Business in the battle of ideas, 1945–1991: conclusions from the Finnish case

ABSTRACT

This article examines the political activity – specifically lobbying and PR efforts – of major Finnish business associations during the Cold War era (c. 1945–1991). The main motivation for business political activity was the threat of socialism and state intervention in their various forms. Based on a qualitative reading of archived documents, this article illustrates a shift from the fear of an outright revolution in the 1940s, through leftist radicalism and economic regulation in the 1970s, to the rise of environmentalism in the 1980s. Influencing efforts were targeted at both politicians and the general public but, towards the end of period studied, shaping public opinion became increasingly important. This article contributes to our knowledge on business-politics links and business political activity as historical phenomena. It points out compelling similarities in the political activity of business in various Western countries and suggests that they should be examined more thoroughly in future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Business political activity
• corporate political activity
• business interest associations
• lobbying
• public opinion

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Professor Niklas Jensen-Eriksen, Petteri Jakku, the anonymous reviewers, and all those who at various conferences commented on the earlier drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Dicey (1905, pp. 19–20) defines ‘political climate’ as a ‘body of beliefs, convictions, sentiments, accepted principles’ which make up the ‘dominant current of opinion’ at a given time. The concept is somewhat problematic but, nevertheless, my research subjects regarded the political climate as something real and tried to influence it (cf. Denham & Garnett, 1998).

2 By ‘lobbying’, I refer to the establishment and upkeep of contacts with political decision-makers to provide them with information about business’ policy preferences and to shape future policy to the benefit of business (Anastasiadis, 2006).

3 Within the scope of this article, I am unable to examine Suomen Työnantajain Keskusliitto (STK; the Finnish Employers’ Confederation). The exclusion of labour market issues can be justified by the fact that traditionally, business communities have tended to establish two distinct kinds of interest associations, that is, (a) trade associations that deal with general political issues, and (b) employers’ associations that specialise in labour market relations (Lanzalaco, 2008). The exclusion is somewhat artificial, since employer policies cannot be formed independently of other political objectives of business. Therefore, I want to encourage the study of these two spheres of business political activity side-by-side.

4 A similar perspective has been recently utilised by Waterhouse (2014). This kind of a ‘bird's eye view’ combined with a relatively long period of study does not allow for detailed depictions of individual actors or single events in an article (however, for more detailed accounts, see Wuokko, 2013, 2016). It is a deliberate choice to focus on the wood instead of the trees: By drawing the ‘big picture’, I am able to highlight the broad development patterns of business political activity in Finland, which then allows tentative comparisons between the Finnish case and other Western countries.

5 According to Mark Blyth, who has conducted a comparative study on the United States and Sweden, notable differences actually make the similarities found all the more interesting (Blyth, 2002, p. 262; see also Useem, 1984, pp. 7–8).

6 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meetings 3 May 1945, 25 August 1945, 7 February 1946, and 9 March 1946.

7 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meetings 9 March 1946, 9 May 1946, 12 November 1946, and 21 January 1947.

8 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meetings 14 February 1945, 12 November 1946, 12 December 1946, 17 February 1947, and 19 March 1947.

9 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meetings 29 November 1937 and 14 January 1938.

10 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meetings 17 February 1947 and 28 August 1947.

11 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meetings 13 January 1949, 10 January 1952, 19 October 1955, 4 October 1956, and 20 November 1957.

12 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 15 May 1950.

13 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 20 October 1954.

14 KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Meeting of EVA 4 December 1974, review by Max Jakobson; KA, EVA, Presentations 1973–1984, Kari Nars: ‘Yrityksen yhteiskunnallinen tulevaisuus’, 4 October 1976.

15 KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Max Jakobson: ‘EVA:n repliikki tulevaa rooliaan koskevassa keskustelussa’, 24 March 1975; KA, PH, EVA 1973–1978, Stig Hästö to Max Jakobson, 15 October 1976 and attachment ‘Eva ja sen rooli’.

16 KA, EVA, Memoranda 1973–1976, ‘Elinkeinoelämän ideologiaa’, 6 May 1976; KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Memorandum on the discussion at spring meeting dinner 10 June 1976; KA, EVA, CEO Max Jakobson 1975–1980, Max Jakobson: ‘Suomen talouselämän linjanvetoa’, 6 June 1976.

17 KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Max Jakobson: ‘EVA:n repliikki tulevaa rooliaan koskevassa keskustelussa’, 24 March 1975; KA, EVA, Memoranda 1973–1976, ‘Elinkeinoelämän ideologiaa’, 6 May 1976.

18 ELKA, Teollisuuden Keskusliitto (TKL), Spring and autumn meetings, Spring meeting 20 May 1976, Speech by Chairman Gay Ehrnrooth.

19 KA, EVA, Memoranda 1973–1976, ‘Elinkeinoelämän ideologiaa’, 6 May 1976; KA, EVA, CEO Max Jakobson 1975–1980, Max Jakobson: ‘Suomen talouselämän linjanvetoa’, 6 June 1976; KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Memorandum on the discussion at spring meeting dinner 10 June 1976.

20 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 27 November 1970; ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the Delegation of Finnish Industry, Delegation meeting 7 December 1970.

21 KA, PH, Speeches and drafts, 1972–1975, Hetemäki's interview for Teollisuuslehti 12/1974; ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 31 January 1974 and attachment ‘PM Elinkeinoelämän yhteistoiminnan tehostaminen’.

22 ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 27 November 1970, Lauri Kirves & Sakari T. Lehto: ‘Lausunto teollisuuden keskusjärjestöjen yhteistyön parantamisesta’, 16 June 1970.

23 EVA is currently known in English as the ‘Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA’. It declares upfront to be ‘a policy and pro-market think tank financed by the Finnish business community’. EVA's web page, http://www.eva.fi/en/eva/ (retrieved 15 June 2017). Think tanks have not become a notable part of the Finnish organisational landscape apart from a few others that have been established since the founding of EVA (Kervinen, 2006, p. 7).

24 KA, PH, Speeches and manuscripts 1972–1975, Päiviö Hetemäki: ‘PM elinkeinoelämän yhteistoiminnan tehostamisesta’, 28 December 1973; ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 31 January 1974 and attachment ‘PM Elinkeinoelämän yhteistoiminnan tehostaminen’.

25 ELKA, STK, Minutes of the STK's board, STK board meetings 28 March 1974 and 21 May 1974.

26 On the somewhat under-researched Finnish-Soviet trade in English, see, e.g. Eloranta and Ojala (2005); Möttölä, Bykov, and Korolev (1983); Paavonen (2005); Sutela (2005).

27 KA, PH, Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta 1973–1978, Mika Tiivola to Hetemäki, 10 May 1977; KA, EVA, Correspondence, Max Jakobson to Stig Hästö, 15 April 1977; ELKA, TKL, Spring and autumn meetings, Autumn meeting 30 November 1977, Timo Laatunen's report.

28 E.g. ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 20 October 1975; KA, PH, Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta 1973–1978, Stig Hästö to Max Jakobson 15 October 1976, attachment PM ‘EVA ja sen rooli’ and Mika Tiivola to Päiviö Hetemäki 10 May 1977, attachment Stig Hästö: PM ‘EVA:n synty ja kehitys’, 25 April 1977.

29 However, the relationship of the British and American business communities with the Thatcher and Reagan administrations was ambiguous because, despite the pro-business political overtones, business leaders were not always happy with their actual policy choices (in more detail, see, Boswell & Peters, 1997, pp. 142–159; Phillips-Fein, 2009, pp. 261–262; Useem, 1984, p. 170, 192; Waterhouse, 2014, p. 228).

30 KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Autumn meeting 12 December 1988, Opening speech by Chairman Mika Tiivola.

31 KA, EVA, CEO Kauko Sipponen, 1987–1988, e.g. Kauko Sipponen: ‘Suomen mielipideilmasto’, 19 March 1987; KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Autumn meeting 12 December 1988, Opening speech by Chairman Mika Tiivola; ELKA, STKV, Minutes of the STKV, STKV meeting 1 September 1987.

32 ELKA, STK, Minutes of the STK's board, STK board meeting 24 September 1987; ELKA, TKL, Spring and autumn meetings, Autumn meeting 26 November 1987, ‘Teollisuuden Keskusliiton tehtävät ja toiminta 80-luvulla’; KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Autumn meeting 12 December 1988, Opening speech by Chairman Mika Tiivola.

33 ELKA, TKL, Spring and autumn meetings, Autumn meeting 26 November 1987, ‘Teollisuuden keskusliiton tehtävät ja toiminta 80-luvulla’, and Spring meeting 25 May 1988, Timo Relander's report; KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Spring meeting 23 May 1988, and Kauko Sipponen 1987–1988, interview for Optio magazine, 29 November 1988.

34 KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Meetings of EVA's executive committee 8 February 1985, 21 May 1986, 19 April 1989, 14 September 1989, and 25 April 1990; ELKA, TKL, Spring and autumn meetings, Autumn meeting 26 November 1987, ‘Teollisuuden keskusliiton tehtävät ja toiminta 80-luvulla’, and Spring meeting 25 May 1988, Timo Relander's report.

35 KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Meeting of EVA's executive committee 19 April 1989, Kauko Sipponen: ‘EVAn toiminnasta 1990-luvulla’.

36 EK, TKL, Minutes of the TKL, TKL board meeting 16 October 1980, attachment ‘Teollisuuden Keskusliiton toimintasuunnitelma 1981’.

37 KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, EVA's executive committee meeting 2 November 1981, ‘Yhteiskunnallisen tilanteen erityispiirteitä’.

38 KA, EVA, Kauko Sipponen 1977–1990, PM ‘EVA:n tehtävistä’, Autumn meeting 19 December 1983, and Minutes of EVA, Speech by Mika Tiivola at ‘EVA day’, 26 October 1988; ELKA, TKL, Spring and autumn meetings, Spring meeting 25 May 1988, Timo Relander's report.

39 EK, TKL, Minutes of the TKL, TKL board meeting 14 February 1985.

40 EK, TKL, Minutes of the TKL, TKL board meeting 14 October 1982; KA, MJ, TKL 1986–1991, Max Jakobson: ‘Poliittisen vaikuttamisen kanavat ja keinot muuttuneessa yhteiskunnallisessa tilanteessa’, at STKV meeting 1 September 1987.

41 EK, TKL, Minutes of the TKL, TKL board meeting 14 October 1982; KA, EVA, Minutes of EVA, Autumn meeting 19 December 1983, PM ‘EVA:n tehtävistä’; KA, MJ, TKL 1986–1991, Max Jakobson: ‘Poliittisen vaikuttamisen kanavat ja keinot muuttuneessa yhteiskunnallisessa tilanteessa’, at STKV meeting 1 September 1987.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Emil Aaltosen Säätiö.