Sweden has a long-standing tradition of anti-capitalistic thinking. In sports, this manifests as sports teams being seen as .org rather than .biz (or "franchises", if you will). Therefor it's long been natural for us that ability, not economy, should dictate which league you're in.
I don't really favour any approach though. All I know is that the NHL is the best damn hockey league in the world and therefor it's the one I follow, with SHL as a side-dish.