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Climate variability and change, as well as extreme weather events, have notable impacts on human health and mortality. In historical times, the effect of climate on health and mortality was presumably stronger than today, owing to that nutrition status was meditated through climatic impacts on food production along with factors such as poor housing and healthcare. Despite this, climatic impacts on mortality in the past remain poorly understood. This study aims to improve the understanding of historical climate effects on mortality, using annual mortality records and meteorological data from Sweden between 1749 and 1859. The analysis includes the entire population as well as subgroups based on sex and age. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between winter and spring temperatures and mortality (i.e., lower temperatures = higher mortality and vice versa). We demonstrate that colder winters and springs were linked to higher mortality levels, not only for the same year but also the following year. Conversely, no statistically significant associations were observed between summer or autumn temperatures and mortality, and only weak associations existed with precipitation. The impact of winter-spring temperature on mortality was most pronounced for the same year in southern Sweden and during the 19th century, but stronger for the following year in central Sweden and during the 18th century. These findings call for further research, especially investigating specific diseases and additional contributing factors to the observed increase in mortality following cold winter and spring conditions in Sweden during the late pre-industrial period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earlier research describes the development of real housing prices as a 'hockey stick', i.e. of long stagnation followed by a sharp upturn in recent decades. A problem is that there are very few indices of residential property covering longer periods. Using a database of around 10,900 sales, this study presents a historical housing price index for Stockholm 1818–1875, which extend a previous index by 57 years, one of the longest for any city. A so-called repeated sales index is compared to a sales price appraisals ratio index. We show that in real terms there have been two long upswings, in 1855–1887 and 1993–2018. In other periods, real prices were stagnant or even slightly declining. The nineteenth century upturn did not end in a crash, but was followed by stagnation for a century. There are many similarities between the two upturns. For example, both coincided with the demographic expansion and were preceded by deregulations. During both periods, properties became more expensive relative income levels. Our new data, available at , reveals that the pattern of a 'hockey stick' between 1870 and 2012 is complemented by another hockey stick when the index is expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a newly constructed database on foreign trade of Sweden-Finland 1738-1805, consisting of all exports and imports that were recorded by the custom houses in this period, and is made available at www.historia.se/Swedish foreign trade 1738_1805.xlsx. The traditional view as presented by Eli Heckscher, who was very critical of the mercantilist policies of the time, was that the overseas trade of Sweden-Finland saw a trend of secular stagnation during the course of the eighteenth century. By contrast, we show that in conjunction with a substantial expansion of the population, total trade nearly increased twofold during the period of study. Despite that, there was a small decrease in the value of exports in relation to GDP, mostly explained by a drop in the relative price of bar iron. The degree of specialisation of Swedish exports saw a declining tendency in this period. While exports from Sweden had a higher degree of specialisation than Finnish exports, imported goods to Finland were more concentrated than Swedish imports. Lastly, the composition of imports did not markedly alter, meaning that a consumer revolution did not take place in either Sweden or Finland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows that the Swedish ‘housewife era’ roughly occurred in 1930–1970. During the 1950s, the ratio of women’s worked hours to men’s worked hours reached a low point. In the early 1970s, it rose to above 50%. We argue that models of joint utility maximisation, assuming equal gender power relations unrestrained by cultural and institutional settings, cannot alone explain this era. The two principal structural mechanisms behind the rise of the breadwinner household were the decline of the farm household and the increased proportion of married women. Both weakened the bargaining position of women. Three results in our study weaken the claims of the joint utility maximisation model. Firstly, marriage was much more important than motherhood in determining the probability of women’s labour force participation, although the age of the child is then not taken into account. Secondly, the labour force participation of married women was similar across different social strata outside of the farm and top income households, indicating a prevalent capitalist patriarchal structure. Thirdly, women’s leisure was valued less than men’s, demonstrating that the preferences of the husband were prioritised over those of the wife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common method to reconstruct historical national accounts is the demand approach, which calculates agricultural consumption from the development of wages and prices of agricultural and non-agricultural products assuming constant income, own price and cross price elasticities of demand. This study uses agricultural data for Sweden 1802–1950, which is more reliable than for other countries, to put the approach to test. Time series analysis shows that the demand approach could be modelled as a cointegrating relationship between per capita demand and the deflated wage. Income elasticity is estimated to +0.4. Using the estimated parameters to extrapolate Swedish agricultural consumption back to the Middle Ages accords quite well with other indicators. However, out-of-sampling shows that the 90% confidence interval is as large as ±0.15–0.25 natural logarithms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The decline of interest rates during the early modern period is considered an important factor in the subsequent rise of capitalist society. This article uses unique empirical material based on bills of exchange in Stockholm between 1660 and 1685 to estimate underlying ‘shadow interest rates’. It shows that annual rates ‘according’ to Stockholm were very high, mostly above 10 per cent, an indication of underdeveloped financial integration between Stockholm and the main European centres. There are also indications of a decline in these rates during the period studied, reflecting improved efficiency in Swedish financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article uses long-term series of real prices for various goods and services to analyse the evolution of the knowledge economy before the Industrial Revolution by focusing on Sweden in comparison with other European countries. During the early modern period, the relative price of knowledge-intensive goods and services, such as iron, paper, salt, sea transports and silver, decreased relative to a Consumer Price Index. The increased productivity levels of these goods and services were caused by increased division of labour and accelerated diffusion of knowledge. However, the real price of foodstuff tended to increase, implying that living standards declined with increased population. Early modern Western Europe acquired a peculiar price structure, characterized by low prices of industrial goods relative to the price of food. Only with the advent of industrial society could the knowledge economy escape the Malthusian entrapment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although high inflation is associated with the spread of paper monies, rapid price increases are well known under the metallic standard from several countries, caused by the debasement of coins. The exact mechanism is still a puzzle. If agents were rational, why did they accept inferior coins at par with better ones? This paper compares five debasement cycles that occurred in Sweden-Finland 1350-1594. During the initial phase of such cycles coins tended to circulate by-tale, while by-weight circulation was most common towards the end of the cycles. A premium on the heavier coins implied that they were not driven out of circulation. The seignorage rate was significant during the initial phases of the cycles, while it decreased when prices and exchange rates adjusted in response to the debasement, prompting a recoinage, when the monetary unit was strengthened. It is this shift from by-tale to by-weight circulation that explains the high inflation rates that could occur before the rise of paper money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a Consumer Price Index for Sweden 1290-2008. Constructing an index that covers more than seven centuries poses conceptual and empirical problems, and demands some methodological innovations. For example, during numerous occasions the currency unit was changed, and in some periods multiple currencies were used at floating exchange rates relative to each other. This paper also presents two different price indices, one that mainly serves the purposes of estimating real prices and real wages, and another that provides a measure of inflation. While the former follows the main currency unit, the latter also takes into account that debased coins were devalued during recoinage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses historical national accounts to compare major recessions in Sweden from 1850 to 2000. A major recession is defined as an event when the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in one year is below the level two years earlier. The sharpest declines in GDP coincided with the World Wars, crop failures and contractionary economic policies. One important distinction to be made is between pre-capitalist and modern types of crises. While the former were crises of underproduction, brought about by declines in agriculture and consumption, the latter were overproduction crises usually generated by declines in investment and industrial production. The article shows that in Sweden the transition from the one type to the other was a prolonged process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, one of the greatest challenges facing macroeconomic history is to quantify economic growth in the early modern period. This article presents and discusses a series of total and per capita harvest production in Sweden within present borders for the period 1665-1820. The series is based on three main indices: grain prices, subjective harvest assessments and tithes. Various sources of harvests are more reliable as indicators of relative changes than of absolute levels. For example, tithes probably only taxed between 15 and 60 per cent of the actual harvests, but seem to capture annual harvest fluctuations reasonably well. To estimate the absolute level of per capita harvests, the index of the per capita harvest production is linked to data for the early nineteenth century, which are more reliable. The article argues that harvests stagnated during the studied period, which is in line with several other studies for various European countries. The annual fluctuations were substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, one of the greatest challenges facing macroeconomic history is to quantify economic growth in the early modern period. This article presents and discusses a series of total and per capita harvest production in Sweden within present bordersfor the period 1665-1820. The series is based on three main indices: grain prices, subjective harvest assessments and tithes. Various sources of harvests are more reliable as indicators of relative changes than of absolute levels. For example, tithes probably only taxed between 15 and 60 per cent of the actual harvests, but seem to capture annual harvest fluctuations reasonably well. To estimate the absolute level of per capita harvests, the index of the per capita harvest production is linked to data for the early nineteenth century, which are more reliable. The articles argues that harvests stagnated during the studied period, which is in line with several other studies for various European countries. The annual fluctuations were substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]