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Public Housing Companies (PHCs) play an important role in the Swedish housing market, with approximately 300 companies managing circa 802,000 dwellings. The public housing sector thereby represents almost 20 percent of the total housing stock in Sweden and half of the apartments that are available for rental. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the most important factors behind the profitability in Swedish PHCs between 2010 and 2019. The effects of internal growth, age, and capital structure in the PHCs are analyzed together with the effect of the growth of the local market, as well as local rent levels. Financial information for circa 300 PHCs in Sweden was gathered from annual reports published between 2010 to 2019. The financial information was analyzed using panel data analysis methods with several explanatory variables to explain the financial performance of the PHCs. The results from the analysis indicate a highly significant and positive relationship between the annual change in population, age, and profitability in the PHC. A highly significant and negative relationship was found between the PHC internal growth, capital structure, and profitability. The results showed no significant relationship between changes in income, rent levels, and profitability in Swedish PHC. 

The support offered to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) comes in a variety of forms and has been at the core of small business studies during recent decades. Most of these studies have concentrated on development of best practices and the evaluation of governmental initiatives, which have increasingly focused on the use of different intermediaries as advisors for SMEs. Banks have rarely been discussed as sources of advice even though they have been found to be one of the most common sources of advice for SMEs. This study highlights the main variables leading to customer satisfaction regarding the advice provided by banks. By using a standardised survey, we study the relations of banks and SMEs based on three differentiating qualities of advice. These variables include the capability of the advisor in terms of understanding the specific needs of the SME, the commitment of the advisor to the relationship, and the use of non-standardized approaches in the interactions with the firm. By using these qualities banks are able to differentiate themselves from competitors and deepen the relationship between banks and SMEs. The hypotheses of the study were tested on a sample of 145 Swedish SMEs.

Small firms are essential for any national economy due to their aggregate number of employees, their role in technological change and productivity growth, and essentially in economic development (Boter and Lundström 2005; Glower 1999; Eurostat 2016). Whereas much research takes departure in the broader SME category, an explicit delimitation to the smaller firms means that we will find many self-employed and enterprises where the main intention is to secure a livelihood for the owner/manager rather than to expand business operations. Nevertheless, small firms hold important roles for employment and income generation not least in local and regional settings. The smallest category of firms naturally also contains many new ventures, firms which have not yet proven if they will survive or fail in the long run. As such, they constitute crucial components in development and change on a societal level: New ventures are needed for a dynamic and developing economy. Such processes could relate to the development of new technologies, new forms of organization and marketing, and to various ways to approach sustainable development, not least by the use of new business models (e.g. Bocken et al. 2014).

Entrepreneurial orientation is a concept that captures the importance of how and why certain individuals decide to take higher risks than the average small business owner so as to increase their return on assets deployed. Entrepreneurial orientation is linked to the concept of control aversion, which is used to explain why certain individuals refrain from using external financing to expand their firms. Control aversion suggests that most small business owners prefer to maintain total control rather than invite in the potentially disruptive influence of an external owner/investor. This study combines these two concepts in an attempt to introduce financing and investors into the discussion of entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Equity investors are shown to have a major influence on entrepreneurial performance, because business owners with an entrepreneurial orientation gain substantially from interaction with investors through the transfer of knowledge. The model was tested with a LInear Structural RELations (LISREL) analysis on a sample of 459 Swedish small and medium-sized enterprises.

The financing of entrepreneurial ventures has been at the forefront of academic debate as well as policy-making discussion for almost a century. In general, there seems to be an agreement that the risks associated with business startups are higher than for mature firms, hence, these ventures will have to pay a higher interest rate than more mature and large firms. In this paper the authors analyze the role of a relatively new form of financing for entrepreneurial ventures – crowdfunding – and how this form of financing is similar and different from traditional sources of finance. The authors are also presenting different forms and models of crowdfunding available on the market together with illustrations from the crowdfunding industry in Sweden. The analysis indicates that the positive effects with crowdfunding are numerous but that the size of the crowdfunding sector is relatively small in comparison with the banking and venture capital industry.

In this paper the authors argue that for the development of SME's, the learning process is instrumental for an open approach towards external financiers, including new owners. The analysis shows that firms learn to handle control aversion step by step, as they gain competence and experience through their relationship with external financiers. In this paper a linear structural equation modelling program, Lisrel, is used to analyze a sample of 281 firms (out of an original sample of 545 firms, yielding a response rate of 51.2 percent). The firms have less than 200 employees, and the sample includes both manufacturing and service firms. The questionnaire includes both attitudinal and factual aspects of control aversion and financing.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of small business entrepreneurs' relinquishment of control aversion and the impact of their interaction with external financiers on market connection. Design/methodology/approach: Questionnaires were sent to the chief executive officers of small businesses in the manufacturing and professional services sectors. A total of 459 valid responses were analyzed in a structural equation model. Findings: The attitude of small business entrepreneurs in relying on financiers' advice is marked by control aversion. This fear of losing control creates information asymmetry, which in itself leads to decreased financing opportunities for small business entrepreneurs. The results of the study suggest that small firms seeking the aid of financiers will be provided with substantial additional information about the market. Issues pertaining to supply seem to be less relevant than those relating to demand, thus indicating that greater focus should be placed on the investment readiness of small businesses. Originality/value: This study emphasizes the importance of the role of attitudes among SMEs in understanding capital market failure and credit rationing.