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Citizen trust in local government in the Nordic Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic
(Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2024-11-01) Baldersheim, Harald; Haug, Are Vegaard; Eyþórsson, Grétar Þór; Vegard Haug, Are; Faculty of Business Administration
This chapter examines trust in local government among Nordic citizens after more than two years of pandemic and concomitant government interventions in citizens’ daily lives. It has been widely assumed that citizens’ pandemic experiences have jeopardised their trust in government and have most likely led to a decline in trust. Is this also the case in the Nordic countries? Or have the traditionally high levels of trust observed in the North – sometimes referred to as ‘the Nordic gold’ (Andreasson 2017) – survived the pandemic and even possibly been augmented? These are the core issues addressed in this chapter. The analyses presented here go beyond many previous studies of trust by contextualising the issue of trust explicitly within the pandemic experiences of individual citizens and by focussing especially on trust in local institutions. In a comparative perspective, local government is of particular importance in the Nordic countries (Ladner et al. 2019). As demonstrated in previous chapters, the pandemic disrupted local government operations across the board and required adjustment and flexibility to keep a minimum of services running. Local government is the level of government where citizens are most likely to have had the closest encounters with public authorities and their handling of the pandemic. Therefore, charting citizen trust in local government is likely to yield the most reliable account of what citizens’ experiences were like in their encounters with government institutions during the pandemic.
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Voter turnout in local elections – the impact of municipal amalgamations. : A study of 28 cases in Iceland
(2025-12-16) Eyþórsson, Grétar Þór; Faculty of Business Administration
In this article I deal with analyzing whether amalgamations of municipalities do affect the voters‘ participation in elections when it comes to the new merged municipality. I use data from six different local government elections in Iceland; the elections 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. I have looked at 28 different municipal amalgamations implemented under that period with 102 municipalities involved. The main question is if the voter turnout in these amalgamated municipalities changes, not least due to the impact of size on democracy. Municipal population size is considered to have a negative effect on democracy as stated in the classic work of Dahl and Tufte (1973). I use accessible data from Statistics Iceland (www.hagstofa.is). The main result is that there is no clear evidence that increased size of municipality through amalgamations ultimately leads to lower voter turnout. However, what is found is that voter turnout seems to go down in pure urban amalgamations and tends to go up in pure rural amalgamations. Communities that are structurally and culturally similar, seem to develop in the same direction looking at voter turnout.
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Civic engagement and trust among immigrants in Iceland
(2026-03-01) Eythórsson, Grétar Thór; Guðmundsson, Birgir; Faculty of Business Administration; Faculty of Social Sciences
The composition of the Icelandic population has undergone a considerable transformation in a relatively short period of time. A medley of different cultural influences brought about by an increased number of immigrants has coloured the traditionally monolithic and culturally homogeneous Icelandic society. In early January 2025, immigrants constituted some 18,9 per cent of the total population, and their number had been rising considerably over the previous two decades, their number being some 7,4 per cent of the total population in 2012. The largest number of immigrants reside in the capital area in Iceland and represent 67,7 per cent of all immigrants. However, the proportion of immigrants among the population in different regions of the country is considerable, about 33 per cent in the South -West peninsula (Suðurnes) and some 24,5 per cent in the Westfjords (Vestfirðir) (Statistics Iceland, 2025). In this paper, we aim to establish how these massive demographic changes impact the civic culture in Iceland. We assess, with the help of specifically designed indices constructed based on empirical data, the extent to which immigrants in Iceland have become part of the civic culture upon which the Icelandic democratic society rests. As far as we know, this is the first time empirical – numerical criteria have been applied to the civic engagement of immigrants in Iceland. The definition of immigrants follows the one used by Statistics Iceland and defines an immigrant as a person who was born abroad and has both parents and grandparents born abroad (Statistics Iceland, 2018). Immigrants in Iceland come from all over the world, although the largest single group comes from Poland (Statistics Iceland, 2025). Thus, they bring with them a variety of new ideas and cultural traditions, some of which are highly visible such as restaurants and culinary cultures, while other ideas might be more hidden such as their attitudes towards the role of government or civic engagement.
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Amalgamation reforms in Iceland : How strategies have shaped conflicts and outcomes
(2026-03-01) Eythórsson, Grétar Thór; Faculty of Business Administration
Municipal amalgamation reforms tend to meet resistance and opposition from the municipalities involved. Such territorial reforms can lead to great changes for the municipalities, as well as their inhabitants, since some may have had their jurisdictional boundaries for a long time. Therefore, it is no wonder that conflicts can occur in connection with such reforms (Baldersheim & Rose, 2010). Such shuffling involving not merely municipal boundaries, but also the political landscape, the structure of municipal administration and service delivery, can lead to comprehensive changes for everyone involved. The Norwegian political scientists Baldersheim and Rose (2010) argue that whether such or suggested changes will lead to conflicts can depend on the strategies used during implementation. They also connect this with the institutional context – national and local – and presented an analytical framework in which institutional context determines both the choice of reform strategy and the pattern of conflicts arising from the reform. All this then determines the outcome. Steiner et al. (2016) examined patterns of conflict related to territorial reforms in European countries using this framework. They based their investigation on surveys among experts in 11 European countries. Their main findings were that top-down initiatives and comprehensive reforms were more likely to trigger conflicts and resistance, while more incremental and bottom-up-oriented approaches would probably engender less struggle and defiance, if any. In this article, I take a closer look at Iceland, one of the eleven countries from the Steiner (et al. 2016) study, and use Baldersheim and Rose’s (2010) framework to analyze two cases of municipal structure reforms. Specifically, the Icelandic national authorities have twice tried to implement a comprehensive territorial reform at the local level. This has been done by setting up referendums in majority of the municipalities, first in 1993 and later in 2005. Neither of these reforms (or reform attempts) ended up being successful. To better explain what brought about these outcomes I address the following research questions: What reform strategies were used in the municipal structural reforms in Iceland 1993 and 2005? Were there any conflicts connected to them and if so, what kind of conflicts? Which were the outcomes of these reforms and can they be seen as consequences of the strategies that were used and the conflicts that came up?
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Positional Leverage in Distant Institutional Environments: Insights from a Multilevel Context
(University of Iceland, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Business Administration, 2026-05) Ólafsdóttir, Bryndís; Erla Sólveig Kristjánsdóttir; Faculty of Business Administration (UI); Viðskiptafræðideild (HÍ); School of Social Sciences (UI); Félagsvísindasvið (HÍ)
This compilation thesis investigates internationalization and positional leverage within an institutionally distinct but developed host country environment. Adopting a holistic perspective, the research emphasizes the meso- and micro-level dynamics of internationalization, while situating them within the shaping influence of the macrolevel, institutional environment. It addresses gaps in the existing market entry literature related to cross-level dynamics, the role and positional leverage of institutional networks in the support environment, and the adaptation strategies of internationalizing firms. Employing a qualitative methodology, this exploratory research adopts a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach with simultaneous data collection and analysis, with the objective of constructing a theory and theoretical extension grounded in empirical field data. This aimed to provide insights into the institutional environment and the experiences of managers within internationalizing high-technology firms, as well as institutional actors within the support network. The research primarily relies on in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted on-site in Japan, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. Additionally, case studies and text analysis are utilized to enable triangulation, capture institutional dynamics across levels, and contextualize actor perspectives. Social constructivism underpins the philosophical stance of the thesis, emphasizing the interpretation of social phenomena, the complexity of perspectives, and the existence of multiple realities within the context. The qualities of the compilation papers are best captured through three unifying characteristics: theory development, interdisciplinary diversification, and contextualization. The results reveal significant findings from two research streams. The research consists of four journal articles, two published and two under review, referred to as ‘papers’ in the thesis. The first research stream, focused on institutional networks, encompasses the first three papers. It uncovers the positional power of these support networks within the bureaucratic host country environment. This power stems from the network's legitimized position and social status in the market, which enhances its leverage in accessing influential power players. Conversely, the antecedents and dynamics of supranational coopetition (simultaneous cooperation and competition) built on collective identity and closeness are also examined. It reveals how the nested tensions and competing interests characterizing this paradox can undermine the effectiveness and potential benefits of collaboration within the institutional networks and aid stakeholders. The second research stream, centered on high technology firms, comprises the fourth and final paper. This research illustrates how firms transition from outsidership to insidership by strategically developing their network position. It complements the first stream by examining how SMEs respond to institutional dynamics through strategic adaptation and capability development. They achieve this by leveraging both business and non-business actors to improve communication with local customers. It also highlights how firms learn and adapt to the market by enhancing four types of dynamic capabilities: culture-adjusting, network-shaping, establishment-reconfiguring, and service-improving. It demonstrates how there are both assets and liabilities associated with being an insider and an outsider. In conclusion, the institutionally distinct and multilayered structures of distant sociopolitical environments, coupled with the overall complexity and uncertainty of the global market, continue to pose significant challenges for Western firms and organizations during market entry. This thesis identifies two key strategies for facilitating smoother access. Firstly, home country institutional networks can act as valuable liaisons, enabling firms to navigate these challenging environments more effectively. They provide positional leverage within bureaucratic systems and capitalize on longstanding regional alliances. However, achieving success in regional collaboration requires balancing paradoxical tensions arising from competing interests and implementing improved governance through higher-level institutional support and leadership. Secondly, internationalizing firms can address the challenges of their liability of outsidership by adopting strategic positioning. By leveraging local actors to build trust and legitimacy and by enhancing their unique dynamic capabilities to adapt to the environment, these firms can significantly improve their chances of survival and success. The thesis contributes to internationalization studies and the broader field of organizational sociology through its interdisciplinary approach. It makes a notable impact on institutional theory by highlighting the connection between organizational legitimacy and status, and is further enriched by incorporating the concept of power to explain positional leverage. Additionally, the thesis significantly advances the coopetition approach by integrating paradox theory and game theory. It introduces the novel concept of supranational coopetition to explain the complexities of regional collaboration. It also extends the Uppsala internationalization process model by refining and advancing the conceptualization of network outsidership and its link to dynamic capabilities. These theoretical contributions are solidly grounded in rigorous empirical research and thorough analysis.

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