Towards an Entrepreneurship Policy A Nordic Perspective Anders Lundström (editor)
FSF 2003:2 ISBN 91-89301-15-3
List of authors Denmark Frank Skov Kristensen is senior consultant at the Danish Technological Institute (DTI). He holds a Master from MERIT, Holland, within Economics and Management of Innovation and a PhD from Aalborg University, Denmark, within Industrial Dynamics. Frank s main research areas are industrial economics and industrial dynamics with a special emphasis on the drivers of transformation and the implications for theory and policy. Understanding learning and knowledge as the core drivers of economic growth and social development have been the main objectives within his studies and also later in his work as a consultant for the EU, the OECD and Danish and Swedish administrative bodies. Frank is currently responsible for research within E- learning Öresund and specialist, within among other projects, the 5th Framework projects SIBIS, BEEP, JANUS and NEWBIZ. Søren Qvist Eliasen is consultant at the DTI. Søren has been educated to Masters and PhD level at Roskilde University in Economic Geography, focusing on the spatial consequences of innovation in SMEs in Scandinavia. At DTI, he has worked on regional analysis and competence development assignments, as well as project evaluation for the Danish Government and the European Commission. This includes an analysis of qualification requirements in recruitment in the food and fisheries industries. He has also participated in European projects on benchmarking, indicator development and telework. Moreover he has obtained experience of evaluations of ministerial pools and programmes, as well as evaluations of single projects. Finland Vesa Routamaa (PhD) is Professor of Management and Organisation at the University of Vaasa. His former research interest has been organisational structuring and managerial work. For years, he has dealt with leadership issues, for example, in terms of personality, creativity, cross-cultural issues, change, and team building. Coming from an entrepreneurial family, entrepreneurship has always been his favourite subject. His studies published in Finnish publications, international conference proceedings and international journals have dealt, for v
example, with entrepreneurship education, regional entrepreneurship potential, family business, organisational growth, international orientation, inter-firm cooperation and networking. He was one of the first initiators of entrepreneurial education for schoolteachers and schools in the early 1990s. He is the main architect of the first Finnish comprehensive national Development Plan for Entrepreneurship A New, More Entrepreneurial Generation. A development plan for entrepreneurship 2000-2006. The Decade of Entrepreneurship 1995-2005. Iceland Berglind Hallgrímsdóttir is Manager of Impra Innovation Centre at the Technological Institute of Iceland. Ms Hallgrímsdóttir oversees the development and implementation of services and support programmes at Impra Innovation Centre. Ms Hallgrímsdóttir has previously worked as a European Project Manager at Impra and as a Regional Development Advisor in north-east Iceland. Ms Hallgrímsdóttir received an MSc in European Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics in 1995. Charlotte Sigurdardóttir is a Project Manager at Impra Innovation Centre at the Technological Institute of Iceland. Mrs Sigurdardóttir is responsible for services provided to individuals and SMEs including business start-up, writing and evaluating business plans and advice on financing. Mrs Sigurdardóttir is also responsible for developing and implementing support programmes directed at women entrepreneurs. Mrs Sigurdardóttir received an MBA in Hospitality Administration from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, USA, and has extensive experience from running her own import and export company and from working in hotel management in Asia for several years. Norway Svenn Are Jenssen is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Bodø Graduate School of Business and Director at The Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Bodø, Norway. Jenssen holds an MBA (Brunel University, 1990, in London), and a PhD (the University of Trondheim, 1992). His research interests include new venture formation, product development, innovation management and strategy. Lars Kolvereid is Professor of Entrepreneurship at Bodø Graduate School of Business. Kolvereid holds an MSc in Management (BI, 1979), an MBA vi
(Wisconsin, 1979), and a PhD (Henley/Brunel, 1985). He has published several books and numerous articles in international research journals. His research interests include entrepreneurial intentions, start-up attempts and new businesses. Eirik Pedersen is Senior Adviser at The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Bodø, Norway. He is working with entrepreneurial training programmes, incubator programmes, new businesses and research projects within fisheries and aqua-culture. Beate Rotefoss is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Bodø Graduate School of Business and Senior Adviser at The Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Bodø, Norway. She holds an MBA (Bodø Graduate School of Business, 1998) and a PhD (Brunel University, 2001). Rotefoss research interests are product development, regional innovation systems, strategy, and the business start-up process. Sweden Håkan Boter (PhD) is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovations and Business Development (CEIB) at Umeå School of Business and Economics (USBE), Umeå University. His research focus has been on strategic management, internationalisation, and cultural aspects in small firms. Today his field of interest mainly concerns competence development and policy-oriented research. He has participated in several international research groups and published a number of books and articles. Anders Lundström (PhD) is Founder and President of the Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research (FSF). Dr Lundström was Deputy-Director at NUTEK, Sweden s Business Development Agency, and prior to that, the Research Director at SIND, the Swedish National Industrial Board. He founded FSF in 1994 and took over the Presidency in 1997. He also founded the International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. Anders has written over 15 books and several articles in the field of small business and entrepreneurship. His current research interests are in the field of SME and entrepreneurship policy. He is 2002-03 President of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), was Chair of the 1996 ICSB World Conference in Stockholm, also Chair of the ISBC 2001 World Congress in Stockholm. In addition to this, he is Professor at Mälardalen University. vii
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Foreword This is a book on entrepreneurship policy and its development in the Nordic countries. The project has been carried out by a network of researchers in each of the countries. Besides myself, the following researchers have participated in the project: Frank Skov Kristensen and Sören Qvist Eliasen from the Danish Technological Institute, Vesa Routamaa from the University of Vaasa, Berglind Hallgrimsdottir and Charlotte Sigurdardottir from Impra Innovation Centre, Svenn Are Jenssen, Lars Kolvereid, Eirik Pedersen, and Beate Rotefoss from Bodö Graduate School of Business and Håkan Boter from Umeå School of Business and Economics. Each group of researchers is responsible for their country report. Valuable comments and suggestions for improvements have also been given to me concerning the chapters 1 and 7. The group has met in Stockholm and Reykjavik and has also carried out a number of video conferences. I thank everyone in the network for the excellent work. The objective of the project is to describe and analyse the development of entrepreneurship policy in each of the Nordic countries. Extensive written material has been used, as well as different statistic sources and previous research and evaluations. Furthermore, 16 regional seminars and 77 interviews have been carried out to gain input and comments concerning what is ongoing in the different countries. Several people have made a great job in proof reading, lay-out work and language checking. First of all Camilla Sjöselius at the Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research (FSF) has made a huge contribution concerning proof reading but also as project manager for the total project. Britt-Marie Nordström, also at FSF, and Irmeli Löfstedt-Rosén, at IR Skrivbyrå, have made a very good job of the lay-out. Many thanks to you all and to James Hurst for his language checking. The project has been possible because of financial support from the Nordic Industrial Fund Centre for Innovation and Commercial Development. The project was initiated by the SMB Forum, serving as a task force for the Nordic Industrial Fund on SME matters. The Nordic Industrial Fund has shown great interest in the project and has made valuable comments. Summarising, this is a project by many people creating many ideas and good propositions. It is a book for you as a reader to go through and really read those parts that you take a special interest in, for example a specific country report. I ix
hope that you will find some interesting ideas or results to think about or to apply in your future work. Örebro, 15 th of April 2003 Anders Lundström x
Table of contents Towards an Entrepreneurship Policy A Nordic Perspective List of authors Foreword Executive summary v ix xv Chapter 1 Introduction 25 1.1 Background and definition 25 1.2 Problem description 32 1.3 Movements towards an entrepreneurship policy 34 1.4 Describing the developing process in the Nordic countries 37 1.5 The process of the project 38 1.6 Contents of the report 40 Annex 1.1 Variables used in the Context Description 41 List of references 44 Chapter 2 The case of Denmark 49 2.1 Introduction 49 2.2 The Danish context 50 2.3 Development and evolution of entrepreneurship policies 52 2.4 Description of existing programmes and services in support of entrepreneurship 59 2.5 Experiences/evaluation of impact 67 2.6 Observations and conclusions 69 Annex 2.1 Statistical overview of SME sector in Denmark 73 Annex 2.2 Sources related to the statistics presented 76 List of references 78 Chapter 3 The case of Finland 83 3.1 Introduction 83 3.2 The Finnish context 84
3.3 Policys measures 88 3.4 Finland s industrial development policy 90 3.5 Current SME and entrepreneurship policies, programmes and structures 97 3.6 Experience/evaluation of impact 122 3.7 Observations and conclusions 128 Annex 3.1 Overview of the Finnish SME sector 134 Annex 3.2 Matrix of the Finnish Development Programme 137 List of references 138 Chapter 4 The case of Iceland 145 4.1 Introduction 145 4.2 The Icelandic context 146 4.3 Policys measures 148 4.4 Descriptions of existing programmes and services in support of entrepreneurship 156 4.5 Experience/evaluation of impact 166 4.6 Observations and conclusions 168 Annex 4.1 Overview of the SME sector 170 List of references 173 Chapter 5 The case of Norway 177 5.1 Introduction 177 5.2 The Norwegian 178 5.3 Policys measures 182 5.4 Existing programmes and services 185 5.5 Experiences/evaluation 195 5.6 Observations and conclusions 199 Annex 5.1 Sources related to the statistics presented 203 Annex 5.2 Interviews with key informants 204 List of references 213 Chapter 6 The case of Sweden 219 6.1 Introduction 219 6.2 The Swedish context 220 6.3 Policys measures 223 6.4 Existing programmes and services 229 6.5 Experiences/evaluation 245
6.6 Observations/lessons learned 246 Annex 6.1 Overview of the SME sector 250 Annex 6.2 Data used in the Context Description 254 List of references 258 Chapter 7 Results and Summary 265 7.1 General conclusions 265 7.2 The Context description 270 7.3 The MOS model for the Nordic Countries 273 7.4 Descriptions of Entrepreneurship Policy 275 7.5 The Policy of Myth Building 279 7.6 Lessons learned 282 7.7 Towards an Entrepreneurship Policy the Nordic Perspective 285 List of references 288