The Greenland Economy,
Construction, Reforms and
Entrepreneurship in the Greenland
Housing Sector
Gorm Winther
Professor, Ph.D.
Dept. of Environmental, social and Spatial Change
University of Roskilde.
One Can Always Need a Helping Hand
Greenland – a Dependent Economy
• Economic Dependence – Block Grant from the Danish
State and Ministerial Expenses on Greenland.
• Dependence on Trans-national Corporations (Capital,
technology, know how regarding regulations and tax
systems)
• Organizational Dependence (Danish customs on how to
do things, how to organize, management philosophy)
• Social Apathy and Alienated Positions
• Low degree of entreneurship
The Greenland Model
Decreasing dependence
The Ratio of the States expenditures regarding Greenland
to the Disposable National Income in Greenland
Etatism refers to a social formation where society is
subordinated to the State, and where the State
regulates all basic social relations ( Property
relations, distribution of resources, and incomes,
control over the supply of labor, control with cultural
life, mass media and the educational system etc). The
French expression Etatism (etat=State) is used
instead of ‘Statism’. The concept has earlier been
applied in research on the former USSR and Eastern
Europe. Critique of the Soviet model characterized as
an ‘Etatist’ mode of Production originates from the
‘Polish School’ (Oscar Lange, Wlodzimierz Brus and
Edward Lipinski) and from proponents of the selfmanagement model in former Yugoslavia (Edward
Kardelj, The Praxis group, Branko Horvat and
Eugen Pusic).
Percentages of Collectivism
Government
Expenditures to Gross
Domestic Product
1994
87,5
1998
81,8
2002
81.0
2006
78.0
Companies: Part or Full Home Rule Ownership (2002)
Holding:
Subsidiaries:
Royal Greenland Inc (100%)
(Aalborg, Glyngøre, USA, Japan, Germany)
KNI Inc. (100%)
KNI Pilersuisoq Inc (100%)
Pisiffik Inc. (32.2%)
’Sparkøb’ (100%)
’Super Byg’ (40%)
Royal Arctic line (100%)
Arctic Container oper. (80%)
Aalborg Stevedore (100%)
RAL Linie Agentur (100%)
RAL Spedition (100%)
RAL Bygdeservice (100%)
Royal Arctic Tankers (50%)
Air Greenland Inc. (37.5%)
Arctic Hotel, Ilulissat (100%)
Greenland Travel (100%)
Tele Greenland Inc. (100%)
Tele Gr. International (100%)
’Santa Claus’ (100%)
Nuuk Imeq Inc. (25.7%)
Nuna Minerals Inc. (91.1%)
Greenland resources inc. (100%)
Nuna oil Inc. (50%)
Moreover: Direct On the
Greenland Contractors (33%)
Fiscal Budget (100%):
Nukissiorfiit
Nuka Inc. (100%)
Sulisa Inc. (58%)
Housing Corporation INI (100%)
Amutsiviit
Arctic Umiaq line (100%)
Missueqqarrniit
Nunatta Naqiterivia (100%)
(Grønl. Forundersøgelser)
Greenland Tourism (100%)
Mittarfeqarfiit
Stratification of the Greenland Elite (The New
Class)
The Greenland Technostructural Elite
The Danish Technostructural Elite
The Political Elite
The Elite of Interest articulating
Organizations
The Private Capitalist Elite
Contradictions within the ruling Class
Development Strategies:
’Imported’ highly educated and skilled Danes and some
politicians proponents of neo-liberalism (Rent- and power
seeking).
’Conservative’ forces prefer to maintain at least
elements of Greenland Etatism.
(Defending Obtained Power)
A minority of ’Third Way’ proponents
(Participatory power)
The Greenland Housing Sector I
(G50)
• The typical Settlement
house of the fifties and
sixties.
• Heating based on Ship
Stoves.
• Water from tap houses.
• The traditional Economy
based on hunting and
fishing and low tech.
Manufacturing of products
(drying or salting).
Qullissat
• A mining town
established in 1924.
• The mine was closed
in 1972 (1000
inhabitants).
• The store was closed
• The inhabitants were
forced to move.
• In 2002 a giant
tsunami washed many
of the houses away.
The Greenland Housing Sector II
(G60)
Block P in Nuuk (2% of the
Greenland Population)
• The Concentration
policies of the sixties.
• Exodus from the
Settlements to the larger
towns.
• Building in concrete and
in floors.
• Hunters and Fishermen
were moved into the
towns.
• Wage earning in modern
plants and Alienated
dwellers.
Greenland Housing Sector III
• The Construction after
the sixties up until
now.
• Close-low buildings.
• Wooden houses
• Houses covered with
wood or fiber cement
boards.
Greenland Housing Sector IV
• The settlement houses
today
• But also in towns
• ‘Illorput’ house
• Favorable support
from the Government
• ‘Do it yourself
housing’
Back to the past (G10): Reforms
• Back to tall buildings
• Concentration of
people in four towns
• Abolishment of
uniform price system
• Reliance of markets
• Privatizations,
liberalization,
franchizing and
service contracts with
private firms
The Construction sector dominated by Greenland Companies
Operated by Danes and by Danish and foreign companies
• Very few Greenland Employers
and entrepreneurs
• Danish Craftsmen came to
Greenland and often with the
Help from the Greenland
technical Organization they
started their own business.
• Building with Concrete Bricks
Instead of wood?
• The case of the Siku-block
(Jakob Knudsen)
• This man so seldom an
occurrence that some would say
he should be stuffed.
• The Elite opposed him in the
debate.
• A lobby of Carpenter
Employers against him
The Nursing Home in Narsaq.
One of the Few Entrepreneurs
• Manufacturing of bricks in
Greenland.
• Another building
technique than Bricks
manufactured from clay.
• A production based on a
Block Machine
• Multi-good Production.
Comparing Building techniques
•Wooden Skeleton outer wall covered with fiber cement boards
•Sikublock Bricks (Concrete blocks)
•Wooden Skeleton covered by wooden boards
•Burned clay bricks
Cost-efficency, employment and Balance of trade analysis based on
calculations on outer walls, concrete floor constructions and wall
partitions. The remaining part of the building is the same
Construction of Apartment block in Sisimiut as our case
Socio-economic impact of the four building types.
Fiber cement
bords
Sikublok-
Wooden Clay
Boards bricks
1.070.187
356.308
562.967
2,74
659.769
908.176 1.093.580
313.915 329.600****
495.986
520.767
2,27
2,73
594.261
763.980
1 boligblok:
Production value 876.651
Value added
294.160
GDP Change*
464.773
Employmenteffect** 2,20
Importeffect***
582.491
* Income multiplier is estimated to 1,58.
** Statistic Greenlands Employment multiplier (1990) for the direct and the
indirect employment in construction. Other techniques than Siku-block is
pure import. The measure is man years per invested million D.Kr.
*** Calculations based on V&S data on building materials.
**** The relative higher value added for clay bricks is explained by the high
freight cost that involves more handling and yields a higher volume of
logistics.
Thank You