One of the great (and largely untapped) resource of Europe is its amazing diversity – which provides great opportunities for countries to learn from each other. If you have not yet seen Michael Moore’s film “Where to Invade Next”, you should hurry to do so. It describes good practices in different European countries, which the United States should emulate – if they could.
What could be added to this inventory is a peculiar company structure prominent in Denmark, where half of the companies traded at the stock exchange have the majority of their shares held by a foundation. A. P. Møller-Mærsk, Carlsberg, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, Grundfos, Danfoss, William Demant Holding (Oticon), J. Lauritzen, H. Lundbeck, Villum Kan Rasmussen (Velux), Rambøll, COWI, Skandinavisk Holding, Falck m. fl. – are all owned by Foundations. According to the Commerce and Companies Agency approx. 1200, but most of them are small. There are maybe 100 economically important industrial foundations. Industrial foundations are clearly more important in Denmark than in other countries (compared to the size of the nation). Industrial foundations account for 1/5 of private sector employment in Denmark. (http://www.tifp.dk/en/overblik)
Research between 2011 and 2018 by the Danish professor Steen Thomsen at the Center for Corporate Governance of the Copenhagen Business School – http://steenthomsen.com has shown that these companies have a more stable management and invest more with a long term perspective than organisations with a tradition company structure. They also have less risky debts and the chances that they will still exist forty years later is six times as large as that for other companies.
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