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Trade for the Welfare of the Brother Peoples: Trade Deflection and Swedish Protectionism in the Late Nineteenth Century

Risberg, Teo LU (2025) NEKP01 20251
Department of Economics
Abstract
This thesis examines Swedish bilateral imports between 1860 to 1913 to assess Sweden’s
1888 shift from free trade to protectionism on Swedish bilateral imports while also exploring
the Swedish Norwegian free trade agreement known as Mellanrikslagen during this period.
This is approached using Difference in Differences and an event study within a gravity
framework. The gravity methodology is complemented with the Synthetic Control Method.
The results regarding the 1888 shift to protectionism are unclear, as the main model fails to
find any significant impact on Swedish bilateral imports. In contrast, the findings for
Mellanrikslagen suggest that it had a significant large positive effect on Swedish imports from
Norway. The... (More)
This thesis examines Swedish bilateral imports between 1860 to 1913 to assess Sweden’s
1888 shift from free trade to protectionism on Swedish bilateral imports while also exploring
the Swedish Norwegian free trade agreement known as Mellanrikslagen during this period.
This is approached using Difference in Differences and an event study within a gravity
framework. The gravity methodology is complemented with the Synthetic Control Method.
The results regarding the 1888 shift to protectionism are unclear, as the main model fails to
find any significant impact on Swedish bilateral imports. In contrast, the findings for
Mellanrikslagen suggest that it had a significant large positive effect on Swedish imports from
Norway. The event study also provides empirical evidence that implies that Swedish tariffs
were circumvented by sending goods through Norway after 1888. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Risberg, Teo LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKP01 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Tariffs, Protectionism, Mellanrikslagen, Trade deflection, Sweden
language
English
id
9209095
date added to LUP
2025-09-12 11:14:15
date last changed
2025-09-12 11:14:15
@misc{9209095,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines Swedish bilateral imports between 1860 to 1913 to assess Sweden’s 
1888 shift from free trade to protectionism on Swedish bilateral imports while also exploring 
the Swedish Norwegian free trade agreement known as Mellanrikslagen during this period. 
This is approached using Difference in Differences and an event study within a gravity 
framework. The gravity methodology is complemented with the Synthetic Control Method. 
The results regarding the 1888 shift to protectionism are unclear, as the main model fails to 
find any significant impact on Swedish bilateral imports. In contrast, the findings for 
Mellanrikslagen suggest that it had a significant large positive effect on Swedish imports from 
Norway. The event study also provides empirical evidence that implies that Swedish tariffs 
were circumvented by sending goods through Norway after 1888.}},
  author       = {{Risberg, Teo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Trade for the Welfare of the Brother Peoples: Trade Deflection and Swedish Protectionism in the Late Nineteenth Century}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}