Business renewal

Business renewal

The studies deal with the renewal of businesses, industries, and the national economy. Currently, the most significant issues relate to geopolitics and its impact on businesses and industrial policy. Often, the focus is on discontinuities and transitions in corporate structures. Almost every project involves collaboration with companies or other stakeholders.

Geo-economy, geopolitics, and industrial policy
Corporate acquisitions, changes in industries and corporate structures
The impact of global value chains on Finland and businesses
Corporate financing and capital investments

Personnel of the research group

Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki

Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki

Research Director, ETLA & CEO, Etlatieto

jyrki.ali-yrkko@etla.fi

046 851 0501

Value creation, global value...

Kuosmanen, Natalia

Kuosmanen, Natalia

Chief Research Scientist

natalia.kuosmanen@etla.fi

045 163 9660

productivity, business renewal, empirical...

Pajarinen, Mika

Pajarinen, Mika

Senior Researcher

mika.pajarinen@etla.fi

046 850 6244

Industry- and firm-level data...

Ylhäinen, Ilkka

Ylhäinen, Ilkka

Senior Researcher

ilkka.ylhainen@etla.fi

050 413 3783

Knowledge, technology

Selected research

Research began 2025 Research ends 2025

Measuring the resilience of Nordic participation in Global Value Chains

The operational landscape for Nordic countries and other small open economies is undergoing significant changes due to rising geopolitical tensions, heightened trade barriers, and increased business subsidies from larger nations. In this new era, the interdependencies and operational reliability

Research began 2024 Research ends 2025

The importance and growth of the biotechnology industry

The project investigates the growth opportunities of the Finnish biotechnology industry and provides important information about the high-tech industry that lies between the more well-known industries, which can produce important solutions for many other industries. The project generates new

Research began 2025 Research ends 2025

Entrepreneurial capital and economic growth

This research project investigates the extent to which entrepreneurs who have sold their companies use their assets and expertise to establish and finance new companies. In addition, this project investigates the effects of capital and the experience of previous

Research began 2024 Research ends 2026

Mobile is Global – how the new geopolitics influence the 5G and 6G industry

5G and 6G technologies are not only essential for promoting Europe's digital transformation, but are also linked to economic growth, strategic autonomy and security. The rapidly evolving geopolitical and technological landscape is reshaping the global mobile industry. The research

Research began 2024 Research ends 2024

The future of the food industry – an analysis of the operating environment (Etlatieto)

This project analyzes the food industry and its operating environment, as well as the future of work in the food industry. The aim of the project is to create an understanding of the current state and recent developments in

Research began 2023 Research ends 2025

Availability of business financing and productivity development

The availability of quantitatively sufficient and qualitatively sound financing represents an indispensable prerequisite for facilitating the material and immaterial investments essential for fostering productivity development. Conversely, advancements in productivity and profitability profoundly influence the extent to which companies become

Research began 2023 Research ends 2025

Boosting Productivity in Services through Digitalisation

The private service sector is a critical driver of the Finnish economy, contributing significantly to economic growth and employment. Currently, the sector is undergoing a substantial transformation due to a range of factors, including rapid digitalisation and other changes

Research began 2023 Research ends 2025

Intangibles as drivers of change and renewal: Firm dynamics underlying the next stage of the knowledge economy (InChange)

Intangibles play a vital role in economic value creation and the overall well-being of societies. Examples of intangibles include brands, data, patents, software, and human and organisational capital. However, our current understanding of intangibles remains imperfect. This research project

Research began 2024 Research ended 2024

Geopolitics is changing the operating environment – What is Finland doing? (Etlatieto)

In recent years, the global operating environment has undergone significant changes, and tensions between different regions have escalated. This research project addresses the question of what this means for Finland's economic and societal policies. The aim of the project

Research began 2022 Research ended 2023

Services in International Competition

At the same time as the importance of services in developed economies has grown, service companies and service operations have increasingly become exposed to international competition. Although many service functions still require a local presence, some services can be

Research began 2022 Research ended 2024

Improving crisis resilience

The aim of this research project is to analyse the resilience of various companies and industries, i.e., their crisis resistance, the factors influencing it, and their ability to recover from a crisis. In addition, the project will look at

Research began 2022 Research ended 2023

The impact of foreign investment on critical intangible assets (Etlatieto)

This research project will create a situational picture of the effects of foreign investment on strategic and critical intangible assets. The results of the project will help to outline how strategic/critical intangible capital can be defined, what effects foreign

Research began 2022 Research ended 2023

Policy actions promoting productivity and the dynamics of the business sector

The main goal of this research project is to produce research data on how the actions of different policies affect productivity. It is particularly important to better understand the effects of those policy measures that are central to future

Research began 2022 Research ended 2023

Barriers to trade and their effects (Etlatieto)

During the last five years e.g. Brexit, COVID-19 crisis and trade wars have probably affected Finnish companies' international trade and barriers to trade. For this reason, Finland does not currently have a recent understanding of the barriers to trade

Research began 2022 Research ended 2023

Structural effects of carbon neutral transition on competitiveness and productivity

Combatting climate change will require substantial productive investments around the world. The carbon neutral transition requires both emission reductions in all sectors and the strengthening of carbon sinks. A carbon neutral transition will cause structural changes in production, distribution,

Research began 2021 Research ended 2023

Company Resilience in the Era of Globalization (CRIEG)

The 21st century began with series of massive shocks to the world economy, with negative effects evident in practically all countries. The first major shock, the 2008 global financial crisis, originated in the US financial markets and rapidly spread

Research began 2021 Research ended 2022

Exit – foreign acquisitions and the future of innovative companies in Finland

In the international research literature, foreign institutional investors have been found to have a positive impact on corporate innovation. Finnish data have shown that the patenting of companies is positively related to being the target of a foreign acquisition.

Research began 2021 Research ended 2021

Greenhouse gas emissions in the ICT sector: a value chain perspective

The manufacture of electronic devices and service infrastructures for digital applications are mainly located outside Finland. Over time, an understanding has emerged, for example, of how the value of electronic device manufacturing is distributed globally across different supply chains.

Research began 2021 Research ended 2022

How does the renewal of products and services affect firms’ productivity?

Productivity growth in Finland has remained low for more than a decade, but the reasons behind the stagnation remain unclear. Entry and exit of firms are generally recognized as important drivers of productivity growth. In addition to these well-studied

Research began 2021 Research ended 2022

Evaluation of the effectiveness of Team Finland Network

The aim of this research project is to evaluate the effectiveness of Team Finland Network, especially in terms of the effectiveness of the reforms made in 2018. The aim is to find out what is the added value of

Research began 2020 Research ended 2021

Value chains, international trade, and vulnerability of the economy (Etlatieto Oy)

The functioning of international trade is important for small open economies such as Finland. Changes in international trade shakes the Finnish economy, and due to our export structure, the economic swings are potentially greater than in many other countries.

Research began 2020 Research ended 2021

Reasons for Low Investment

Productive investments in Finland have long been lagging behind the euro area and Sweden. Finland's R&D intensity (R&D expenditure / GDP) has also fallen during this decade. The project analyzes Finland's intangible and tangible investments in relation to other

Research began 2020 Research ended 2021

Business R&D activities and achieving the 4 % R&D intensity (Etlatieto Oy)

The Government has set a goal of research, development and innovation inputs to increase to 4 % by 2030. The objective is very ambitious. Achieving it requires remarkable and properly targeted substantial efforts in both private and public sector.

Research began 2019 Research ended 2022

BRIE-Etla 2019-2022

Shaping the Future in the Era of Intelligent Tools: AI and Beyond Over the past decades, information technology has driven societal development and economic growth. The continuing advance of digitalization has enabled individuals and organizations to leverage more and

Research began 2020 Research ended 2021

Financing of growth companies in Finland (Etlatieto Oy)

The purpose of this research project is to evaluate and recognise possibilities to both utilize EU's financial instruments for the development of Finland's growth companies financial markets and possibilities to replace business aids with more market-conform solution. The focus

Research began 2019 Research ended 2022

FutureForest2040 – Finnish forest industry’s structural changes and market and employment visions for 2040 (Etlatieto Oy)

The purpose of the project is by anticipating create a road map how the forest industry and related products, services and the use of wood will change in the next few decades. The results of the projects will significantly

Research began 2019 Research ended 2020

The footprint of health technology in Finland (Etlatieto Oy)

The project examines the overall importance of research-based healthcare industry companies for the Finnish economy. The current state of the industry is estimated and will be linked to the decade's evolution. In addition, future scenarios with policy implications will

Research began 2019 Research ended 2020

Structural competitiveness (Etlatieto Oy)

This research project aims to create a frame and instruments for structural competitiveness which can be utilized in monitoring Finland’s growth conditions. So called “competitiveness pyramid” is used as a frame in this project. This pyramid decomposes competitiveness into

Research began 2020 Research ended 2020

ICT and its energy consumption

The role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the lives of people and organizations is continually more significant. Digitalization is present in both people-to-people communication and corporate business. Previous scientific research results indicate that electricity consumption of ICT

Research began 2019 Research ended 2020

Service Exports and Public Funding

We study service exports and the extent of companies that export services. The data by tax authorities enables us to generate new knowledge about the number of companies with service exports. Furthermore, we study the impact of Business Finland’s

Research began 2019 Research ended 2020

Impact of the digital economy on taxation in Finland (Etlatieto Ltd)

The aim of the project is to analyze digital economy and its impacts on taxation. The first phase of the project focuses on the measurement of the digital economy. The digital economy will be measured in value added terms

Research began 2019 Research ended 2020

Impact Study of Global Growth for Companies (Etlatieto Oy)

This research plan comprises a comprehensive impact study on how Business Finland (BF) has succeeded in achieving the objectives associated with innovation and business subsidy funding and global network services. The data will be analyzed by the two-stage method:

Research began 2020 Research ended 2020

On Artificial Intelligence (Etlatieto Oy)

The purpose of this research project is to produce an expert opinion assessing, on the basis of the "AI White Paper", the impacts of the European Union's artificial intelligence policy and regulation on the competitiveness and sustainable growth of

Research began 2015 Research ended 2020

DDI – Digital disruption of Industry

The Digital Disruption of Industry -project acronym: DDI, http://ddi.aalto.fi/en/) studies the impacts of digitalization to the Finnish society through the lens of the industry. The next industrial revolution has already started with digitalization making it possible to create intelligent

Research began 2019 Research ended 2021

Trends In Global Governance and Europe’s Role (TRIGGER)

The objective of the TRIGGER research project is to provide EU institutions with the competence and the tools required to address global challenges through international collaboration and global governance. A part of the project focuses on examining the possibilities

Research began 2018 Research ended 2020

Competitiveness and renewal of the construction industry (Etlatieto Oy)

Construction has many implications for the economy and society. Despite the relevance of the construction industry, business and market knowledge of the sector is lacking, and the cost and growth competitiveness of the sector is not well known. The

Research began 2019 Research ended 2019

Industry and data

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have long been studied as a form of business investment. Data sharing is a newly popular type of collaboration between industrial companies. For the first time a research is focusing on the impact of

Research began 2018 Research ended 2019

Brexit – What kind of value chains are there between Finland and Britain? (Etlatieto Oy)

British exit from the European Union (Brexit), has raised questions about its effects. Both Sweden, Ireland and Denmark have made estimates about the consequences of Brexit. The effects of Brexit on global trade are not limited only to trade

Research began 2018 Research ended 2019

Artificial intelligence, robotics, and blockchains

A consortium has been established between VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA), Aalto University, University of Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä, Silo.AI, and TMikko with a research focus on artificial intelligence,

Research began 2015 Research ended 2018

Work and Wealth in the Era of Digital Platforms

Work and Wealth in the Era of Digital Platforms (acronym: BRIE-ETLA 2015-2018) studies implications of digital platforms on business strategies and national policies. It consists of international scholarly, business and policy relevant, research joint effort of BRIE, The Berkeley

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