Lakomaa, Erik

I am docent in Economic History and hold a Master and PhD from Stockholm School of Economics with specialization in Economic History.

Since 2013, I have been director of the Institute for Economic and Business History Research (EHFF) at SSE.

My field of research is how organizations, public and private, historically have adapted to external change (new technology, new markets, new regulation). 

Current research projects

I am currently participating in research projects concerning:

1. The impact of the introduction of new technology in combination with deregulation in the Nordic markets for telecom and stock exchange trading during the period 1980-1995 (with Christian Sandström, Robin Gustafsson, Rasmus Nykvist, Zeerim Chung, and Pasi Nevalainen. Here my focus is on the business history of Televerket during the deregulation of the Swedish telecom market.

2. On competitive effects in the school market, in particular how competition (establishment of new schools) has historically affected work environment (with Karl Wennberg, Abiel Sebathu, and Maria Brandén). This is based on Hirschman’s theories of Voice and Exit. Here, I intend to do further research on the historical effects of competition in the education system, especially on the development of business models and the dissemination of innovations in the industry (both between independent schools and from independent schools to municipal schools subject to competition).

3. How actors in the Swedish retail trade and the advertising industry have worked to restrict competition. Here I have an ongoing project with Carin Sjölin (where the part on the grocery trade in Sweden constitutes her Ph.D. project). We examine how the historical market structure and actions taken by established corporations a long time ago may affect the current market structure and competition. My focus is here how the large full-service firms in the advertising industry that were dominant before the advertising agency cartel was declared illegal in the sector in 1965 tried to create barriers to entry and other restrictions of competition through occupational licensing and special arrangements regarding public advertising production

In addition to this, I work with research on how the business models that currently exist in the so-called sharing and gig economy have historical roots and how changes in the size of transaction costs, changes in valuation regarding the attitude to being employed vis-á-vis to be self-employed, and capital markets how the people have chosen to work in sharing/gig economics and to conduct business in traditional companies (as employees).

Publications

My research has been published in Enterprise & Society, Business History, Essays in Economic and Business History, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Scandinavian Economic History Review, IEEE Access, International Review of Entrepreneurship, Research Policy and European Journal of Criminology. I have also published two books.

Peer review-publications, since 2017

Lakomaa, E & Friedl, C (2022) Monopolist Logic? Managing Technology in the Telecom Sector During Technological and Regulatory Change, Business History. AJG4

------- Henrekson, M. & Sanandaji, T (2021) The Interaction of Schumpeterian Institutional Entrepreneurship and Hayekian Institutional Change in Innovative Industries, International Review of Entrepreneurship, 19(3): 387-410 AJG2

------- & Sanandaji, T (2021) “Exploring collective consumer innovation in health care: cases and formal modelling” Research Policy, 50 (8) AJG4, FT50

------- (2021) “Customer of Last Resort? The Swedish Advertising Industry and the Government from World War II to the End of the Cold War”, Business History, 63(3):467-488, AJG4

------- (2020) ”Advertising for the People: The History of the Social Democratic Party of Sweden’s Own Advertising Company – Folkreklam and Förenade ARE-Bolagen, 1947-1997” Enterprise & Society, 21(2):516-546, AJG4

------- & Wahlund, R. (2019) “Microproceses of Deregulation: the Swedish experience of decentralization of education”, Essays in Economic and Business History, Vol 37 pp 1-30. AJG2

-------- (2017) “Business and War: Introduction”, Scandinavian Economic History Review, 2017, Vol 65. No 3: 224-230. AJG2

Teaching

(756) Comparative Economic History – Theory and Evidence (Course director)

(7311) Financial and Business History

(PhD761) Contemporary Methods for Historical Research (Course director)