The Development of Industry and North Sea Oil in Scotland and Norway

This Chapter discusses the many important differences between the nature and processes of Industrialisation in Scotland and Norway from the 18th Century up to the present day. The dissferences discussed particularly concern the timing of the shift from ‘proto-industrialisation’ to ’modern industrialisation’ based on the factory system; the relationship between agrarian, rural, urban and industrial development, especially concerning the peasantry, migration streams and urbanisation; working-class divisions and alliances; attitudes and policies concerning foreign interest and capital in relation to basic resources; the source of energy for modern industry and its impacts on the location of industrial development; the importance of domestic and overseas markets and industrial protection; different ideas on the role of the State and protectionism; and the differential impact of neo-liberal policies after 1970. It is argued that because of these deep-rooted differences and Scotland’s constitutional position within the UK, the experience of the development and exploitation of North Sea oil and gas in the two countries after about 1970 is also quite different, as are its social and economic consequences. Among other points, the Chapter discusses how Norway’s strong local government tradition (Ch.5) leveraged Norway’s wealth-sharing scheme from its oil and gas boom, and the importance of Norway’s Concession Laws of 1906-09 restricting the activities of foreign capital in natural resources, which set the stage and deepened Norway’s public goods culture. In contrast, Scotland’s oil revenues routinely bled off to elites and investors.