Erratum for: Swedish Harvests, 1665–1820: Early Modern Growth in the Periphery of European Economy

Abstract

Today, one of the greatest challenges facing macroeconomic history is to quantify economic growth in the early modern period. This article presents and discusses a series of total and per capita harvest production in Sweden within present bordersfor the period 1665–1820. The series is based on three main indices: grain prices, subjective harvest assessments and tithes. Various sources of harvests are more reliable as indicators of relative changes than of absolute levels. For example, tithes probably only taxed between 15 and 60 per cent of the actual harvests, but seem to capture annual harvest fluctuations reasonably well. To estimate the absolute level of per capita harvests, the index of the per capita harvest production is linked to data for the early nineteenth century, which are more reliable. The articles argues that harvests stagnated during the studied period, which is in line with several other studies for various European countries. The annual fluctuations were substantial.     

More or less travel: personal mobility trends in the Swedish population focusing gender and cohort

This study explores mainstream trends and countertrends in the development of spatial mobility in the Swedish population. Tracing incipient change in travel behaviour is important for understanding the preconditions for social and environmental sustainability. We use data from the Swedish national travel surveys, conducted intermittently over almost 30 years (1978–2006), covering both daily and long-distance mobility. International travel is included for the last decade. With respect to mainstream trends, the results primarily concern the continuation of the spatial extension of overall mobility and of the motorization and individualization of travel modes, as well as an upward convergence between women’s and men’s mobility. When it comes to countertrends, substantial reductions in daily mobility and long-distance domestic travel are observed among the young.     

The cost-effectiveness of somatropin treatment for short children born small for gestational age (SGA) and children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in Sweden

Abstract

Objective: Reduction in health-related quality of life is common in children born small for gestational age (SGA) or children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Growth hormone treatment with somatropin in these children leads to normalisation of height. The aim of this study was to determine whether somatropin is a cost-effective treatment option for short children born SGA and GHD children in Sweden.

Methods: A Markov decision-tree model was used to calculate the relative costs and health benefits associated with somatropin treatment over the lifetime of SGA and GHD children, compared with no treatment. The analysis was undertaken from a Swedish Health Service perspective. As quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) data were not obtained directly in the clinical studies, a degree of uncertainty is related to these results. Sensitivity analyses assessed the degree of uncertainty surrounding central parameters.

Results: For short children born SGA, somatropin treatment was associated with an additional 3.29 QALYs at an incremental cost of 792,489 SEK (Swedish Krona), compared with no treatment. For GHD, somatropin treatment resulted in 3.25 additional QALYs at an incremental cost of 391,291 SEK. This equates to an incremental cost per QALY of 240,831 SEK and 120,494 SEK for SGA and GHD, respectively, below a cost-effectiveness threshold of 500,000–600,000 SEK/QALY.

Conclusions: Somatropin is a cost-effective treatment strategy in Sweden for children with GHD and SGA. To overcome present study limitations future clinical research should incorporate appropriate quality of life questionnaires.     

Allocating job losses: the mass layoffs at the Swedish Tobacco Monopoly in 1921

Abstract

This article analyses the mass layoffs carried through by the Swedish Tobacco Monopoly in 1921. As a state-owned enterprise, the Tobacco Monopoly was expected to treat its employees with particular care but was not restricted by formal rules regarding the order of selection. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative evidence, it is shown that the company's layoff policy shifted dramatically over the course of the year. In the spring, the company acted according to existing praxis and applied the seniority principle when releasing workers. In the autumn, when machines for cigar production were about to be installed, the same principle was abandoned. This policy shift should be seen in the light of technological change. As cigar machines were introduced, the company no longer needed experienced workers for training new workers. The seniority principle for layoffs was never applied again in the industry for the rest of the inter-war period.     

Swedish Historical National Accounts, 1800–2000: Principles and Implications of a New Generation

Abstract

A new set of data and estimates of historical national accounts for Sweden is concluded with the project Structural Change in the Swedish Economy, 1800–1980: Construction and Analysis of National Product Series. This article provides a short overview of earlier efforts, beginning in the 1930s, to construct historical national accounts and an account of the present project. The new estimates resulted in partly new representations of economic growth and change. They are also compared with earlier data. Furthermore, effects of the deflation techniques ( i.e., double deflation) are analyzed by comparing the series with those resulting from single deflation. Finally, structural changes are analyzed using modern time series analysis.     

Mercantilism and urban inequalities in eighteenth-century Sweden

Abstract

It is sometimes argued that inequality promotes growth. If savings are the key to economic growth and the marginal propensity to save rises with income, a more unequal society will save more and grow faster. Thus, by sacrificing equality and concentrating income and wealth in the hands on the entrepreneurial class, society might enjoy higher economic growth. The economic policies taken by the Swedish state during the eighteenth century had the explicit goal of concentrating trade and opportunities for income formation and capital accumulation in the hands of the merchant class. Both an older tradition as well as recent research have emphasised the positive sides of these policies, as the privileged merchants are depicted as dynamic engines of growth and an important factor in the process of capital accumulation. However, in this paper it is argued that this assertion is not warranted. The mercantilist policies resulted in neither measurable per capita growth nor dynamic transformation but in institutional rigidities and the enrichment of the rich and impoverishment of the poor, leading to increasing urban inequalities.     

Product bundling strategies in Swedish markets: links to business orientation and perceived effects on consumer influence

Product bundling is an increasingly important marketing strategy within many industries, and consumer influence on companies' ranges of product bundles is, thus, becoming an important issue. The aim of this study was to investigate product bundling strategies consumers are exposed to by some selected companies in the Swedish automobile, travel and banking industries. Bundling strategies were considered in relation to business orientation as well as the consumer's potential to influence the product bundles offered by these companies. Fourteen qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with senior representatives from the three sectors. Interview respondents were selected in cooperation with their respective companies. Results underwent interpretative analysis, and the findings indicated that business orientation is linked to product bundling techniques and to the type of customer influence on product bundling. Consumers were exposed to mixed and complementary bundling strategies, and customers of companies that apply a market orientation were found to have greater opportunities to influence product bundles directly, whereas companies that apply a production‐oriented approach were less able to respond to their customers' wishes. Consumer influence on the product bundles of production‐oriented companies was found to be of a more indirect nature.     

Marketing cost concept in service firms

Marketing costs are usually not clearly defined. This depends partly on the fact that the marketing department is not identical with the marketing function of the firm. Marketing activities may also be carried out by the managing director, service engineers, and others. In fact, everybody with customer contact influences sales. This is especially evident in service firms where the same person may produce as well as market and administrate. In this article, marketing cost concepts for professional service firms are developed and their practical application is discussed. The purpose of these concepts is to help professional service firms evaluate their marketing efforts and determine marketing strategies.     

Swedish Harvests, 1665–1820: Early Modern Growth in the Periphery of European Economy

Abstract

Today, one of the greatest challenges facing macroeconomic history is to quantify economic growth in the early modern period. This article presents and discusses a series of total and per capita harvest production in Sweden within present borders for the period 1665–1820. The series is based on three main indices: grain prices, subjective harvest assessments and tithes. Various sources of harvests are more reliable as indicators of relative changes than of absolute levels. For example, tithes probably only taxed between 15 and 60 per cent of the actual harvests, but seem to capture annual harvest fluctuations reasonably well. To estimate the absolute level of per capita harvests, the index of the per capita harvest production is linked to data for the early nineteenth century, which are more reliable. The article argues that harvests stagnated during the studied period, which is in line with several other studies for various European countries. The annual fluctuations were substantial.     

New Technology-Based Firms In Sweden - A Study Of Their Direct Impact On Industrial Renewal

The purpose of this paper is to analyse some of the ways in which new tcchnology-bascd firms (NTBFs), started after 1975, have contributed to the process of industrial renewal in Sweden. For this purpose, we have developed a novel way of operationalizing the concept of NTBFs and of identifying the population of such companies in Sweden. The method relies heavily on unique data on the educational background of the firm's staff. We found that NTBFs constitute a relatively small but growing phenomenon in Sweden. Although small in magnitude, the firms have contributed to industrial renewal by increasing the knowledge-intensity and science base of Swedish industry and industry-related services. They have also contributed somewhat to the redirection of the knowledge base in Sweden in favour of skills which are central to the innovation process in growth sectors, primarily computer science skills.