In his doctoral thesis, titled “Why Firms Grow: The Roles of Institutions, Trade, and Technology during Swedish Industrialization”, economic historian Vinzent Ostermeyer asks the question of why some countries started growing and became rich following the Second Industrial Revolution, while other economies remained poor.
“Previously, researchers mainly studied this question using aggregate data, such as GDP. However, this prevents us from observing the units where industrialisation actually occurred: manufacturing firms. In my thesis, I study how and why firms started growing during industrialisation,” says Vinzent Ostermeyer, doctor in Economic History.
In his thesis, Vinzent Ostermeyer focuses mainly on Sweden, which was by 1850 still a poor country on the European periphery. However, the economy managed to rapidly catch up with the economically leading countries over the next 50 years, making it an interesting case to study. To better understand this process, he collaborated with colleagues at the Department of Economic History at LUSEM and the IIES in Stockholm to digitise and create a unique database, tracking individual manufacturing establishments over their lifetime.
The database: Historical manufactural census of Sweden (external website)
Comments on the prize
“To get the best thesis award at LUSEM should be regarded as truly honorable for the recipient. The competition is very tough as we see so many excellent PhD theses presented at the School and only one at each department can be nominated. The thesis by Vinzent is highly interesting. It analyses the perhaps most important event in economic history, the industrialisation process which meant that countries like Sweden were able to increase their production capacity in a way that had never been seen before. I hope many will get the opportunity to read Vinzent’s excellent work!”
– HJ Holm, Vice Dean of Doctoral studies at LUSEM
“I'm really honoured and grateful to receive this prize and recognition for my research. I would like to thank the School and everyone who accompanied me on this journey, especially my main advisor Thor Berger.”
– Vinzent Ostermeyer when reached with the news of the award
A longer interview with Vinzent Ostermeyer – LUSEM external website