The difference is that those Swedish companies could be said to be a result of Swedish policies and cultures, while companies headquartered in LA could just as

The difference is that those Swedish companies could be said to be a result of Swedish policies and cultures, while companies headquartered in LA could just as easily be headquartered anywhere else in California with zero changes to anything, and anywhere else in the US with very, very few changes to anything. Yes, you compared a city to Sweden, but Sweden is not a city. Sweden is more akin to a state, so it seems more appropriate to compare it to a state. That was the point.