi, kuten kartellien olemus usein on, vaan se nautti suurinta tukea sahatavaraviejämaiden hallitusten ja pankkien piirissä sekä Kansainliitossa. Suomalainen ja ruotsalainen materiaali osoittaa, että sahayritykset sen sijaan eivät tukeneet erityisen laajasti ETEC:tä. Tutkimuksen keskiössä on yritysten, valtiovallan ja pankkipiirien konflikti ETEC:n ympärillä. Miksi hallitukset, pankit ja Kansainliitto tukivat eurooppalaista sahatavarakartellia ja miksi yritykset vastustivat sitä? Miten ylipäätään on mahdollista, että ETEC saatiin allekirjoitettua yritysten vastusteluista huolimatta? 1930-luvun Suomessa kartellit eivät olleet laittomia, kuten eivät olleet muuallakaan Euroopassa, mutta Suomessa ei myöskään ollut kartelleihin pakottavia lakeja, toisin kuin ETEC:n pohjoismaiden ulkopuolisilla mailla (Neuvostoliitto, Puola, Itävalta, Tsekkoslovakia, Romania, Jugoslavia). Työn johtopäätös on, että Suomen valtiovalta tuki ETEC:tä koska kartelli nähtiin enemmän yleispoliittisessa kuin liiketoiminallisessa valossa; ETEC:n sinänsä ei koettu tuovan taloudellisia hyötyjä, mutta poisjäänti neuvotteluista ja järjestelmästä olisi voinut saattaa Suomen huonoon valoon kansainvälisesti. Yritykset sen sijaan näkivät ETEC:n ennen kaikkea liiketoiminnan näkökulmasta. He eivät luottaneet Neuvostoliittoon eivätkä itäisen Keski-Euroopan maihin kartellikumppaneina; he eivät pitäneet valtiovetoisista kartelleista; eivätkä he pitäneet kartelliyhteistyötä 1930-luvun lamojen aikaan viisaana ratkaisuna. Työ osoittaa, että konflikti ratkesi valtiovallan hyväksi. Suomi pysyi ETEC neuvotteluissa tiiviisti mukana ja allekirjoitti sopimuksen. Valtiovalta ja pankit pystyivät painostamaan yrityksiä osallistumaan ETEC:n tuotannonrajoituksiin, mutta vain määrättyyn rajaan asti. Tulokset osoittavat, että Suomi ylitti lähes joka vuosi ETEC:n tuotantomäärät. Tutkimuksen avainkäsite on kartelli. Teoreettinen viitekehys on paitsi taloustieteellisessä kartellitutkimuksessa, joka mallintaa yritysten käyttäytymistä kartelleissa, myös historiallisessa tutkimuksessa, joka käsittelee hallitusten, pankkien ja Kansainliiton roolia kansainvälisten kartellien taustalla ennen toista maailmansotaa. Työn metodit ja tutkimusmateriaalien valinta noudattavat historian tutkimuksen perinteitä. Tutkimusmateriaali koostuu noin 17.000 sivusta arkistodokumentteja 12:ssa eri arkistossa kolmessa eri maassa. Materiaalia analysoidaan mm. lähdekritiikin ja triangulaation menetelmin

‘We have a prodigious amount in common’. Reappraising Americanisation and circulation of knowledge in the interwar Nordic advertising industry

This article discusses the interwar collaboration in the Nordic advertising industry in relation to the literature on ‘Americanisation’ in advertising and business history. We argue that the focus on Americanisation has caused research to overlook other important arenas for sharing knowledge in the development of advertising and commercial practices in twentieth-century Europe. We show the importance of the systematic collaboration between advertising communities in the Nordic countries through which Anglo-Saxon ideas, as well as domestic experiences, were shared. The collaboration was a crucial platform for the advertising industry to achieve increased societal clout. We also find that the Nordic advertising industry, as a collective, clearly distanced themselves from continental Europe based on a perception that Anglo-Saxon and Nordic advertising shared the same foundations. The results raise questions concerning assumptions about Americanisation and the role of alternative sources of inspiration and transnational collaboration in advertising history

Free press, regulated competition : the Finnish newspaper cartel, 1910s–1970s

This paper examines newspaper cartels, a largely unoccupied field in media history, from the perspective of longevity. We analyse Finnish newspaper industry from the 1910s to 1970s and show that newspapers sought to regulate various aspects of competition, such as subscription prices, advertisement tariffs, and newsprint prices. Data indicates that political rivalry shaped the newspaper cartel collaboration until late 1950s: the cartel was set up by right-wing and centrist papers and, unlike in other Nordic countries, the Social Democratic press remained outside of the association until 1958. Political shocks of the Finnish Civil War in 1918 and the Second World War also changed the composition of the cartel. The era of private cartels in the newspaper industry gradually started to fade away as a result of anti-cartel laws in the 1960s and governmental anti-inflation measures in the 1970s. We conclude that the economics of newspaper industry and the cartelisation of the wider business environment, newsprint suppliers in particular, encouraged newspapers to co-operate with each other. The results of this article increase the understanding on the collaborative and competitive environment of newspaper companies, but also contributes to broader questions on cartels and their inner dynamics.Peer reviewe

The Self-Concept of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing and Hearing Students

The present study investigated the self-concept of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students in different educational settings compared with those of hearing students in Ethiopia. The research involved a sample of 103 Grade 4 students selected from 7 towns in Ethiopia. They were selected from a special school for the deaf, a special class for the deaf, and a regular school. The Self-Description Questionnaire I ( Marsh, 1990 ) was used to measure the children’s self-concept. The study results indicated that, in comparison with their hearing peers, DHH students had a lower self-concept in the areas of general self, general school, reading, and parental relations. The DHH students in the special school showed a higher self-concept in regard to their physical appearance than the hearing and DHH students in the special class. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in the self-concept dimensions of peer relations, mathematics, and physical abilities.peerReviewe

Socio-emotional Problems Experienced by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Ethiopia

This study compares the socio-emotional problems experienced by deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students with those of hearing students in Ethiopia. The research involved a sample of 103 grade 4 students attending a special school for the deaf, a special class for the deaf and a regular school. Socio-emotional problems were measured using Goodman's self-report measure, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for children and adolescents. Participants were selected from seven towns in Ethiopia. The results show that, compared to the hearing sample, the DHH students experienced more severe socio-emotional problems across all dimensions, regardless of whether they were in special classes or special schools. The DHH children reported that socio-emotional difficulties interfered with their home lives, friendships, classroom learning, and ability to get along with the people around them. The DHH students scored higher in the externalising behavioural domains than did the hearing students. There was no statistically significant difference between the DHH students in the special school and special class settings. The results show that DHH children expressed great concern about their socio-emotional difficulties. Teachers and other professionals need to raise their awareness about DHH issues in order to help these children overcome their challenges.peerReviewe