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This article addresses how private sawmills without forest holdings (merchant sawmills) managed raw material supply, timber prices, and market conditions in the late twentieth century. During this period, they faced tougher international competition, increased industry concentration, demands for new technology, and large-scale production requiring greater capital investment. Why did some firms survive longer than others? How did they deal with changing market conditions and a new political climate? We analyse how merchant sawmills organised to influence the supply and price levels of raw materials, using cases from northern Sweden, particularly the county of Västerbotten. The study focuses on the business organisations AB Sågverksintressenter (ABSI) and later Sågab, whose archives we have accessed. These organisations primarily worked to secure timber access and influence price levels. In this context, the government also played a major role, as the Swedish timber market was divided into price areas.The study shows that merchant sawmills used collective organisation to compensate for their vulnerable position in the raw-material market. Through cartel arrangements and regional associations, they negotiated prices within designated price areas and sought to secure access to timber from forest owners and forest-owner associations. A turning point came with the 1993 Competition Act, introduced as part of Sweden’s adjustment to the European competition regime before EU accession. The new legislation restricted established forms of price coordination and collective market organisation, with far-reaching consequences for merchant sawmills. The investigation shows that cooperation through ABSI and later Sågab partly offset the disadvantages of small scale and lack of forest ownership. While some sawmills moved towards concentration and larger-scale production, the continued size variation among surviving firms in the early 2000s suggests that scale alone did not determine survival.

I artikeln studeras hur köpsågverk i Norrland organiserat sina intressen på marknaderna för råvara och färdigprodukter. Både externa (statlig inblandning) och interna (konkurrens mellan företag i kartellen) drivkrafter påverkade i vilken utsträckning kartellsamarbetet utvecklades. En avgörande händelse inträffade 1993, då Sverige inför EU-medlemskapet behövde anpassa sin konkurrenslagstiftning, vilket fick långtgående konsekvenser för köpsågverken. Resultaten bidrar till vår kunskap om komplexiteten i och de institutionella förutsättningarna för industriell utveckling. 

This article addresses how private sawmills that did not own forests (merchant sawmills) managed the supply of raw materials, timber prices, and market conditions in the late twentieth century, when faced by tougher international competition, increased concentration, demands for new production technology, and large-scale production with greater capital investment. Why did some firms survive longer than others? How did they deal with changing market conditions and a new political climate? We analyse how merchant sawmills in the Swedish county of Västerbotten tried to organise their interests to influence the supply and price level of their raw material. The study focuses on the interest organisations whose archives we have had access to, AB Sågverksintressenter (ABSI) later Sågab, which primarily worked to secure access to timber and influence price levels. In this context, the government also played a major role since the Swedish timber market was divided into price areas. The sawmills, through their cartels, negotiated the price in each area with the sellers through the forest owners' associations. The decisive moment came in 1993, when Sweden was to become a member of the EU and needed to adapt its competition legislation, which had far-reaching consequences, especially for the merchant sawmills. Our investigation shows some merchant sawmills tended towards concentration and large-scale operations, while the differences in size among the remaining merchant sawmills in the early 2000s still varied greatly. The coordination of the merchant sawmills by ABSI and Sågab could have offset some of the disadvantages of smallness in the markets. Sågab succeeded in coordinating the supply of raw materials, electricity contracts, and the negotiation of the sales price of woodchips, while other types of cooperation were not thought important – for example there is no sign that Sågab coordinated the purchase of production technology or the like. Both external forces (state involvement) and internal forces (intracartel competition) influenced the extent to which cartel cooperation developed. The results contribute to our knowledge of the complexity and institutional conditions of industrial development.

Sweden's first Elementary School Act of 1842 stated that every parish was obliged to organise and fund schools to be offered to all children in the parish. Many parishes were poor and had a difficult time funding schools. In some parishes, local industries, such as ironworks, organised, funded, and managed schools for their workers. Even though state regulations might have striven for more comprehensive schooling, parishes faced different local conditions that could have affected school organisation and results. This study examines four elementary schools in northern Sweden to analyse differences and similarities caused by local conditions and local actors. Two of the schools were ironworks schools and two were parish schools, and they are studied from the 1840s through the 1860s. This case study of the Robertsfors and Gideåbruk ironworks schools and the Bygdeå and Gideå parish schools focuses on the school organisation, school subjects, children's attendance, and reported gained knowledge. The research questions are: how were the four schools organised in their local communities? Which subjects were taught in the schools? How were the children’s reported attendance and gained knowledge? What similarities and differences can be seen among the four local school cases? The results indicate both similarities and differences. One school, Gideåbruk ironworks school, reported higher attendance and higher results, traceable to variations in local actors and local conditions in Gideåbruk. The Gideåbruk ironworks and its role in the community seem to be crucial for the ironworks school organisation.

Mass-Schooling and pre-industrialisation in Northern Sweden: Relations between Olofsfors Ironworks and Nordmaling parish in the organization of Elementary schools in the 19th century decentralized school system

Mass-Schooling and pre-industrialisation in Northern Sweden: Relations between Olofsfors Ironworks and Nordmaling parish in the organization of Elementary schools in the 19th century decentralized school system. From the mid-nineteenth century, Sweden went through a transformation from an agricultural to an industrial society which led to new demands on the parishes. With the First Elementary School Act in 1842, Sweden’s school system was formalised. The decentralised system formed by the First Elementary School Act, stated that every parish should establish at least one school in every parish. At this time, half of Sweden’s parishes already had some form of public schools, which were run by parishes, private organisations, donations, or pre-industrial companies, as for example Ironworks. Regardless of who ran the school, the parish was responsible and were the one who would report school results to the bishop’s office, so the relationship between the private actor and the parish was important. In this article we study how the relationship between Olofsfors Ironwork and the local parish, Nordmaling developed during the nineteenth century, and how these turbulent times affected the relationship. This is discussed in relation to earlier research and has been analysed through discourse analysis.

Köpsågverk, det vill säga relativt små privata sågverk som inte äger skog, har sedan mellankrigstiden hamnat i kläm mellan å ena sidan råvaruförsörjning och timmerpriser och å andra sidan avsättningsvillkoren på främst regionala men också nationella och internationella marknader. Utvecklingen i hela den svenska skogsindustrin präglades särskilt under 1950- och 1960-talen av hårdare internationell konkurrens som i sin tur drev fram ökad koncentration, ny produktionsteknik, samt stordriftsproduktion med större kapitalinsats. För att hantera konkurrensen har de små köpsågverken försökt organisera sina intressen för att framför allt påverka tillgång och prisnivå på råvaran. Vi vill här beskriva hur köpsågverk i Västerbotten samarbetat inom ramen för den svenska skogsindustrins utveckling mot mer kapitalintensiv produktion och en allt starkare koncentration av verksamheterna. Hur såg kampen om skogsråvaran ut i praktiken? 

This article analyses the energy transition of the Swedish iron and steel industry (1800–1939), a leading actor in the European iron and steel market during the 19th and 20th centuries. This industry is an interesting case to analyse from the perspective of energy transition and the composition and change of capital stock (classified by energy technology). in-depth review of the this topic will enable the analysis of the dynamics of energy transition; moreover, this case study, with particular emphasis on technology adoption, lock-in carbon infrastructure, and energy transition, is a relevant tool for understanding the current difficulties in implementing cleaner energy sources and infrastructures.

Cet article analyse la transition énergétique du secteur sidérurgique suédois, entre 1800 et 1939. Leader dans le contexte européen au 19e et 20e siècles, l’industrie sidérurgique suédoise est un cas intéressant à analyser au prisme de la transition énergétique et de la composition et de l’évolution du stock de capital (classées par technologie énergétique). Une étude approfondie de l’évolution du stock de capital dans le secteur permet en effet d’étudier la dynamique à l’oeuvre. En mettant l’accent sur les phénomènes d’adoption de la technologie, d’infrastructure carbone verrouillée et de transition énergétique, elle représente un bon moyen de comprendre les difficultés actuelles à aller vers des sources et infrastructures d’énergie plus propres.