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The formation of a nation’s leading industry: an examination of the impacts of mercantile policy on Swedish iron exports during the 18th century

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  • Gabel, Lina

Abstract

There is a wide array of literature on the particular manifestation of mercantilism in Sweden during the “Age of Liberty” and there is an even wider selection of literature on the success of the Swedish iron industry. However, there is very little literature on the combination of the two, and it suffers from issues with lack of adequate data. Therefore, this paper aims to fill that gap by studying the impact of the Swedish Commodity Act of 1724, the largest piece of Swedish mercantile legislation and an adaptation of the British Navigation Acts, on Sweden’s leading industry - iron - and its exports to its largest foreign market in England. This investigation of the relationship between mercantilism and Swedish iron trade is based on the Sound Toll Registers, one of the most detailed sources on maritime trade history. The time series regression results indicate that the implementation of the commodity act successfully increased the total tonnage of iron shipped from Sweden to England.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabel, Lina, 2022. "The formation of a nation’s leading industry: an examination of the impacts of mercantile policy on Swedish iron exports during the 18th century," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116938, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:116938
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/116938/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lars Magnusson, 1987. "Mercantilism and “Reform” Mercantilism: The Rise of Economic Discourse in Sweden During the Eighteenth Century," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 415-433, Fall.
    2. Kerstin Enflo & Joan Ramón Rosés, 2015. "Coping with regional inequality in Sweden: structural change, migrations, and policy, 1860–2000," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(1), pages 191-217, February.
    3. Rodney Edvinsson & Christoffer Tarek Gad, 2018. "Assessing trade in the mercantilist era: evidence from a new database on foreign trade of Sweden – Finland, 1738–1805," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(3), pages 226-245, September.
    4. Haan, Marco A. & Heijnen, Pim & Schoonbeek, Lambert & Toolsema, Linda A., 2012. "Sound taxation? On the use of self-declared value," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 205-215.
    5. Lennart Schon & Olle Krantz, 2012. "The Swedish economy in the early modern period: constructing historical national accounts," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 16(4), pages 529-549, November.
    6. Peter King, 2006. "The production and consumption of bar iron in early modern England and Wales," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 59(1), pages 264-264, February.
    7. Manish Kumar, 2018. "A method for estimating the volume of Baltic timber products exported through the Sound and its application to Portugal, 1669–1815," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(3), pages 246-263, September.
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    JEL classification:

    • N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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