Economic history of Sweden
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The economic history of Sweden, since the
Age of Liberty (1718–1773)
The
Agricultural revolution and protoindustrialization (1790–1815)
During the period 1790-1815 Sweden experienced two parallel economic movements: an agricultural revolution with larger agricultural estates (land reclamation -
The early division of labor resulted in household handicraft being largely restricted to the region's natural geographic resource. The "
Early Industrialization, regional specialization and institutional changes (1815–1850)
In the period 1815-1850 the protoindustries developed into more specialized and larger industries. This period witnessed increasing regional specialization with mining in Bergslagen, textile mills in Sjuhäradsbygden and forestry in Norrland. Several important institutional changes took place in this period, such as free and mandatory public schooling introduced 1842 (as the first country in the world), the abolishment of a previous national monopoly on trade in handicrafts - the skråväsendet - in 1846, and a stock company law in 1848.
"First" Industrial Revolution; Export growth, railroads and investment take off (1850–1890)
During the period 1850-1890 Sweden witnessed a veritable explosion in its export sector, with agricultural crops, wood and steel being the three dominating categories. Important institutional changes in this period included the abolishment of most tariffs and other barriers to free trade in the 1850s and the introduction of the gold standard in 1873, linking the Swedish krona at a fixed parity to gold. These institutional changes helped the expansion of free trade.
During this period Sweden's investment quota (investments/GDP) went from 5% to 10%, called take off. During this period modern economic growth, with yearly GDP growth of around 2% made its advent in Sweden. Large infrastructural investments were made during this period, mainly in the expanding rail road network, which was financed in part by the government and in part by private enterprises.[5]
Second industrial revolution (1890–1950)
During the period 1890-1930 the
Having imported vast amounts of foreign capital to finance its industrialization, during a 60-year period, from 1850 to 1910, Sweden was probably one of the leading debtor nations in the world by 1910. This situation would change rapidly in the coming decade. In 1914 the First World War commenced and international demand for Swedish exports of strategically important products such as steel, to be used in the armaments industry, increased rapidly. The warring nations had imposed severe limitations on trade between each other, as a neutral country, Sweden was not affected by these restrictions.[citation needed] The warring nations, such as the UK, to a large extent used the printing of new money as a means of financing the war, leading to inflation and thus causing the prices for Swedish exports to rise rapidly. The massive transfers of foreign money as payments for wartime Swedish exports meant that Sweden went from having been one of the most indebted nations in the world before the war, to being a net creditor after the war.
Recent trends
During the 1980s, Sweden attempted to preserve its model of capitalism plus a generous welfare state through what it called a "bridging policy." Unintended consequences resulted. There was high inflation as well as overheated real estate and financial markets and a negative real rate of interest. After 1991, these factors caused a recession with high unemployment. There were political reverberations and business called for neoliberal government policies. By 2000, however, the positive trends dominated. Compared to the rest of Europe, unemployment in Sweden was low, while economic growth has been high, inflation low, the budget in balance, and the balance of payments positive.[6][7]
Historical statistics
Wealth inequality
A 2017 study found that Sweden had lower levels of inequality than other Western European states in 1750 but that the levels converged with those of other European states to become roughly the same by 1900.[5]
References
- ^ Grimberg, Carl (1935). A History of Sweden. Augustana Book Concern. pp. 237–246, 249–250, 260–261, 278, 282, 284–285.
- ISSN 0358-5522.
- ^ a b Schön, Krantz, Lennart, Olle (2015). "New Swedish Historical National Accounts since the 16th Century in Constant and Current Prices" (PDF). Lund Papers in Economic History. No. 140: 5, 11, 14, 16.
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has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ ISBN 9780415671309.
- ^ S2CID 154088734. Archived from the originalon 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- ^ Lars Magnusson, "Do the Nordic Lights Shine Bright Again?–Sweden's Response to the 1970s and 1980s Crisis." Journal of Modern European History 9.2 (2011): 195-214.
- ^ Sofia Murhem, "Security and change: The Swedish model and employment protection 1995–2010." Economic and Industrial Democracy 34.4 (2013): 621-636.
Further reading
- Enflo, Kerstin and Missiaia, Anna. 2017. "Regional GDP estimates for Sweden, 1571-1850." In Lund Papers in Economic History: General Issues.
- Ericsson, J., & Molinder, J. (2020). "Economic Growth and the Development of Real Wages: Swedish Construction Workers’ Wages in Comparative Perspective, 1831–1900." The Journal of Economic History
- Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson, and Daniel Waldenström (eds.). 2010. Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden: Exchange rates, prices, and wages, 1277–2008. Sveriges Riksbank.
- Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson, and Daniel Waldenström (eds.). 2014. Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden, Volume II: House Prices, Stock Returns, National Accounts, and the Riksbank Balance Sheet, 1620–2012. Sveriges Riksbank.
- Rodney Edvinsson, Tor Jacobson, and Daniel Waldenström (eds.). 2022. Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden, Volume III: Banking, Bonds, National Wealth, and Stockholm House Prices, 1420–2020. Sveriges Riksbank.
- Kathryn E. Gary & Mats Olsson (2019) Men at work. Wages and industriousness in southern Sweden 1500–1850, Scandinavian Economic History Review
- Hansson, Pontus, and Lars Jonung. "Finance and economic growth: the case of Sweden 1834–1991." Research in Economics (1997) 51#3 pp: 275-301. Online
- Heckscher, Eli F. “The Place of Sweden in Modern Economic History.” Economic History Review 4#1 (1932), pp. 1–22. online
- Heckscher, Eli Filip. An economic history of Sweden (2nd ed. Harvard University Press, 1954)
- Kristoffer Collin, Christer Lundh & Svante Prado (2018) Exploring regional wage dispersion in Swedish manufacturing, 1860–2009, Scandinavian Economic History Review.
- Magnusson, Lars. An economic history of Sweden (Routledge, 2002)
- Sandberg, Lars G., and Richard H. Steckel. "Overpopulation and malnutrition rediscovered: Hard times in 19th-century Sweden." Explorations in Economic History (1988) 25#1 pp: 1-19.
- Sandberg, Lars G. "Banking and economic growth in Sweden before World War I." Journal of Economic History (1978) 38#3 pp: 650-680.
- "När och varför blev Sverige ett jämlikt land?"