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The role of technology and institutions for growth: Danish creameries in the late nineteenth century

Author

Listed:
  • HENRIKSEN, INGRID
  • LAMPE, MARKUS
  • SHARP, PAUL

Abstract

We consider the relative contributions of changing technology and institutions for economic growth through the investigation of a natural experiment in history: the almost simultaneous introduction of the automatic cream separator and the cooperative ownership form in the Danish dairy industry from around 1880. Using a new database of statistics from creameries and the tool of stochastic frontier analysis, we find that both institutions and technology were important for the success of the Danish dairy industry and, by implication, the growth and early development of the Danish economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Henriksen, Ingrid & Lampe, Markus & Sharp, Paul, 2011. "The role of technology and institutions for growth: Danish creameries in the late nineteenth century," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 475-493, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:ereveh:v:15:y:2011:i:03:p:475-493_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Ingrid Henriksen & Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp, 2015. "Contracts and cooperation: the relative failure of the Irish dairy industry in the late nineteenth century reconsidered," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 19(4), pages 412-431.
    2. Vincent Bignon & Cecilia Garcia-Pe alosa, 2018. "The Toll of Tariffs: Protectionism, Education and Fertility in Late 19th Century France," Working papers 690, Banque de France.
    3. Bentzen, Jeanet & Boberg-Fazlic, Nina & Sharp, Paul & Skovsgaard, Christian & Vedel, Christian, 2023. "Holy Cows and Spilt Milk: The Impact of Religious Conflict on Firm-Level Productivity," CEPR Discussion Papers 18679, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    4. Henriques, Sofia Teives & Sharp, Paul & Tsoukli, Xanthi & Vedel, Christian, 2021. "Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability: Danish Butter Factories in the Face of Coal Shortages," CEPR Discussion Papers 16769, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    5. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2015. "Just add milk: a productivity analysis of the revolutionary changes in nineteenth-century Danish dairying," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(4), pages 1132-1153, November.
    6. Francisco J. Medina-Albaladejo & José L. Martínez-González, 2025. "Management Skills or Economic Context? The Performance of Spanish Consumer Cooperatives in the First Third of the Twentieth Century," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 2501, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    7. Samuel Garrido, 2018. "Why the first cooperative wineries produced poor quality wine, why they were so scarce and why they were set up: evidence from Spain," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 1807, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.
    8. Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding & Boberg-Fazlic, Nina & Sharp, Paul & Skovsgaard, Christian Volmar & Vedel, Christian, 2026. "Holy cows and spilled milk: The impact of religious missions on firm-level productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    9. Abildgren, Kim, 2016. "The National Wealth of Denmark 1845-2013 in a European Perspective," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2016(1), pages 1-19.
    10. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2014. "Greasing the wheels of rural transformation? Margarine and the competition for the British butter market," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(3), pages 769-792, August.
    11. Vincent Bignon & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa, 2016. "Protectionism and the Education-Fertility Trade-off in Late 19th Century France," AMSE Working Papers 1604, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France, revised Jan 2016.
    12. Frida Hastrup & Nathalia Brichet & Liza Rosenbaum Nielsen, 2022. "Sustainable Animal Production in Denmark: Anthropological Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, May.
    13. Jensen, Peter & Lampe, Markus & Sharp, Paul & Skovsgaard, Christian, 2018. "‘Getting to Denmark’: the Role of Elites for Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 12679, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    14. Vincent Bignon & Cecilia García-Peñalosa, 2025. "The toll of tariffs: The impact of protectionism on education and fertility in late 19th century France," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 461-495, December.
    15. Nina Boberg-Fazlic & Peter Sandholt Jensen & Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp & Christian Volmar Skovsgaard, 2023. "‘Getting to Denmark’: the role of agricultural elites for development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 525-569, December.
    16. Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Vedel, 2026. "Ireland in a Danish mirror: A microlevel comparison of the productivity of Danish and Irish creameries before the First World War," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 68(3), pages 596-612, April.
    17. Ekaterina Khaustova & Paul Sharp, 2015. "A Note on Danish Living Standards through Historical Wage Series, 1731-1913," Working Papers 0081, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    18. Peter Sandholt Jensen & Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp & Christian Volmar Skovsgaard, 2018. "‘Getting to Denmark’: the Role of Elites for Development," Working Papers 0125, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    19. Sofia Teives Henriques & Paul Sharp, 2016. "The Danish agricultural revolution in an energy perspective: a case of development with few domestic energy sources," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(3), pages 844-869, August.
    20. Sofia Henriques & Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Vedel, 2020. "Opening the Black Box of the Danish Dairy Cooperatives: A Productivity Analysis," Working Papers 0203, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    21. Henriques, Sofia Teives & Sharp, Paul & Tsoukli, Xanthi & Vedel, Christian, 2024. "Adaptability, diversification, and energy shocks: A firm level productivity analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    22. Eva Fernández, 2014. "Trust, religion, and cooperation in western agriculture, 1880–1930," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(3), pages 678-698, August.
    23. Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp, 2021. "Competition between organisational forms in Danish and Irish dairying around the turn of the twentieth century," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(2), pages 314-341, February.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture

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