Sandström, C. (2024) Stålindustrins upprepning av historien?
Language: Swedish
This report argues that today’s ambitions for fossil-free steel strongly resemble earlier politically driven steel initiatives, such as Sweden’s Stålverk 80. By comparing past subsidy-fuelled projects with current hydrogen-based plans, Sandström shows how similar assumptions, rhetoric and risks are re-emerging. The analysis highlights the danger that large, state-supported ventures once again become misaligned with economic realities, repeating the costly mistakes of the twentieth-century steel industry.
Tillväxtanalys (2020) Tredje generationens näringspolitiska program – kunskapsöversikt och problematisering
Language: Swedish
The report examines the rise of “third-generation” industrial policy programmes, which emphasise innovation, collaboration and mission-driven initiatives rather than traditional subsidies or firm-level support. Through a broad review of existing research, Tillväxtanalys highlights both the promise and the pitfalls of these programmes: while they can stimulate long-term capability building, they also risk becoming vague, difficult to evaluate and vulnerable to political overreach. The report calls for clearer goals, stronger evidence bases and more rigorous assessment to ensure that modern industrial policy delivers real economic value rather than repeating past mistakes.
Jörnmark, J., Sandström, C. (2020) Den industripolitiska återvändsgränden
The report criticises active industrial policy in Sweden, arguing that extensive state support effectively functions as public “risk capital” that diverts large amounts of taxpayers’ money into programmes with limited economic benefit. Drawing on numerous examples of subsidies, innovation support and so-called green industrial deals, the authors contend that many interventions have failed to produce measurable gains for firm performance or productivity, instead creating dependency on funding and even local financial losses. Evaluation systems are described as weak, and the overall conclusion is that industrial policy has become a costly trap, repeatedly reproducing problems rather than fostering genuine economic dynamism.
Language: Swedish
Sandström, C. (2017) Disruptiv Digitalisering av marknaden för juridiska tjänster – snabb evolution eller teknisk revolution?
Language: Swedish
The report examines how digital tools are being adopted in the market for legal services as part of a research assignment for the Swedish Competition Authority. It shows that digitalisation in the legal sector is progressing gradually rather than through sudden disruption, with new online providers offering lower-cost services and major international law firms already experimenting with artificial intelligence. The study provides an important contribution to understanding how digital technologies are reshaping the legal services market and its competitive dynamics. All conclusions and assessments are the author’s own.
Sandström, C. (TBC) Var Skapades Sveriges 100 främsta innovationer?
Language: Swedish
The report investigates where Sweden’s 100 most significant innovations have been developed, categorising them by context: independent inventors, universities or research institutes, and corporate research within large firms. It finds that almost half of these innovations originated with inventors employed by companies, a third from independent innovators and only about one-fifth from academic institutions, with universities playing a particularly strong role in medical and health innovations. The findings suggest that Swedish innovation policy should focus more on supporting firms and individual inventors rather than placing universities at the centre of innovation efforts.