In the doorway to development : an enquiry into market oriented structural changes in Norway ca. 1750-1830

Abstract

Most studies of pre-industrial economic and structural change focus on the economically leading regions or countries of the time, or use this development as an ideal by which to evaluate and compare change occurring in other countries. By doing so the scholarly debate loses sight of the many possible roads to economic development, as well neglecting the changes occurring in other less successful regions. This thesis aims at abating this. It will do so by examining the structural and economic changes which occurred in Norway during the pre-industrial period, a country lying in the outskirts of the European economic growth area. It asks what were the implications of changes in production, the gradual development of a Norwegian internal market, decisions made at the household level concerning market participation, as well as changing trends in the consumption of durable, semi-durable and perishable goods, for economic and social development in Norway. It also examines how these changes impacted on Norway’s later Industrialisation and entry into a modern market economy. The time period focused on is primarily 1750 to 1830.