The Business Organization and the Timber Value Chain Until 1914

After briefly explaining the different qualities of the trees in the Baltic area, the chapter analyzes the various aspects of the ownership structure of the forests in the Baltic area. It introduces the social, economic, legal, and institutional factors that explain the different features of the sector in all the region’s countries, including Norway, because of its very strict relationship with the Scandinavian countries. The second part of the chapter discusses the political economy of the timber sector in the Baltic area. It presents the different economic and social actors involved in timber production and trade, from the production areas to the shipping to the consumers’ centers in Western Europe. Forest owners, local merchants, international representatives of final consumers, and rafters (the men who floated on the rivers) brought timber from the productive areas to the ports.