This study deals with the diffusion of a new medical technology — vaccination against smallpox — in nineteenth-century Scania in Sweden. Using an aggregated sample of parishes as well as a micro-level dataset for four parishes, we investigate the socioeconomic as well as the geographical patterns of diffusion of vaccination in the province. We also relate the adoption of vaccination across geographical areas, as well as across social groups, to the availability of information, ability to acquire and process this information, and to levels of social capital and trust in society. Our results point to the conclusion that while vaccination spread very quickly geographically after its introduction, there were considerable differences between social groups. The better situated, betted educated, landholding peasants were more ready to adopt the new technology of smallpox vaccination. This had little to do with better access to economic resources as vaccination in general was provided free of charge. Instead we hypothesize that it was related to a higher ability to acquire and utilize the information available, and/or a higher level of trust in the authorities among these peasants.
This article analyses the role of pension principles of funding and benefit provision for the development of the Swedish pension system. Focusing on four major public pension reforms in the twentieth century, it discusses why certain pension principles were used and under what circumstances they were more or less likely to change. The analysis shows that change was implemented to a large extent as a response to the previous pension system failing to fulfil its intended purpose in terms of financial stability, work incentives and redistribution.
The link between collective belief structures and strategic behaviour has been the focus of extensive research in several disciplines. Few, however, have studied the phenomenon using an entire industry as a unit of analysis. In the following paper the debate on the shortage of wood in the Swedish pulp and paper industry (P&P industry) during 1945-1980 is used to further our knowledge of this link. The result is that further understanding of the link between industry-wide belief structures and strategic behaviour requires more knowledge of the industry-wide belief structure as such, the nature of the debate in which this belief structure is produced and reproduced as well as arguments and justifications of strategic behaviour. Suggestions of how to analyse these aspects are provided in the paper.