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Protectionism, agricultural prices and relative factor incomes: Sweden’s wage-rental ratio, 1877-1926

Author

Listed:
  • Bohlin, Jan

    (Department of Economic History, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

  • Larsson, Svante

    (Department of Economic History, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

Trends in wage-rental ratios have figured prominently in the recent literature on factor price convergence and globalisation in the late nineteenth century. In that literature Sweden has been described as a free trade country whose wage-rental ratio exhibited a distinguished upward trend before World War I. This article presents a new series of land prices which indicates an increase in land rentals and an evolution of the wage-rental ratio more in line with other European protectionist countries. We explore the determinants of the Swedish wage-rental ratio and assess the relative importance of protectionism and the change in the product mix from arable to animal products in Swedish agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Bohlin, Jan & Larsson, Svante, 2006. "Protectionism, agricultural prices and relative factor incomes: Sweden’s wage-rental ratio, 1877-1926," Göteborg Papers in Economic History 7, University of Gothenburg, Unit for Economic History.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunhis:0007
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/2957
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williamson Jeffrey G., 1995. "The Evolution of Global Labor Markets since 1830: Background Evidence and Hypotheses," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 141-196, April.
    2. O'Rourke, Kevin H & Taylor, Alan M & Williamson, Jeffrey G, 1996. "Factor Price Convergence in the Late Nineteenth Century," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 37(3), pages 499-530, August.
    3. Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2002. "Land, Labor, And Globalization In The Third World, 1870–1940," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 55-85, March.
    4. Kevin H. O'Rourke & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2001. "Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262650592, December.
    5. Bohlin, Jan, 2006. "The income distributional consequences of agrarian tariffs in Sweden on the eve of World War I," Göteborg Papers in Economic History 6, University of Gothenburg, Unit for Economic History.
    6. J. L. Van Zanden, 1991. "The first green revolution: the growth of production and productivity in European agriculture, 1870-1914," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 44(2), pages 215-239, May.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic History; Land prices; wages; wage-rental ratio; protectionism; Sweden;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F20 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - General
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N53 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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