The Social Origins of Industrial Growth: Canada, Argentina and Australia, 1870–1930

Export Agriculture and Development Path: Independent Farming in Comparative Perspective

“…For a summary of major debates about New Zealand history, including the changes of 1890 and their class bases, see Denoon (1983:225-26). 23 In this respect, Armstrong (1978) thereby corrects Amin, who had argued that an egalitarian society based on small holders emerged in New Zealand from the beginning. 24 The state is granted a pivotal role in the development of New Zealand by diverse authors (including Sutch 1972), who share the view that much of the impact was in opening up and promoting settlement of the land.…”

“…The concept of 'regions of recent settlement' originated with Nurkse and referred to the sparsely populated regions which experienced massive European migration, export sector expansion, and successful development beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century.' Ehrensaft and Armstrong (1978) advanced the term 'dominion capitalism' to further emphasize the peculiar mode of production of these regions, adding the question of generalized early wage system and the presence of multinational corporations to the characteristics discussed by Nurkse (see also Armstrong 1985 andDenoon 1983). These authors stress comparable phenomena, particularly the absence of elaborate pre-capitalist agriculture and social structures as well as the success of a locally constructed modality of capitalism.…”

Missed Opportunities: Innovation and Resource-Based Growth in Latin America

“…But as Blomstrom and Meller [1991a , p. 6] argue, "what laid the foundation for the Scandinavian transformation to modern wealthy societies were the agrarian reforms" that created small-and medium-size privately owned farms, and which ranged in timing from Denmark's precocious beginnings in 1788 to Norway and Sweden's efforts in the 1850s and Finland's of the 1920s. As with the relatively equal distribution of land in Canada (Watkins, 1963 andArmstrong, 1985) and the United States, Blomstrom and Kokko (2001) argue that "it is hardly possible to over-emphasize the importance of the improvement in agricultural productivity for Swedish industrialization which facilitated transfer of labor and made possible exports that generated capital for investment in forestry and manufacturing in addition to providing a local market." industry or the actions of a narrow elite.…”

Natural resources: neither curse nor destiny

“…But as Blomström and Meller (1991a, 6) argue, "what laid the foundation for the Scandinavian transformation to modern wealthy societies were the agrarian reforms" that created small and medium-size privately owned farms and which ranged in timing from Denmark's precocious beginnings in 1788 to Norway and Sweden's efforts in the 1850s and Finland's of the 1920s. As with the relatively equal distribution of land in Canada (Watkins 1963 andArmstrong 1985) and the United States, Blomström and Kokko (chapter 8) argue that "it is hardly possible to over-emphasize the importance of the improvement in agricultural productivity for Swedish industrialization, which facilitated transfer of labor and made possible exports that generated capital for investment in forestry and manufacturing in addition to providing a local market. "…”