Desertions in nineteenth-century shipping: modelling quit behaviour

Ship jumping in foreign ports was widespread throughout the age of sail. Desertion by seamen was illegal, it occurred abroad, and men who deserted only seldom returned home. We analyse desertion quantitatively and link it to the broader question of quit behaviour and labour turnover. Though the better wages paid at the foreign ports were the main reason for desertion, the regression model of the determinants of desertion indicates that outside opportunities, such as migration, and monetary incentives played a significant role in the nineteenth-century labour market, characterized by rather strict control over labour supply, working conditions, and terms of trade. Copyright , Oxford Universi…

Early modern trade flows between smaller states : the Portuguese-Swedish trade in the eighteenth century as an example

The eighteenth century was a period of many great power wars and competition for colonies. However, despite the turmoil, smaller nations were able to carve their niches in the international trade of the period. Examination of new sources, used in a comparative fashion, indicates that bilateral trade still has much to offer for the analysis of international trade history. The pattern of bilateral trade between Sweden and Portugal indicates that they were not equally dependent on that trade, and that the products traded varied over time. Usually bulk commodities dominated this trade, as each country focused on its core competencies. Overall, the volume of trade and the number of ships travell…

Between conflicts and commerce: The impact of institutions and wars on Swedish-Portuguese Trade, 1686-1815

This paper is related to a multiyear project aimed at compiling new data on the early modern trade flows between smaller (or weaker) states. It presents a quantitative analysis of the nature and volume of trade between Sweden and Portugal during the period in question, seeking to identify long-run changes in these flows and to determine whether institutional changes and wars fundamentally altered the composition, trends, or volume of trade. First, it appears that trade between Portugal and Sweden hinged on only a few key commodities, most importantly iron from Sweden and salt from Portugal. In particular, we found that Portugal was somewhat more dependent on Swedish iron than Sweden was on …

Let the best story win : evaluation of the most cited business history articles

Faced with intensifying competition for scientific impact measured in terms of citation counts, small disciplines are challenged to prove their importance as they lack the critical mass to accumulate large numbers of citations. This paper demonstrates that by emphasizing theoretical and methodological rigor even small disciplines such as business history can be competitive. Yet it still appears that readers of business history articles first and foremost seek interesting and useful subject matter, i.e. ‘best’ stories that can be used as background information and as tools in comparisons. However, articles advancing theory and methodology have increasingly gained interest and citations from …

Nuorten miesten ammatti? : ikä ja ammattitaito merenkulussa 1700-luvulta 1900-luvun puoliväliin

Quantitative methods in business history: An impossible equation?

Abstract In this article we want to evaluate how often quantitative tools and methods were utilized in the two premier journals in business history in the 1990s. Thus we tap into an important methodological discussion among the post-Chandlerian business historians. We found that simpler quantitative tools were employed quite often, but not necessarily going much beyond that.Also, it became apparent that the most cited business history articles were often written by scholars coming from‘outside’ the fluid disciplinary core of business history field.The analyses performed in the article revealed that the level of quantification seemed to have either no discernible impact (Business History Rev…

Young Lads and Old Tars: Changing Age Structure of the Nordic Sailors, 1750s–1930s

AbstractThis article analyzes the changing age structure of Swedish and Finnish sailors for almost 200 years. We show that the proportion of the youngest men increased during the age of sail (i.e., the older technology). The average age increased significantly during the early twentieth century as steam (i.e., the newer technology) replaced sail in Nordic shipping. Thus, a technological revolution did not displace the older workers, but rather diminished the demand for the younger ones. This study shows, however, that technological changes were not the only drivers of changes in the age structure of Nordic sailors. Institutional and societal changes also played an important role, though the…

Different needs, different solutions : the importance of economic development and domestic power structures in explaining military spending in eight western democracies during the interwar period

More or less equality?

Maailmansotien vaikutus vallankumouksiin Venäjällä, Suomessa, Espanjassa ja Kiinassa

Vallankumouksia ja sisällissotia on tutkittu ahkerasti eri tieteenalojen piirissä, mutta tutkimus on harvemmin ollut aidosti poikkitieteellistä. Vertailevan sosiologian ja historian tutkimuksen kautta saadaan uudenlainen kuva siitä, miksi kahdessa keskeisessä 1900-luvun ensimmäisen puoliskon vallankumouksessa - Venäjällä ja Kiinassa - sosialistit/kommunistit voittivat ja miksi kahdessa muussa - Suomessa ja Espanjassa - kommunistit hävisivät. peerReviewed

Road to unity? : Nordic economic convergence in the long run

This study examines Nordic economic convergence from the sixteenth to twentieth century respective of the economic leaders, in effect the UK before 1914 and USA thereafter. The paper uses a novel approach of combining the analysis of both GDP and wages. The examination of real GDP per capita suggests that there was a catch-up process in play, both with the economic leaders and among the Nordic states, from the early nineteenth century onwards. However, the examination of the adjusted silver wages suggests convergence among the Nordic economies by the end of the eighteenth century. Therefore, we argue, no single Nordic Model emerged from these development patterns, even though the Nordic sta…

Pro Bono Publico? Demand for Military Spending Between the World Wars

This article analyzes the demand for military spending in the 1920s and 1930s, based on variables arising from the international system and the selected countries. The main premise is that the military spending was an impure public good, implying that both public and private benefits drove the demand for this type of expenditure. Threats arising from the autocratic states in the 1930s increased these expenditures, and democracies overall tended to spend less. Moreover, the absence of clear international leadership by the USA or UK destabilized the international system and increased military spending, with alliances failing to produce a public good effect. Military spending resulted in joint…

Smooth sailing toward more peaceful societies? Long-run Nordic development paths

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Christopher Lloyd and Matti Hannikainen. In this chapter, the authors aim to compare the Nordic societies in a broad fashion in the last 200 years in their process of “sailing” (with the implication of rough waters along the way) from social fragmentation to more inclusive welfare societies. The authors’ main goal is to examine the coevolution of economic, political, and fiscal factors among the Nordic societies in the long run by making use of recent longitudinal data sets. In this way, they can map out some key patterns that characterized the shift toward more peaceful and well-functioning societies. First, the authors focus on t…

Towards Big Data: Digitising Economic and Business History

This chapter describes the experiences in computational and digital history of economic and business historians who for decades have been forerunners in digital history data gathering and computational analysis. It attempts to discuss the major developments within this area internationally and, in some specific cases, in Finland in the fields of digital economic and business history. It concentrates on a number of research projects that the authors have previously been involved in, as well as research outcomes by other economic and business historians within Finland and elsewhere. It is not claimed that the projects discussed are unique or ahead of their time in the field of economic and bu…

East-West trade and the Cold War

Monelta kantilta : Ilkka Nummelalle omistettu juhlakirja

Trade between Sweden and Portugal in the Eighteenth Century : Assessing the Reliability of STRO Compared to Swedish and Portuguese Sources

Modern Finnish Economic History

The Finnish economy has experienced a relative late growth and catch-up process in relation to many other advanced Western economies. During this growth period, Finland also experienced a rapid structural change from an agrarian society to a developed service society. In a small open economy, the export industries have played a vital role in this development. Over several centuries, the forest industries have had a dominating impact in exports, along with the metal industries; however, the latter, as well as the electronics industry, with Nokia as the flagship company, gained more importance in the late 20th century in aggregate exports. The egalitarian educational system has to a large ext…

Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail : Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913

The study examines the evolution of skill premium and share at industry level in shipping during the age of sail. We argue that the period from the 1750s to the 1910s represented deskilling for the seamen working in sailing ships. The growth of international trade and shipping during the first era of globalization increased the overall demand for sailors but decreased the relative demand for skilled labor in favor of less skilled ones. This deskilling was associated with a decline in wage inequality, as the premium for high skilled seamen fell relative to mean wages in the shipping industry. The decline in skill premium may have facilitated the growth of trade and shipping, as the relative …

More or less equality? : Facts, debates, and policies related to the Nordic model

The topic of income inequality has become a new nexus of research among historians and social scientists recently.1 Piketty (2014) has famously argued: Inequality is shaped by the way economic, social, and political actors view what is just and what is not, as well as by the relative power of those actors and the collective choices that result. It is the joint product of all relevant actors combined. Given that redistribution is a core element of the Nordic model and understood as key to the development of social trust and cohesion, all debates about social and cultural polarization are also debates about economic inequalities and the possible policy choices related to those issues. Moreove…

Comparing Post War Japanese and Finnish Economies and Societies

Part 1: Introduction 1. Comparing Japanese and Finnish Economies and Societies - Longitudinal Perspectives, Jari Ojala, Yasushi Tanaka, Toshiaki Tamaki, and Jari Eloranta 2. Longitudinal Comparative Historical Analysis: Challenges and Possibilities, Pavel Osinsky and Jari Eloranta Part 2: Welfare Societies 3. Two Paths to Building a Welfare Society: The Development of Work and Family-related Policies in Post-War Finland and Japan, Maare Paloheimo, Kota Sugahara, Tadashi Fukui, and Merja Uotila 4.Higher Education Systems and Labour Market Outcomes in Japan and Finland, 1950 - 2010, Anu Ojala, Yasushi Tanaka and Olli Turunen 5. Military Spending in Japan and Finland: From Warfare to Welfare S…

Historicizing Divergence: A Comparative Analysis of the Revolutionary Crises in Russia and Finland

Beginning 1917, Russia and Finland both experienced revolutionary situations, the seizure of power by radical political groups, and civil wars. However, the ultimate outcomes of the revolutionary crises in the two countries turned out to be different: the Russian Bolsheviks won the struggle for power whereas the Finnish Red Guard suffered a defeat. Why did the radical socialists win in Russia but lose in Finland? This chapter argues that the Russian revolutionaries benefited from the existence of two coalition alliances that had not fully materialized in Finland: the workers–soldiers’ alliance, which was critical for the radicals’ seizure of power, and the workers–peasants’ alliance, which …