The fall of the Berlin Wall began a new, and unexpected, period of European political and economic history. For some, this event proved the historical victory of liberal democratic capitalism over socialism. But three decades on, we now know that democratic market economies do not emerge not spontaneously, and are indeed fragile in their own ways. History has not ended, but taken a new and interesting turn. This book provides a historically and conceptually grounded analysis of the transformation of fi nance and business in several countries in Central Europe and the Baltic states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The essays in this book seek to foreground the continuities and ruptures that the experience of these ‘transition’ countries has revealed. It will be of interest to economic historians, sociologists, political science scholars, fi nancial economists, policy makers, and of course to those who have lived through the period.

The fall of the Berlin Wall began a new, and unexpected, period of European political and economic history. For some, this event proved the historical victory of liberal democratic capitalism over socialism. But three decades on, we now know that democratic market economies do not emerge not spontaneously, and are indeed fragile in their own ways. History has not ended, but taken a new and interesting turn. This book provides a historically and conceptually grounded analysis of the transformation of fi nance and business in several countries in Central Europe and the Baltic states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The essays in this book seek to foreground the continuities and ruptures that the experience of these ‘transition’ countries has revealed. It will be of interest to economic historians, sociologists, political science scholars, fi nancial economists, policy makers, and of course to those who have lived through the period.

For more than a century, mutual insurers have dominated the Swedish insurance market. Independent of the historical roots and traditions, companies that sell life and other (non-life) forms of insurance have chosen the mutual organizational form. We focus on two different mutual insurers—Folksam and Länsförsäkringar—in decoding their historical roots, governance and management structure. Our focus is on the differences and similarities with special attention to customer’s participation in governance. The chapter shows that it is indeed possible to organize successful hybrid organizations with longevity and that the state’s role in the process is vital but not always a precondition for successful development of hybrid firms. In addition, the chapter also shows that it is difficult to include customers/owners in the governance of these firms and that there exist many different options for creating such systems.

The fall of the Berlin Wall began a new, and unexpected, period of European political and economic history. For some, this event proved the historical victory of liberal democratic capitalism over socialism. But three decades on, we now know that democratic market economies do not emerge not spontaneously, and are indeed fragile in their own ways. History has not ended, but taken a new and interesting turn. This book provides a historically and conceptually grounded analysis of the transformation of fi nance and business in several countries in Central Europe and the Baltic states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The essays in this book seek to foreground the continuities and ruptures that the experience of these ‘transition’ countries has revealed. It will be of interest to economic historians, sociologists, political science scholars, fi nancial economists, policy makers, and of course to those who have lived through the period.

The fall of the Berlin Wall began a new, and unexpected, period of European political and economic history. For some, this event proved the historical victory of liberal democratic capitalism over socialism. But three decades on, we now know that democratic market economies do not emerge not spontaneously, and are indeed fragile in their own ways. History has not ended, but taken a new and interesting turn. This book provides a historically and conceptually grounded analysis of the transformation of fi nance and business in several countries in Central Europe and the Baltic states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The essays in this book seek to foreground the continuities and ruptures that the experience of these ‘transition’ countries has revealed. It will be of interest to economic historians, sociologists, political science scholars, fi nancial economists, policy makers, and of course to those who have lived through the period.

The fall of the Berlin Wall began a new, and unexpected, period of European political and economic history. For some, this event proved the historical victory of liberal democratic capitalism over socialism. But three decades on, we now know that democratic market economies do not emerge not spontaneously, and are indeed fragile in their own ways. History has not ended, but taken a new and interesting turn. This book provides a historically and conceptually grounded analysis of the transformation of fi nance and business in several countries in Central Europe and the Baltic states after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The essays in this book seek to foreground the continuities and ruptures that the experience of these ‘transition’ countries has revealed. It will be of interest to economic historians, sociologists, political science scholars, fi nancial economists, policy makers, and of course to those who have lived through the period.