Elina Kuorelahti – författare

The Political Economy of International Commodity Cartels examines how international commodity cartels in the 1930s were impacted not only by commercial rivalry, but also by international trade political and diplomatic concerns.

This work presents the rise and decline of the European Timber Exporters’ Convention (ETEC) and analyses how firms navigated through the cartel game under increasing international competition, pressures from the national governments, and the interventionist endeavours of the League of Nations. Cartels are often associated with, in the standard economic interpretation, business collusion. However, in using vast archive sources and historical methodology, the chapters in this book shed light onto how international relations shaped cartels. The rise of British protectionism, the emergence of the Soviet Union as an industrial power, and the economic rapprochement of the League of Nations in the early 1930s created a wave of political and diplomatic challenges in the timber trading countries and affected cartelisation. Timber firms in the biggest producer countries—Finland and Sweden—were uninterested in international cartel collaboration, but under pressure joined the ETEC nevertheless.

This book makes a strong contribution to the fields of business history and cartel studies. It is an essential read for economic historians interested in how political pressure shaped international cartels and how cartels became avenues of diplomacy.

The Political Economy of International Commodity Cartels examines how international commodity cartels in the 1930s were impacted not only by commercial rivalry, but also by international trade political and diplomatic concerns.

This work presents the rise and decline of the European Timber Exporters’ Convention (ETEC) and analyses how firms navigated through the cartel game under increasing international competition, pressures from the national governments, and the interventionist endeavours of the League of Nations. Cartels are often associated with, in the standard economic interpretation, business collusion. However, in using vast archive sources and historical methodology, the chapters in this book shed light onto how international relations shaped cartels. The rise of British protectionism, the emergence of the Soviet Union as an industrial power, and the economic rapprochement of the League of Nations in the early 1930s created a wave of political and diplomatic challenges in the timber trading countries and affected cartelisation. Timber firms in the biggest producer countries—Finland and Sweden—were uninterested in international cartel collaboration, but under pressure joined the ETEC nevertheless.

This book makes a strong contribution to the fields of business history and cartel studies. It is an essential read for economic historians interested in how political pressure shaped international cartels and how cartels became avenues of diplomacy.

The Routledge Economic History of War presents a broad overview of the latest research on the long‑lasting changes and effects that collapsing security in international relations has had on the world’s economies and societies.

Arranged around five key themes – Fiscal and Military Capacity, Military Spending, Economic Effects of War, War and Institutions, and Business and War – this handbook features contributions from an international range of scholars, on varying methodological approaches, theories, and geographical arenas. Encompassing a range of disciplinary approaches, the main focus is on how economic history can provide insights into the societal impact of war, addressing issues such as how war preparations and arms races affect government spending, the direct economic effects of war, and how societies adjust to the economic realities of rearmament and recovery. This volume also explores whether wars change or alter institutions such as governments, religion, and democracy. It also looks at what lessons we can learn from the past about military spending, state capacity, and the effects of war on both individual societies and global cooperation.

Ultimately, this book provides a broad overview of the methodological, geographical, and multidisciplinary range of the economic history of war and demonstrates how war, economics, institutions, and society are inextricably linked throughout history.