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The Strange Birth of Liberal Denmark: Danish trade protection and the growth of the dairy industry since the mid-nineteenth century

Author

Listed:
  • Ingrid Henriksen

    (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen)

  • Markus Lampe

    (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen)

  • Paul Sharp

    (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen)

Abstract
The usual story of the “first era of globalization” at the end of the nineteenth century sees Denmark as something as an outlier: a country which, like Britain, resisted the globalization backlash in the wake of the inflow of cheap grain from the New World, but where agriculture, rather than going into decline, in fact flourished. Key to the success of Danish agriculture was an early diversification towards dairy production. We dispute this simple story which sees Denmark as something of a liberal paragon. Denmark’s success owed much to a prudent use of trade policy which favoured dairy production. Moreover, this favouritism continued even after a more general movement to free trade in the 1860s. Using micro-level data from individual dairies, we quantify the implied subsidy to dairy production from the tariffs, and demonstrate that this in many cases ensured the profitability of individual dairies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingrid Henriksen & Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2010. "The Strange Birth of Liberal Denmark: Danish trade protection and the growth of the dairy industry since the mid-nineteenth century," Discussion Papers 10-04, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:kud:kuiedp:1004
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    File URL: http://www.econ.ku.dk/english/research/publications/wp/dp_2010/1004.pdf/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2009. "Something Rational in the State of Denmark? The Case of an Outsider in the Cobden-Chevalier Network 1860-1875," Discussion Papers 09-20, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nina Boberg-Fazlić & Paul Sharp, 2024. "Immigrant Communities and Knowledge Spillovers: Danish Americans and the Development of the Dairy Industry in the United States," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 102-146, January.
    2. Nele Lohrum & Morten Graversgaard & Chris Kjeldsen, 2021. "Historical Transition of a Farming System towards Industrialization: A Danish Agricultural Case Study Comparing Sustainability in the 1840s and 2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2024. "Of the bovine ilk: Quantifying the welfare of dairy cattle in history, 1750-1900," Working Papers 0257, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    4. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2015. "Just add milk: a productivity analysis of the revolutionary changes in nineteenth-century Danish dairying," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(4), pages 1132-1153, November.
    5. Bonnie Averbuch & Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe & Chris Kjeldsen, 2022. "Using fuzzy cognitive mapping and social capital to explain differences in sustainability perceptions between farmers in the northeast US and Denmark," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 435-453, March.
    6. Becuwe, Stéphane & Blancheton, Bertrand & Meissner, Christopher M., 2021. "The French (Trade) Revolution of 1860: Intra-Industry Trade and Smooth Adjustment," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(3), pages 688-722, September.
    7. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2014. "Greasing the wheels of rural transformation? Margarine and the competition for the British butter market," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(3), pages 769-792, August.
    8. Li, Ya-Wei (Jake), 2020. "When Does Critical Habitat Designation Benefit Species Recovery?," Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University 307170, Center for Growth and Opportunity.
    9. Jensen, Peter Sandholt & Sharp, Paul & Skovsgaard, Christian Volmar, 2018. "Getting to Denmark' : the Role of Elites for Development," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 26211, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    10. Sofia Henriques & Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Veddel, 2020. "Opening the Black Box of the Danish Dairy Cooperatives: A Productivity Analysis," Working Papers 0203, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    11. Sofia Teives Henriques & Paul Sharp, 2016. "The Danish agricultural revolution in an energy perspective: a case of development with few domestic energy sources," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(3), pages 844-869, August.
    12. Stéphane BECUWE & Bertrand BLANCHETON, 2011. "Tariff growth paradox between 1850 and 1913: a critical survey (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2011-24, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    13. Torben Dall Schmidt & Peter Sandholt Jensen & Amber Naz, 2018. "Agricultural productivity and economic development: the contribution of clover to structural transformation in Denmark," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 387-426, December.
    14. Sharp, Paul & Jensen, Peter & Lampe, Markus & Skovsgaard, Christian, 2018. "‘Getting to Denmark’: the Role of Elites for Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 12679, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Vedel, 2021. "Ireland in a Danish mirror: A microlevel comparison of the productivity of Danish and Irish creameries before the First World War," Working Papers 0219, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    16. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2017. "ÔRationalÕ Farmers and the Emergence of Modern Accounting in Danish Dairying," Working Papers 0115, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    17. Christopher L. Colvin & Eoin McLaughlin, 2014. "Raiffeisenism abroad: why did German cooperative banking fail in Ireland but prosper in the Netherlands?," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(2), pages 492-516, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    dairies; Denmark; protection; tariffs; cheese;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
    • N7 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services

    NEP fields

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