Early banking in Sweden 1850-1920, phase 2

The purpose of the study is to show the importance of the emerging banks in Sweden and their actors in the transition from merchant capitalist to industrial capitalist financing starting around 1850. The size and expansion of lending can be estimated, among other things, by studying the bank inspectors' assessments of different banks over time. The archive material makes it possible to carefully follow and analyze the banks' activities over long periods of time. This includes each bank's assets, liabilities and credit portfolios. The development of the borrowing companies was thus closely followed.

In a first sub-study, I study the conditions in Gothenburg in particular, as a natural continuation of my previous studies in the area of credit, with trading houses at the forefront. Previously, trading houses and other informal actors had largely dealt with the granting of credit and the mediation of goods and other services. A second sub-study examines the importance of the domestic exchange rate for banks' credit expansion. A third sub-study examines the three largest and most important banks for Sweden's industrial development during the period, Svenska Handelsbanken Stockholms Enskilda Bank and Skandinaviska Kredit AB. A fourth sub-study analyzes the 1907 merger between Skandinaviska Kredit and Skånes Enskilda Bank.