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Kansantaloudellinen aikakauskirja - 89. vsk. -1/1993 English Summaries VISA HEINONEN: How Did It Happen - NORDEK posed a many-faceted co-operation which was 1968-70: A Memory from the Past or a Real Alter­ supposed to cover economic policy, scientific native? and energy policy, capital movements, trade Co-operation between the Nordic countries has and customs policy, industrial policy and even a long history. In the 19th century Scandi­ agricultural policy and fishing. The Nordic navism was an intelIectual and political move­ countries aimed at fulI employment, efficient ment that stressed the common history and cul­ production and a stable extemal balance, and tural heritage of the Scandinavian countries. In growth of the standard of living without infla­ the latter decades of the century there was tion. peaceful co-operation, in the form of, for in­ In the winter of 1970 the fate of the NOR­ stance, a postal and monetary union between DEK pIan was about to be resolved. The course the Nordic countries. At that time Finland was of the general European integration develop­ stilI a Grand Duchy of the Russian empire. Af­ ment had changed when President Charles de ter W orld War I there was an unfulfilIed pIan Gaulle resigned. Soon after this especialIy for a defence union. Denmark became interested in membership in In the 1950's the Nordic co-operation pIan the EEC. In Finland the situation in the inter­ became topical and proceeded: the N ordic naI policy was confused because a parliamen­ Council was founded in 1952, the ministers of tary election was approaching. Besides, the foreign affairs of the N ordic countries held Finnish govemment was uncertain of possible meetings once a year and common labour mar­ reactions in the Soviet Union and tried to avoid ket among the N ordic countries was formed in giving the Soviet leaders the wrong picture of 1954. Finland joined the Nordic Council in the Finnish plans conceming economic integra­ 1956 and participated from then on in the ne­ tion. The Finnish govemment emphasized the gotiations conceming the co-operation pIan. value of Nordic co-operation as such, and did When the EEC was founded in 1957 and EFTA not accept the idea of NORDEK being only a in 1960, the Nordic co-operation pIan lost its channel to the membership in the EEC. importance. AlI the N ordic countries except President Urho Kekkonen travelIed to Soviet Finland immediately joined EFTA. Finland Union during 24 and 25 February 1970. The became an associate member of EFTA after details of the substance of his dicussions with having concluded an agreement in 1961. the Soviet leaders is stilI unknown, because he AlI this created the background for the discussed with them alone with the help of an NORDEK pIan, which was proposed by the interpreter. Anyway it is known that the Sovi­ Danish Prime Minister Hilmar Baunsgaard in et leaders resisted the NORDEK pIan. The winter 1968. The pIan was to establish an eco­ Finnish govemment reached its finaö decision nomic union between the N ordic countries at regarding NORDEK finalIy in private discus­ a time when the general integration develop­ sions between President Kekkonen, Prime Min­ ment in Europe was not proceeding. A com­ ister Mauno Koivisto and Minister of Foreign mittee of civil servants was established to ne­ Affairs Ahti Karjalainen in March 1970. On gotiate a pIan for deeper economic co-opera­ the 24th of March the Finnish govemment de­ tion between Nordic countries. The committee clared officialIy that it would not sign the gave its first report in January 1969, and it pro- NORDEK agreement. The reasons expressed 138 English Summaries - KAK 1/1993 were the uneertainty of the fulfilment of the the Nordie eountries. Jan Fagerberg has esti­ NORDEK and the faet, that Denmark, Norway mated that growth potential as regards the mu­ and Sweden were about to begin negotiations tual trade between the Nordie eountriesis still with the EEC about possible membership. good especially in the industries like oil and After the eollapse of NORDEK many of the gas production, vehicles, maehinery, cloths, proposed ideas were fulfilled, beeause all the fumiture, the metal industry and ehemieals. N ordie eountries were EFTA eountries as well. Should the N ordie eountries aet still more co­ Although the institutional superstrueture of operatively and more clearly as a pressure NORDEK was not realized, many ways of eeo­ group with several eommon interests in the nomic eo-operation eontinue to exist between proeess of European eeonomic integration? HELI KOSKI: The Optimal Pricing of the U sage of of information the value of information have Telematic Networks eneountered diffieulties in the eeonomies of information. The reason is the same as men­ Telematie networks enable new ways of eom­ tioned above in eonneetion with the value of munieation and running errands. Despite of the usage of telematie networks: eharaeteristies of belief that use of telematic networks will be­ publie eommodities. The eontingent valuation eome an everyday mode of aetion (like the tel­ method is applieaple to determining not only ephone) no eeonomie researeh has been eon­ the value of the usage of telematie networks dueted on optimal pricinng. Pricing has been but also the value of information. based on neither eosts nor benefits to consum­ Empirieal researeh is eoneemed with the 10- ers. There is a need for economie researeh of eal telematic network of Kusamo. First the op­ optimal prieing both in designing and devel­ timal usage price of the loeal network of Ku­ oping telematie networks. usamo is studied. And seeond attention is di­ Charaeteristics of publie eommondities reeted toward whether the loeal network of makes the vaIue of usage of telematie networks Kuusamo is profitable in terms of the econom­ difficult. It is shown in the article how the op­ ies of households, i.e. is it reasonable to sus­ timal price of usage of telematie networks ean tain loeal telematie netwoks. It turned out that be determined by using the eontingent valua­ the loeal network of Kuusamo is profitable in tion method (CVM). The value of a eommon­ terms of the economies of households, but in dity is measured by eonsumers willingness to terms of business economies it does not yield pay (WTP). A diserete ehoiee funetion is used profits, at least not the early years of the net­ for determining the mean and median of WTP. work. However, this does not imply that it is The main advantages of diserete ehoiee are unreasonable to sustain the loeal network of similarity of normal buying decisions and eon­ Kuusamo, but it states arguments for using sisteney with eonventional economie theory. pub lic financing to some extent to eover eosts. The possibility to use telematie networks The study points out that it is not always rea­ means that the amount of information availa­ sonable to use merely indieators of business ble inereases. Attemps to determine the value eeonomics when estimating eosts and benefits. 139 .
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