Conflict on a global scale: Social imperialism and sub-imperialism — continuities in the structural theory of imperialism

The usual economic theory of imperialism needs to be supplemented by concepts which take into account ‘social’ imperialism and imperialism by ‘delegation’. These concepts are useful in understanding conflicts which are emerging within the Soviet bloc and between the imperialist structure (including the capitalist as well as socialist powers) as a whole and the dominated periphery countries. The Soviet Union is seen as exercising a particular form of imperialism over its subordinate countries, and as fulfilling the role of a sub-imperialist centre in the increased coordination between the capitalist imperial forces.     

The Swedish real exchange rate under different currency regimes

This paper presents evidence on the behaviour of the Swedish real exchange rate relative to Germany under different currency regimes during the period 1973:1–2001:4. The results suggest that the real exchange rate is cointegrated with Swedish and German productivity, which is consistent with Balassa (1964) and Samuelson (1964). In the short run, the exchange rate regime has mattered for the dynamics of the real exchange rate. Deviations from long-run equilibrium have been adjusted more quickly when the nominal exchange rate has been allowed to float freely. JEL no. C22, E31, F41     

The rise and quick fall of the theory of ancient economic imperialism

The theory of ancient economic imperialism has declined for two reasons. The first is the absence of any reliable evidence that the politics of ancient states was dictated by economic considerations. Additionally, the usual focus on the Roman provincial system limits the understanding of 'economic imperialism' to that of a 'formal empire' and ignores other ancient societies. The second reason, which so far has been neglected, is the changing vision of modern imperialism. Once the modern colonial system fell, the understanding of imperialism returned to that of the precolonial period, which saw imperialism in political and military terms.     

Swedish artisans in the nineteenth century

Abstract

The history of the artisan class and of the gild system in Sweden has been dealt with in a number of works, such as Professor E. Heckscher's Sveriges ekonomiska historia [The Economic History of Sweden] and in two of the volumes of the great work of Landsorganisationen ¹ Landsorganisationen, popularly known as ‘L.O’, the Swedish equivalent of the T.U.C. : Den svenska arbetarklassens historia [History of the Swedish Working Class], as well as in Professor E. Söderlund's Stockholms hantverkarklass 1720–1772 [The Artisan Class of Stockholm, 1720–1772]. These topics are of course also touched upon in histories of towns and other literature. However, in those studies which cover the whole country the subject has only been pursued to the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th. The subsequent period is discussed in Henry Lindström's two books Näringsfrihetens utveckling i Sverige 1809–1836 and Näringsirihetsirågan i Sverige 1837–1864 [The Development of Industrial Freedom in Sweden, 1809–1836, and The Problem of Industrial Freedom in Sweden, 1837–1864], but only from a special point of view. Thanks, however, to the good offices of Sveriges hantuerks- och småindustriorgonisation (The Swedish Craft and Minor Industries Organisation), an attempt has now been made, in a work by Dr. Tom Söderberg that has been in preparation for some time, to fill the gap thus existing in respect of the period after 1815. The result, in spite of the relatively limited number of pages, is a very comprehensive exposition, even if the subject obviously cannot be exhausted within the given frame of reference.     

Swedish foreign trade in the mid-sixteenth century

Abstract

For many years our image of economic conditions in 16th-century Sweden has been that depicted by Eli F. Heckscher: a medieval economy, reorganised by a central government of increasing authority in the person of King Gustav Vasa, and gradually transformed after his death in 1560. Sweden's foreign trade appeared to Heckscher as a particular example of his general rule. Its role in the national economy as a whole was very small: such commodities as were imported in exchange for exports were for the most part luxury goods; the only notable exception was the import of salt, to which Heckscher assigned extreme importance, because a vast consumption of salted food featured in his concept of the Swedish ‘medieval’ pattern of overall consumption. Heckscher saw no reason to postulate any major changes in the form and direction of Swedish trade during the reign of Gustav Vasa himself (1521–60); on the contrary, a theme vigorously argued in his book is that the political liberation of Sweden from the influence of Liibeck in the 1530s did not produce any shift of trade routes: most Swedish foreign trade still went via Lübeck. The customs ledgers of a single year, 1559, had an important influence on Heckscher's views.     

The Swedish external position and the krona

Introduction  This paper addresses the dynamics of the Swedish external position, with a particular focus on its inter-relation with the external value of the krona. Materials and methods  We argue that financial globalisation means that a broader conceptual framework is required, whereby exchange rate fluctuations operate through the ‘valuation channel’ of external adjustment, in addition to the traditional trade balance channel. In the other direction, we highlight that the projected trend for the trade balance is an important influence on the long-term prospects for the krona. Conclusion  Finally, we seek to assess the future direction for the Swedish net foreign asset position by investigating the likely impact of demographic change and shifts in the Swedish position in the world income distribution.

Pension principles in the Swedish pension system

This article analyses the role of pension principles of funding and benefit provision for the development of the Swedish pension system. Focusing on four major public pension reforms in the twentieth century, it discusses why certain pension principles were used and under what circumstances they were more or less likely to change. The analysis shows that change was implemented to a large extent as a response to the previous pension system failing to fulfil its intended purpose in terms of financial stability, work incentives and redistribution.     

Swedish economic history before the 1980s

Abstract

The early days of economic history in Sweden — the many scattered, more or less important, contributions of the 19th century — have never been investigated. Hans Forssell's remarkable work on the 16th century has won well-deserved fame, but his was not an isolated case. Around the turn of the century, interest in the subject area increased, in Sweden as elsewhere. There were a few dissertations, formally in economics or in history (for instance, Eli Heckscher's in 1907). The first assistant professor of economic history to be appointed was Karl Petander, in Stockhohn in 1912.     

Intra-firm trade and Swedish multinationals

Zusammenfassung Firmeninterner Handel und schwedische multinationale Unternehmen. — In diesem Aufsatz werden verschiedene Hypothesen zu den Bestimmungsgründen des firmeninternen Handels getestet, wobei einmalige Firmendaten schwedischer multinationaler Unternehmen benutzt werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, da\ die Neigung ausl?ndischer Filialen, von den Mutterfirmen zu importieren, positiv mit der Forschungsintensit?t des gesamten multinationalen Unternehmens korreliert ist. Einfuhrbeschr?nkungen des Gastlandes haben eine erhebliche negative Wirkung auf die Importe der Filiale von der Mutterfirma. Diese scheinen auch mit dem ProKopf-Einkommen im Gastland zuzunehmen. Die internationalen Reserven des Gastlandes schlie\lich, die herangezogen werden, um m?gliche Anreize für eine Manipulation der Transferpreise zu erfassen, führen zu keinen eindeutigen Ergebnissen.

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Résumé Commerce intra-entreprise et les entreprises multinationales suédoises. — Les auteurs testent plusieurs hypothèses concernant les déterminants du commerce intra-entreprise en utilisant des données uniques du niveau d’entreprise pour des firmes multinationales suédoises. Les résultats suggèrent qu’il y a une relation positive entre les tendances des sociétés affiliées étrangères à importer les biens des sociétés mère et l’intensité de recherche de l’entière entreprise multinationale. Les politiques des gouvernements d’h?te qui visent à restreindre les importations ont un effet significatif et négatif sur les importations des sociétés affiliées. Ces importations semblent accro?tre avec le revenu par capita du pays d’h?te. Finalement, les réserves internationales du pays d’h?te qui sont introduites comme variable approximative des incitations possibles à une manipulation des prix de transfert ne produisent pas de résultats conclusifs.

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Resumen Comercio intracompa?ía y las multinationales suecas. — Varias hipótesis sobre las determinantes del comercio intracompa?ía son sometidas a un test empírico utilizando datos a nivel de empresa para multinationales suecas. Los resultados sugieren que la propensidad de las filiales de importar de sus casas matrices está positivamente correlacionada con la intensidad de investigatión de la empresa multinational. Las políticas de importaciones restrictivas por parte de los gobiernos de los países donde operan las filiales tienen un impacto negativo significativo sobre las importaciones de la filial provenientes de la casa matriz. Las importaciones parecen aumentar con el ingreso per capita del país donde operan las filiales. Finalmente, las reservas internationales del país donde operan la filial, variable introducida para captar posibles incentivos para manipulaciones en los precios del comercio intracompania, arrojan resultados no concluyentes.

     

Women's opportunities in Swedish society

Abstract

Research in economic history has been accompanied by rapidly developing research in social history. Demographic history, the family and social change, together with popular movements, have been taken up as objects of study. The three Swedish studies discussed here arise from projects in these fields. The studies of Sten Carlsson and Kerstin Moberg form part of projects in the Department of History at the University of Uppsala on ‘the family in demographic and social change in Sweden after 1800’ and on ‘functions of the class society: popular movements’. Gunhild Kyle's study is part of a project in the Department of History at the University of Gothenburg on ‘women in industrial society’.     

The beginning of the transatlantic market for Swedish iron

Abstract

From the commencement of the American Revolution until the expiration of the treaty of 1783,¹ the diplomatic relations of the United States with Sweden were determined mainly by political circumstances arising out of the relations of each of the two countries with the great powers of Europe. By the time the treaty expired in 1798, both the United States and Sweden had broken with Revolutionary France, and since Gustavus Ill's high hopes for Swedish-American commerce had failed to materialize, there was little direct intercourse between the two countries. With the turn of the century, however, a great change took place as the American market suddenly began to assume an increasingly important role for Sweden's greatest export product, iron. Within the first decade of the nineteenth century the United States became one of the greatest purchasers of Swedish iron, and Swedish-American commerce was to continue expanding well into the middle of the century. From this time to the outbreak of the Civil War, the political factors, which had previously been the link between the two countries, were overshadowed by the predominant part that the transatlantic market played in Swedish-American diplomacy.     

Serfdom in esthonia during the period of Swedish rule

Abstract

For quite some time after World War II peasant behavior in less developed countries was ‘unproblematic’. There was a general consensus that peasants were not ‘economic men’, in the sense that they tried to maximize profits as postulated by mainstream economic theory. Instead, their acts were assumed to be governed by ‘tradition’, or ‘conservatism’, which by and large had nothing to do with the type of maximizing or minimizing behavior which acquired prominence in economic theory not least by the central role that was conferred on it in Paul Samuelson's Foundations of Economic Analysis.¹ Their ambitions and horizons were thought to be limited in such a way as to render standard economic theory inapplicable in the study of peasant behavior. The discussion focused on the ‘inert’, or ‘lazy’, (satisficing) peasant.²     

The Swedish Salt Market during the Great Northern War

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of the great naval blockade on the Swedish salt market during the Great Northern War (1700–1721). Whether or not salt can be perceived as a strategic good subject of wartime shortage is important in interpreting the reasons behind the famous Swedish Navigation Act of 1724. New research claims that the Navigation Act was a welfare enhancing institution, as it helped to secure salt imports. This essay shows that although Sweden was at war with most European Great Powers and the subject of sea blockades during the Great Northern War, the salt market still worked remarkably well. Neither supply nor salt movements show any signs of a great crisis. Thus, there was no need to secure salt imports during the period of peace that followed. Consequently, the Swedish Navigation Act had little to do with welfare but more with rent seeking and monopolies on the freight market.