Rodney Edvinsson
Biographic Data
| ID | 460957 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rodney Edvinsson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rodney |
| FAMILY NAME | Edvinsson |
| SIGNATURE | EDVINSSON R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stockholm University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3069-3819 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Does money growth predict inflation in Sweden? Evidence from vector autoregressions using four centuries of data
In this paper, we add new evidence to a long-debated macroeconomic question, namely, whether money growth has predictive power for inflation or put differently, whether money growth Granger causes inflation. We use a historical dataset—consisting of annual Swedish data on money growth and inflation ranging from 1620 to 2021—and employ state-of-the-art Bayesian estimation methods. Specifically, we employ VAR models with drifting parameters and sto…
Applying a transaction cost perspective to decode viking Scandinavia's earliest recorded value relation: Insights from the forsa ring’s runic inscription
This article reevaluates the inscription of the Viking-era Forsa Ring, which contains Scandinavia’s oldest extant legal codex. The inscription’s fine reads ‘uksa ... auk aura tua’, previously translated as ‘ox ... and two öre [silver]’ and interpreted as a payment of both ox and silver, suggesting cumbersome transactions. This study applies a transaction cost perspective and draws on economic, legal and etymological contexts to propose that the f…
An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption: A Transhistorical Framework
An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption presents a new transhistorical framework of defining production, work and consumption. It shows that they all share the common feature of intentional physical transformation of something external to the agent, at some point in time. The book opens with a discussion of various theoretical traditions within economics, spanning mainstream and heterodox perspectives, and problems with product…
A real estate price index for Stockholm, Sweden 1818–2018: Putting the last decades housing price boom in a historical perspective
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…
Assessing trade in the mercantilist era: Evidence from a new database on foreign trade of Sweden – Finland, 1738–1805
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 secul…
The response of vital rates to harvest fluctuations in pre-industrial Sweden
This study examines whether there was a Malthusian equilibrium mechanism in Sweden in the pre-industrial period. A unique data set on harvests, deaths, marriages and births going back to 1630 is used to calculate cumulative elasticities of vital rates with respect to harvest. While earlier studies have mostly focused on the impact of real wage, this study uses the calorie content of per capita harvests as an indicator of living standards. It find…
Explaining the Swedish ‘housewife era’ of 1930–1970: Joint utility maximisation or renewed patriarchy
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…
Testing the demand approach to reconstruct pre-industrial agricultural output
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 …
Recalculating Swedish pre-census demographic data: Was there acceleration in early modern population growth
Swedish GDP 1620–1800: Stagnation or growth
New annual estimates of Swedish GDP, 1800-2010
Although the historical national accounts of Sweden are among the most detailed in the world, there is scope for improvement. This study revises previous historical estimates of Swedish GDP. Agricultural output is upgraded for the nineteenth century following recent research by Swedish agrarian historians on the underestimation of official statistics. Estimates of annual fluctuations before 1861 are significantly improved by using new sources on …
The international political economy of early modern copper mercantilism: Rent seeking and copper money in Sweden 1624–1776
Inflation before paper money: Debasement cycles in Sweden–Finland 1350–1594
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…
Prices and the growth of the knowledge economy in Sweden and Western Europe before the industrial revolution
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 productivit…
Major Recessions in Sweden 1850–2000: From pre-capitalist to modern types of crises
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 form…
Swedish Harvests, 1665–1820: Early Modern Growth in the Periphery of European Economy
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 chang…
New annual estimates of Swedish GDP, 1800-2010
Although the historical national accounts of Sweden are among the most detailed in the world, there is scope for improvement. This study revises previous historical estimates of Swedish GDP. Agricultural output is upgraded for the nineteenth century following recent research by Swedish agrarian historians on the underestimation of official statistics. Estimates of annual fluctuations before 1861 are significantly improved by using new sources on …
Major Recessions in Sweden 1850–2000: From pre-capitalist to modern types of crises
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 form…
Swedish Harvests, 1665–1820: Early Modern Growth in the Periphery of European Economy
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 chang…
Major Recessions in Sweden 1850–2000: From pre-capitalist to modern types of crises
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 form…
Inflation before paper money: Debasement cycles in Sweden–Finland 1350–1594
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…
Prices and the growth of the knowledge economy in Sweden and Western Europe before the industrial revolution
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 productivit…
The international political economy of early modern copper mercantilism: Rent seeking and copper money in Sweden 1624–1776
Swedish GDP 1620–1800: Stagnation or growth
New annual estimates of Swedish GDP, 1800-2010
Although the historical national accounts of Sweden are among the most detailed in the world, there is scope for improvement. This study revises previous historical estimates of Swedish GDP. Agricultural output is upgraded for the nineteenth century following recent research by Swedish agrarian historians on the underestimation of official statistics. Estimates of annual fluctuations before 1861 are significantly improved by using new sources on …
Recalculating Swedish pre-census demographic data: Was there acceleration in early modern population growth
Testing the demand approach to reconstruct pre-industrial agricultural output
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 …
The response of vital rates to harvest fluctuations in pre-industrial Sweden
This study examines whether there was a Malthusian equilibrium mechanism in Sweden in the pre-industrial period. A unique data set on harvests, deaths, marriages and births going back to 1630 is used to calculate cumulative elasticities of vital rates with respect to harvest. While earlier studies have mostly focused on the impact of real wage, this study uses the calorie content of per capita harvests as an indicator of living standards. It find…
Explaining the Swedish ‘housewife era’ of 1930–1970: Joint utility maximisation or renewed patriarchy
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…
Assessing trade in the mercantilist era: Evidence from a new database on foreign trade of Sweden – Finland, 1738–1805
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 secul…
A real estate price index for Stockholm, Sweden 1818–2018: Putting the last decades housing price boom in a historical perspective
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…
An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption: A Transhistorical Framework
An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption presents a new transhistorical framework of defining production, work and consumption. It shows that they all share the common feature of intentional physical transformation of something external to the agent, at some point in time. The book opens with a discussion of various theoretical traditions within economics, spanning mainstream and heterodox perspectives, and problems with product…
Applying a transaction cost perspective to decode viking Scandinavia's earliest recorded value relation: Insights from the forsa ring’s runic inscription
This article reevaluates the inscription of the Viking-era Forsa Ring, which contains Scandinavia’s oldest extant legal codex. The inscription’s fine reads ‘uksa ... auk aura tua’, previously translated as ‘ox ... and two öre [silver]’ and interpreted as a payment of both ox and silver, suggesting cumbersome transactions. This study applies a transaction cost perspective and draws on economic, legal and etymological contexts to propose that the f…
Does money growth predict inflation in Sweden? Evidence from vector autoregressions using four centuries of data
In this paper, we add new evidence to a long-debated macroeconomic question, namely, whether money growth has predictive power for inflation or put differently, whether money growth Granger causes inflation. We use a historical dataset—consisting of annual Swedish data on money growth and inflation ranging from 1620 to 2021—and employ state-of-the-art Bayesian estimation methods. Specifically, we employ VAR models with drifting parameters and sto…
Economics (16 works) · Historical Economic and Social Studies (8 works) · Economy (6 works) · Demography (5 works) · Macroeconomics (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Agricultural economics (4 works) · Demographic economics (4 works) · Econometrics (4 works) · Economic history (4 works)