Political Entrepreneurship

Picking up on Leif Edvinsson's concepts of political entrepreneurship and regional cultivation, this chapter identifies and describes some Swedish initiatives that exemplify how government involvement has helped Sweden to develop as a high-tech region and is continuing to do so today. The government has traditionally played a central role throughout Sweden's business environment, contrasting it to the UK and the U.S. for example. The Swedish government's efforts aim to intervene where free market dynamics are unable to supply the elements required for a high-tech “friendly environment. Accepting a new reality and the consequences implied by the global innovation economy, government policies are geared to promote change rather that to preserve the status quo. High tech is not viewed as a threat to Sweden's social democratic aspirations; rather the government seeks to continue to establish itself as a leader in the Innovation Economy as a prerequisite for the long- term accomplishment of these aspirations.

The following focus on maximizing the effectiveness of deregulation describes the concept of AB Stokab, ^[1] a company that was founded by the city of Stockholm and Stockholm County to capitalize on the deregulation of the Swedish telecommunications market. It shows how a government initiative can at the same time improve the efficiency of competition; serve the interests of a city, a county, and the entire nation; and turn profitable practically overnight.