<p>Sweden experienced a decline in exports of 16 percent in the period after the financial crisis. The decline has created a lot of question marks regarding the traditional exports which has started a process with the aim of finding Sweden’s next cash cow in export.</p><p>Sweden adopted stringent environmental laws early which positioned them as a strong nation in environmental awareness. The stringent environmental legislation meant that the Swedish companies were required to minimize the environmental impact, which created a demand for eco-efficient products. Despite the early demand for eco-efficient products, the international success of the Swedish cleantech companies has been modest.</p><p>The government can increase firms international competitiveness by encouraging, supporting and promoting activities on the domestic market. This is primarily done through implementations of various policies and incentives.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the government’s efforts in promoting the Swedish cleantech industry. In order to give recommendations on which improvements that can be made, two perspectives will be used when analyzing the government’s efforts, the firm approach and the theoretical approach.</p>

Sweden experienced a decline in exports of 16 percent in the period after the financial crisis. The decline has created a lot of question marks regarding the traditional exports which has started a process with the aim of finding Sweden’s next cash cow in export. Sweden adopted stringent environmental laws early which positioned them as a strong nation in environmental awareness. The stringent environmental legislation meant that the Swedish companies were required to minimize the environmental impact, which created a demand for eco-efficient products. Despite the early demand for eco-efficient products, the international success of the Swedish cleantech companies has been modest. The government can increase firms international competitiveness by encouraging, supporting and promoting activities on the domestic market. This is primarily done through implementations of various policies and incentives. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the government’s efforts in promoting the Swedish cleantech industry. In order to give recommendations on which improvements that can be made, two perspectives will be used when analyzing the government’s efforts, the firm approach and the theoretical approach.