About our research
Municipality-owned corporations (MOCs) are limited liability companies where one or more municipalities exercise a controlling interest. Since 2013, Finnish municipalities have been obliged to corporatize functions that operate on a competitive market. Due to this obligation and the conception that corporatization improves efficiency, the number of MOCs has risen over the past decade.
The study of MOCs is situated between public and private law. Because MOCs are a relatively new phenomenon, our aim is to produce knowledge, among other things, of the special features of the corporations, of their relations to the controlling municipalities, and of the results of the obligation to incorporate. With our research, we want to improve understanding of the legal position of the MOCs, which we believe to be useful particularly for those who are in charge of corporate governance and corporate-related decision-making in municipalities.
Contact
Dr. Janne Ruohonen is Professor of Business Law (tenure) in Tampere University. He is principal investigator in the research project focusing on the transparency of MOCs. Dr. Ruohonen’s research interest is focused on business law, especially company law and audit law. He is specialised in company directors and municipally owned companies (MOCs). He is also Director of Master’s Program on Auditing.
Previous research on MOCs
Governance and Steering of MOCs: Legal Perspective, 31 July, 2021
Lex localis: journal of local self government, Vol 19, No 3
Janne Ruohonen, Lassi Salminen and Veikko Vahtera
This peer-reviewed article explains the current state, regulative background and reasons for corporatisation in Finnish municipalities. The paper also presents a legal analysis of the legal strategies provided in the legislation that a municipality can use to govern and steer its external corporate bodies. The study shows that municipalities have a wide autonomy to decide on the organisation of their functions through MOCs.