An Economic History of Modern Sweden

"It is a synthesis of Swedish economic growth, social change and modernization of the society from the turn of the century 1800 up to the present. The book highlights the determinants of long term growth, the role of innovations and entrepreneurs as wellas the interplay between different sectors of the economy over major epochs. The epochal shifts are presented in a long wave pattern with global crises as decisive turnings points. The theoretical approach is integrated into a broad description of the historical evolution from the agricultural society over industrialization up to the present service and IT-oriented society. The book is based on a rich and detailed quantitative material from research over the past decades with consecutive time series overproduction volumes, employment, productivity, investments etc. for sectors and branches covering the whole economy, even including estimates of non-marketed domestic work. It is also based on a broad literature from Swedish historiography with details onthe individual level of firms, innovators and entrepreneurs. Focus is upon the interplay between technological, economic and social change where a number of broad themes are treated with a general interest to historians or economists, e.g. the role of social change and domestic markets versus international specialisation and exports as dynamic factors in Swedish economic growth. Epochs with different structures appears as long waves, demarcated by international or global crises around 1850, 1890, 1930, 1975 and apparently once again around 2010. A particular perspective is upon radical innovations that form expansive development blocks and create a basis for international specialisation within each epoch"--Provided by publisher.

Lennart Schon is Professor of Economic History at Lund University, Sweden.