Fay Lundh Nilsson

Desirable skills? : Non-Nordic citizens applying for work permits in Sweden, 1947–1950

Sweden’s rapid economic growth after the Second World War meant that the native labour supply was incapable of meeting the high demand, especially for industrial labourers. Three agreements on organised collective transfers were signed, but a large majority of the labour migrants came on their own initiative. Not all applicants were equally welcomed. In this article, logistic regressions are used to investigate a sample of 2830 (every fifth) applications to the National Labour Market Board (AMS) from the years 1947–1950; 1367 had an arrangement with a future Swedish employer, while 1463 applicants lacked such an arrangement. The likelihood of being granted a permit was 11 times higher for the first category. Our hypothesis that the chances were better for high-skilled workers proved true only in part; it was valid if they had an employer agreement. Contrary to our assumptions, women had a better chance than men, partly because domestic servants were always permitted and partly because women did not compete with male labour. However, our assumptions with regard to better chances for the young but experienced, and for those applying for the occupation wherein they had their experience held true. A number of official documents revealed the desirability of Sudeten German labourers. They were viewed as skilled, reliable and loyal by employers, labour unions and governmental authorities. This assumption only held true for applicants lacking an employer. This can be viewed as a prolongation of the practice of helping Sudeten German Social Democrats, established in 1938. The intention to help refugees was, however, also evident in the treatment of Baltic and Polish applicants.

Female farming: persistence and economic performance of Swedish widows from 1730–1860

This article examines the economic consequences of widowhood and the possibility of maintaining female-managed farms in a predominantly male world. A unique dataset is exploited to investigate the productivity of female-headed households in preindustrial Sweden. The main source material is tithe payment rolls maintained by parish priests, which reflect fluctuations and long-term trends in the annual economic output of more than 2,000 individual farms. No evidence was found that farm management conducted by widows was dissolved by male relatives or neighbours. Farm management by widows was in many cases a temporary arrangement, especially on manorial land, where landlords did not accept female farmers. But among freeholders and crown tenants, widows often refrained from remarriage and continued as farm heads. As for production, farms managed by widows performed slightly better than farms managed by men during the first few years after a takeover. This result levelled out over time and farms managed by long-term widows show production results almost equal to farms run by men.