The Lund researcher: "All municipalities are at risk of being lost in this spin"

Individual municipalities feel that they have something to gain from being in Stockholm, according to Andreas Bergh at the Department of Economics in Lund.

- In the short term, there may be benefits, yes. The municipalities feel that they receive information faster and can influence decisions in favor of their own region. The problems arise if all municipalities do the same. Then there is no longer a winner, everyone becomes losers instead, he says.

- It would be more favorable if the municipalities competed with each other in being the best at welfare or the business climate, not at the best in Stockholm or Brussels.

Already today, Bergh sees that municipalities are competing for attention, including through different types of events in Stockholm.

Mikael Kipowski, development director in the city of Helsingborg, confirms that the municipality must stand out - to reach the decision makers.

- If you want to get bets made, it is tough competition. Then you have to sharpen your arguments all the time, he says.

This is how he argues for the decision to employ Cecilia Eklund as an impact strategist, or lobbyist, for the City of Helsingborg.

Andreas Bergh, at Lund University, sees no great financial risk in municipalities investing more in lobbying and marketing, but rather in shifting focus from the core operations.

- Attention is a scarcity today. So if we pay more attention to municipal lobbyists, we spend less time on school, infrastructure, child and elderly care, says Andreas Bergh.