Why are Nordic companies so successful?

From the dining room on the ground floor of “Carl’s Villa” in Copenhagen, guests are treated to views of a charming garden adorned with classical statues. The art nouveau house was built in 1892 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg. Since then the brewer, which these days uses the house for meetings, has become one of the biggest in the world. Jacob Aarup-Andersen, Carlsberg’s current boss, admits that the company’s success is part of a bigger puzzle about Danish firms. Just last night at dinner, he says, someone asked him how a country so small could produce so many large companies.