In discussions of economics, governance, and society in the Nordic countries, "the welfare state" is a well-worn analytical concept. However, there has been much less scholarly energy devoted to ...historicizing this idea beyond its postwar emergence. In this volume, specialists from Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland chronicle the historical trajectory of "the welfare state," tracing the variable ways in which it has been interpreted, valued, and challenged over time. Each case study generates valuable historical insights into not only the history of Northern Europe, but also the welfare state itself as both a phenomenon and a concept.
While Western Europe was experiencing a trade boom and adopting a more liberal economic framework during the 1950s, Iceland was moving in the opposite direction. External trade was historically at ...its lowest point and its external economic policy was characterized by extreme caution towards European cooperation and integration. Iceland's commitment to a more open economy and closer economic integration with Europe was at best half-hearted as her participation in the OEEC's Trade Liberalisation Program (TLP) clearly demonstrates. This article examines Iceland's external economic relations between 1945 and 1960 with particular emphasis on the TLP. It seeks to explain why Iceland, so highly dependent on strong ties with the outside world, chose to cling to protectionism longer than most Western European countries. It is argued that the external shock caused by the war, creating an artificial economy internally and the overvaluation of the krona, made adjustment to peacetime circumstances extremely difficult. The task was made harder by a public policy prioritizing on growth and investment rather than balanced macroeconomic management. Last but not least, Iceland's commercial interests were not easily reconcilable with those of the other members of the OEEC because of her special pattern of trade.
The history of food consumption in Iceland differs in many fundamental ways from that in the rest of Europe. The prominence of domestically produced dairy products, fish, meat and suet, and the ...insignificance of cereals until the nineteenth century, are among the most unusual features. This paper presents the first attempt to estimate total food consumption in Iceland on the basis of food supply data, covering the period 1770-1940. The data, derived from trade statistics, production statistics and the author's current study of Iceland's GNp, provides information on the level of consumption, on the composition and the nutritional value of the diet, and on the changing patterns of consumption. In general terms, this can be described as a transition from an animal-based to a more grain-based diet. A short discussion on the causes of dietary change, and its effects on the nutrional status of Icelanders and on population growth, concludes the paper.
The Nordic countries - including Iceland - have been portrayed in the political-science literature as consensual democracies, enjoying a high degree of legitimacy and institutional mechanisms which ...favour consensus-building over majority rule and adversarial politics. In this explorative article the author argues that consensus politics, meaning policy concertation between major interest groups in society, a tendency to form broad coalitions in important political issues and a significant cooperation between government and opposition in Parliament, is not an apt term to describe the political reality in Iceland during the second half of the 20th century. Icelandic democracy is better described as more adversarial than consensual in style and practice. The labour market was rife with conflict and strikes more frequent than in Europe, resulting in strained government-trade union relationship. Secondly, Iceland did not share the Nordic tradition of power-sharing or corporatism as regards labour market policies or macro-economic policy management, primarily because of the weakness of Social Democrats and the Left in general. Thirdly, the legislative process did not show a strong tendency towards consensus-building between government and opposition with regard to government seeking consultation or support for key legislation. Fourthly, the political style in legislative procedures and public debate in general tended to be adversarial rather than consensual in nature.
The influence of catching and processing factors on fillet yield, gaping and number of nematodes in cod (
Gadus morhua) was studied. The study was carried out in co-operation with four Icelandic ...fishery companies. Data on catch, condition of raw material and processing were linked together by tracing the cod from catch through primary processing. Analysis of these data show that important variables for profitability in the fish industry are strongly correlated to controllable variables, such as catch ground, catch method and age of raw material when processed. The results can aid in decision making for catching and processing cod, provided that strong relationship exist between different links in the value chain of cod.
This paper is concerned with how non-linear physical state space models can be applied to on-line detection of fouling in heat exchangers. The model parameters are estimated by using an extended ...Kalman filter and measurements of inlet and outlet temperatures and mass flow rates. In contrast to most conventional methods, fouling can be detected when the heat exchanger operates in transient states. Measurements from a clean counterflow heat exchanger are first used to optimize the Kalman filter. Then fouling is considered. The results show that the proposed method is very sensitive, hence well suited for fouling detection.
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