N orwegian Agro‐Food Attracting P rivate E quity Capital; Varieties of Capitalism – Varieties of Financialisation?
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Due to the (relatively) small scale of theNorwegian food industry,PrivateEquity capital is deeply involved in the structural development of the sector through acquisitions and takeovers. TheNorwegian social‐democratic model of agriculture, with its attempts to maintain farming all over the country, struggles with comparative disadvantages in productivity andPrivateEquity capital is investing in direct competition with farmer co‐operatives. An outline of the socioeconomic characteristics of theNorwegian model as well as those ofPrivateEquity illuminates why they both fit well together. Thus, we argue in this article that it is theNorwegian model of agriculture, with its non‐market based elements, that today attracts finance capital and discuss whether this involvement of finance capital can be considered as a process of financialisation. Findings based on analysis of case‐studies ofPrivateEquity buyout in the agro‐food industry suggest that the economic motives ofPrivateEquity takeovers are based on a combination of typical industry capitalism with investments in productivity and efficiency, rather than merely financialisation. Findings are interpreted in a variety of capitalism framework combining social theory on financialisation with business school theories onPrivateEquity transactions.
Source: Sociologia Ruralis
DOI: 10.1111/soru.12112
Authors: Bjørn Klimek, Hilde Bjørkhaug
Language: English
Subfield: Finance
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1856654696