Taking the views of Alexander Gerschenkron and Rondo Cameron on the role of banking in economic growth as a point ofdeparture, the article examines the relationship between banking, industrialization and economic growth in Norway before 1914. It takes issue with the generally pessimistic view held by other Norwegian historians, a view that ascribes slow industrial growth to the underdeveloped role of the commercial banking sector. The structural characteristics of the Norwegian economy obviated the need for a strong commercial banking sector. Savings banks and private arrangements complemented the government sources of credit in providing adequate finance to all sectors of the Norwegian economy. Thus, the slow growth of commercial banking did not seriously hamper Norwegian economic growth before 1914.
We would like to extend our appreciation to a number of people who assisted in this study. Edgar Hovland and Fritz Hodne made a number of useful suggestions on previous papers analyzing the Wedervang data. Christopher J. Munday assisted in the data collection and made valuable comments on the preliminary analysis. We are also grateful to the staff of theWedervang Archives at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, especially Jan Ramstad and Kjell Bjern Minde, for assistance. We also owe Mr. Ramstad a debt of gratitude for giving us access to what at the time was his unpublished price index.
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