En merkantilistisk början Stockholms textila import 1720–1738

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis is to, from an institutional approach, study how the Stockholm importers within the textile sector adapted their foreign trade to the change in economic policy 1720 through 1738. The focus is to investigate to what extent the introduction of new laws, regulations etc. can be an explanation for what happened to Stockholm’s foreign trade, mainly imports, particularly textile imports during the period. It is mainly the economic policies that had been enacted during the Hornian government and their effects that have been studied. This is a period that has seldom been studied in other research.This thesis begins when the Russian raids were over. This was a year when the foreign trade still was relatively free and was untouched by the 17th century’s regulations. After 1721 the policies that would be introduced to increase Sweden's level of self-sufficiency and strengthen ties with the North Sea area had several components. Besides the economic policy, the main sources for the thesis are the city toll records.The trade policies in the shape of tolls and fees, import and consumption bans etc. and the commercial policies together became different kinds of political tools used for several purposes. The conclusion of this thesis is that the economic policies made the Stockholm importers adapt their trade to the change. The import bans and sumptuary laws had an effect. The economic policies gave rise to an increase in the import of textile raw materials. The rise in toll costs and import fees contributed to displacing the foreign trade towards other areas. The change in the economic policies was successful in the sense that it gave rise to new conditions for domestic production within the textile sector and forced Stockholm's importers to adapt their foreign trade.