DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS
Doctoral dissertations during the academic year 2021-2022
Henrik Keinonen Essays on agency problems in entrepreneurial ventures and publicly listed companies In his doctoral dissertation Henrik Keinonen describes how conflicts of interests in entrepreneur driven firms and in stock listed companies arise and how to alleviate them. Some entrepreneurs may for example want to hide away certain critical information from potential investors before raising an investment or use the investment into private consumption later on. “Especially commercial Business angel newtworks can reduce information asymmetries by active screening of investments, training and personal ties”, says Keinonen.
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Fredrik Huhtamäki Corporate leadership and utility from nonpecuniary factors: Essays on workplace safety, shared leadership, and long-term orientation There are several recent cases where influential CEOs, such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon’s previous CEO Jeff Bezos, have received criticism for poor workplace safety. Fredrik Huhtamäki presents results in his doctoral thesis that show a positive relationship between CEO power and workplace safety and health. “The results show that Musk and Bezos are non-representative when it comes to powerful CEOs and workplace safety. Greater CEO influence generally leads to better workplace safety”, argues Huhtamäki.
Virva Tuomala Urban food security at the intersection of retail supply chain management and development studies The mainstream approach to ensuring sufficient food and nutrition security is focused on production and consumption. Virva Tuomala´s research shows that food security research and action need to emphasise distribution and retail in addition to agricultural production. The field work for the thesis was conducted in South Africa and Thailand, where the informal food sector plays a substantial role in food access and security. “Whether it be a neighbourhood tuck shop or a mobile food cart, these informal outlets are more accessible for many urban poor residents both financially and spatially, than formal supermarkets”, Tuomala says.
