Is there a need for transnational learning? The case of restructuring in small industrial towns

In peripheral regions, achieving cooperation and mutual understanding around the development of the region is even more critical than in prosperous regions. The cases studied here offer an opportunity to study the possibilities for transnational learning between Norway, where a system for long-term economic restructuring through regional cooperation is used, and the case of Kaskö in Finland, where restructuring measures are short-term. Two main differences are identified. First, regional controversies and competition for taxation incomes in Kaskö can be mastered trough a regional stance to restructuring. Second, legislation for restructuring in Finland does not impose the company social responsibility on the company in question.