Land ownership in the nordic countries

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between the Norwegian State and international cartels and trusts in the interwar years. In this period, Norway was at the forefront with regard to implementing legislation regulating cartels, yet the legislation was not an antitrust legislation in the modern sense. It was aimed not only at protecting consumer interests, but more importantly at defending domestic businesses against foreign monopolies and cartels. In the article we examine how the Norwegian authorities interacted with international cartels and trusts in seven different cases in the interwar period. The study shows that although there was a deep seated scepticism towards concentration of market power in Norway, cartels received support from the Norwegian government when they were deemed to be beneficial to Norwegian economic interests. The legislation was used to foster the development of domestic cartels, while at the same time it was employed as a tool to limit the operations of foreign cartels and trusts.     

The Norwegian market for British Shipbuilding, 1945–1967

Abstract

The British Shipbuilding industry experienced a process of both competitive and comparative decline during the period 1945 to 1967 — when the world market for ships was at its most vibrant. The present article seeks to analyse this decline through an examination of the loss of the industry's most important export market — Norway. It is argued that issues such as price, failure to meet delivery dates and to offer competitive credit terms, were all factors in British shipbuilding's loss of market share in Norway. Ultimately British shipbuilders retained a production oriented strategy in a market which was being revolutionised in both structural and technological terms. The failure to adopt a marketing oriented strategy, therefore, underpinned the failure of the British shipbuilding industry in the Norwegian market and would also account for its failure in the domestic market.     

Norway's recovery from the Great Depression – an act of balancing?

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of how Norway recovered from the Great Depression and tries to show that a monocausal Schumpeterian explanation is flawed. Three elements of such an explanation are being discussed and dismissed: the shift in employment structure; the spread of electric power; and the changes in household consumption. The paper comes to a more balanced conclusion. Mainly for chronological reasons, supply-side factors can't independently explain the recovery. Not before 1934–35, when recovery had been underway for roughly two years, did supply-side factors start to have a real impact. Only by viewing these forces in interaction with the demand side, in particular export demand generating an investment boom, can a more plausible explanation of Norway's recovery from the Great Depression be presented.     

Why is the Inter-firm Credit Market in Korea Special? An Agency View of Trade Credit Use by Chaebols

Abstract

China and India (Chindia) have begun in recent years to enjoy growing measures of economic success, reversing centuries of structural poverty and negligible rates of economic growth. This article examines the influence of varying cultural propensities—Hinduism in India and Confucianism in China—and their impact on each country's economic turnaround. It discusses the historical circumstances that shaped Chindia's perspectives on foreign direct investment and how external forces contributed to domestic policy-making. It also addresses three ways in which culture can affect economy and two major events that cemented the direction of Chindian economic growth. Finally, the paper presents a comparative analysis of China and India and their respective impact of culture on development. It asserts that the forces of culture and its historical development do matter, especially when it comes for a nation to reverse its deprived and stagnated situation and to achieve a status of economic powerhouse.     

The Long Emergence of a Modern Insurance Industry in China

Abstract

From 1949 through 1979, China had no insurance industry, as the state self-insured. Government policy was cautious and growth slow for the next 15 years, but since the early 1990s the pace of policy change has accelerated and the industry has grown at more than twice the gross domestic product. Nevertheless, the industry's development and market penetration, particularly in general insurance, remains extremely low by international standards, and continues to be retarded by a mix of forces. This paper examines the drivers for and against the long emergence of China's insurance industry, followed by a projection of the future development of the industry in China.     

Technological change and the decline of the traditional pulp and paper industry in Norway, 1950–1980

Abstract

With its breakthrough around 1870, the Norwegian pulp and paper industry came to be a principal driving force in the industrialization of the country, retaining a leading position in the national economy until the mid-1950s. From that time onwards, however, the industry has experienced a relative as well as an absolute decline. Of great importance in this decline has been the fact that new technology made possible the use of all kinds of wood, which, internationally, led to a major relocation and restructuring of the industry. Technological change is, however, not sufficient to explain the decline of the Norwegian industry. National social characteristics as well as certain structural features of the industry also deserve attention.     

“Weak” Trade,European States in the International Arms 1920–1937: The impact of external threats,market forces,and domestic constraints

Abstract

This article analyses the small- and medium-size arms trade behaviour of nine “weak” (that is, limited political and economic influence) European states in the interwar period: Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. In particular, the significance of external threats, market forces and domestic constraints is assessed for these states' military trade. Firstly, the hypothesis that there might be fewer domestic constraints on the military trade behaviour of these states was not supported by the analysis. The increased military spending of the 1930s seemed to benefit the domestic producers. Secondly, most of these countries were dependent on their aggregate military trade, especially military exports. Thirdly, the hypothesis that the differences between these states might be explained by geographical, strategic or economic factors was found too simplistic. Only proximate groupings could be developed based on various types of categories. Fourthly, “weak” states were found to benefit from the intense international political and economic competition of the 1930s, enabling the pursuit of new military export markets amidst increasing threats.     

Patenting and Early Industrialization in Norway, 1860–1914. Was there a Linkage?

Abstract

The Norwegian patent system was formally established in 1839. For many years the interest in the patent institution and in patenting was moderate. The first real increase in patenting occurred in the 1870s and 80s. The paper will examine and analyse the development in patenting, and the patent institution (legislation, administration) from about this period until 1914. An explicit focus of the analysis is the relationship between patenting and industrialization. There has been an issue among Norwegian economic historians if or when there was an industrial breakthrough in Norway. So far, patents, patent policy and the role of the patent institution have not been related to this question. This paper will therefore investigate in which way the system was developed to stimulate modernization and industrialization.     

A contribution to Norwegian urban history

Abstract

Norwegian historians have for decades concerned themselves with the study of problems pertaining to Norwegian towns in the middle ages, what needs they fulfilled, how extensive were their socio-economic functions.     

Landowners and tenants in Norway

Abstract

During the past two decades Norwegian historical research has to a considerable extent been concentrated on problems connected with the peculiar nature of the distribution of landownership in Norway before 1661, in which year the king of Denmark and Norway embarked upon a large-scale selling of Crown lands and secularised ecclesiastical estates. The results of the investigations so far carried out have for the most part been published only in parish or other local histories or in short articles in Norwegian periodicals, especially in Heimen, the organ of Norwegian local historians. It is only quite recently that a more comprehensive work has been published in this field, Halvard Bjørkvik's Jordeige og jordleige i Ryfylke i eldre tid.¹ In the present article I propose first to review this book and then to supplement it with a survey of the results of earlier research.     

Policy and trade issues for a future regional biofuels market in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the domestic political and legislative context surround biofuels initiatives to highlight what opportunities exist for establishing a biofuels trade network between South Africa (as an anchor market) and its neighbours, specifically in Zambia and Mozambique. By analysing global developments in major biofuel importers, reasons for policy inertia in South Africa, and recent experiences with biofuels investments, we suggest that the likelihood for a regional biofuels market developing is slender without addressing land-related challenges in producer countries and revising South Africa’s domestic legislation.     

Xinjiang and China's security1

Central Asia occupies a growing role in Chinese security policy. However, an examination of China's Central Asian policies reveals that they are essentially external projections of Beijing's vital interest of internal security in neighboring Xinjiang. Accordingly, this paper examines Xinjiang's importance for China's overall security policies. Through this examination, it becomes clear that the Xinjiang problem very much resembles that of other discontented provinces within a multinational state with a continuing imperial vocation. China's problems in Xinjiang will continue, and have important repercussions for its domestic and foreign policies, and for other key issues like Taiwan.     

Norway's liberalisation of trade and payments in the 1950s

Abstract

While historical scholarship has focused on the domestic macroeconomic adjustment to trade liberalisation of the 1950s in terms of fiscal, monetary and incomes policies, this study deals with the liberalisation itself. From the perspective of the domestic political economy it provides an account of Norway's policies towards the European trade and payments schemes. It argues that although national ambitions were constrained by multilateral European liberalisation, a successful policy mix of exploiting EPU credits, delaying import quota liberalisation and selectively raising tariffs was pursued. It also argues that the government's sympathy towards the stillborn Nordic customs union in 1954 originated in this policy mix.     

The scale of Norwegian interwar unemployment in international perspective

Abstract

The author offers revised estimates of Norwegian interwar unemployment, and argues that total unemployment as a percentage of the labour force was considerably lower than the unemployment rate for trade unionists. The new figures, suggesting annual unemployment to hover between 5 and 10 percent for most of the interwar period, seem somewhat lower than the scale of Norwegian interwar unemployment according to the conventional view. However, they correspond well with similar calculations carried out for other countries. suggesting that unemployment as a percentage of the total labour force was about 1.5-3 times lower than that among insured workers.     

Clé Lesger,The Rise of the Amsterdam Market and Information Exchange – Merchants,Commercial Expansion and Change in the Spatial Economy of the Low Countries,c.1550–1630

Abstract

Between 1930 and 1935, Sverre Steen wrote four volumes of Det norske folks liv og historie [The Life and History of the Norwegian People], covering the period 1500–1814. He has now half completed the task of bringing the work further towards our own time in a comprehensive series entitled ‘Free Norway’. The first three volumes are devoted to political history in the period immediately following 1814. In this, the fourth volume, entitled ‘The Old Society’, Steen examines the social and economic history of the period 1814–1840. Both the title and the arrangement of the book indicate that Steen's intention is to provide a survey of the foundations of Norwegian society before continuing his work in further volumes, not only about ‘Free Norway’, but also about ‘New Norway’.     

Liner Shipping and Technological Innovation: Ostasiat and the Container Revolution, 1963–75

Abstract

This article examines the implications of technological innovation on liner shipping. In the 1960s and early 1970s, containerisation revolutionised liner shipping. The article asks how a well-established liner company, AB Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet, responded to the challenges of the container revolution. Despite being a late mover, Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet nevertheless successfully adapted its liner network to the container technology. The basic argument is that organisational changes paved the way for Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet's successful transition from conventional liner shipping to container shipping. Before the container revolution, Svenska Ostasiatiska Kompaniet had gained valuable cooperative experiences in a joint venture with a Norwegian and a Danish liner company. These organisational experiences were crucial to the survival of the Scandinavian lines in liner shipping in a time of technological change.     

Nations,clusters and culture: Nycomed and world leadership in the field of x-ray contrast media

Abstract

The topic of the article is to offer a new interpretation of the history of Norway's agricultural protectionism in a West-European context. Agricultural protectionism was not deeply rooted economically, politically or institutionally prior to the Second World War. Before the First World War the most commercially oriented part of Norwegian agriculture – milk production and the dairy industry – was export-oriented. Norway was the last country to join the protectionist wave in the late nineteenth century and in practice it followed the most liberal trade policies in agricultural products next to Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands. It is argued that the 1920s were generally relatively more important and the 1930s relatively less important for later developments than assumed in the most of the literature on agricultural protectionism.     

The old Norwegian peasant community: Investigations undertaken by the institute for comparative research in human culture,Oslo

Abstract

The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture was founded in Oslo in 1922.1 From the start, the activities of the Institute have fallen into three categories: research work, mostly performed by Norwegian research fellows; public lectures given by foreign and Norwegian scholars; and publication of the lectures and the results of the research. The work was at first mainly concentrated on the study of the Arctic cultures, of the Caucasian and Indo-Iranian languages, and of folklore. In 1928 the Institute resolved to add to its programme the comparative study of the development of peasant communities.     

Norway and the scandinavian economic history review

Abstract

In the first volume of SEHR, published in 1953, we can find articles from Denmark, Finland and Sweden but not from Norway. The question is whether this was accidental or symptomatic. Professor Johan Schreiner was the Norwegian representative on the editorial board from the beginning, and I assume that he also took part in the founding meeting in 1952, described by Kristof Glamann. He also published an article in the second volume (1954) entitled “Wages and Prices in England in the Later Middle Ages”. Schreiner stayed on as the Norwegian representative throughout the Sdderlund period, that is until 1961. During this period 11 main articles by Norwegians appeared in SEHR, most of which dealth with aspect of pre-industrial agrarian history, a field that had been developed by Professor Andreas Holmsen, who was the author of four of the eleven articles.     

Espen Moe,Governance, Growth and Global Leadership: The Role of the State in Technological Progress, 1750–2000

Abstract

The concept of the ‘dissolution of estate society’ (standssamfunnets opplesning) has not been much used in Norwegian historical research. The great process of social change which took place in the 19th century, the main features of which have their counterparts in the social development of the other Scandinavian countries, has been discussed within other conceptual contexts. Norwegian historians have often stressed the contrast between an urban society and an agricultural society based on self-sufficiency, or between the people and their administrators. In economic history the changes which came with industrialization, and the shift from an agricultural economy based on self-sufficiency to an agricultural economy based on buying and selling, have been the subject of much research. In social and political history the subjects which have aroused the greatest interest have been the struggles of the farmers as well against the bureaucracy as against the commercial capitalism of the towns, and the role of the farmers in the movement towards political democracy.