It is rare to begin a book review with the phrase “well worth the price,” but that is how this review begins. The volume is a wonderful collection, full of insights, with contributors both Swedish and non-Swedish. Some authors provide essays that are specifically devoted to describing, analyzing, and assessing Heckscher's work. Other authors use Heckscher's writings or ideas on a particular topic as a take-off to generate their own, original study—and often what can legitimately be described as in the “Heckscher tradition.” That tradition incorporates attention to data; economic theory applied to economic history, but economic history more than a mere testing ground for economic theory; and each historical experience requiring examination of its own institutional, political, and intellectual characteristics. While some of Heckscher's writings have been superseded, generally only in part, by later economic analysis or historical research, Heckscher's high standards as a scholar can only be emulated.

The book, proceedings of a conference on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Heckscher's death, consists of twenty-three chapters arranged in an introduction and seven parts: (I) Theory, Methodology, and History; (II) Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Theory; (III) Historical Applications of Heckscher-Ohlin Theory; (IV) Mercantilism; (V) The Continental Blockade; (VI) Eli Heckscher and Swedish Economic History; (VII) The Man. In their introduction, the editors weave together the chapters in each section and outline the main points of each chapter. In this review I will say something of each chapter, the amount varying according to my own interest and what I learned.

Overall, the picture of Eli Heckscher that emerges is that he was a rare economist, who made significant contributions in three areas: economic history (which he always, and justifiably, considered his primary field), economic theory, and history of economic thought (the last generally treated in the context of economic history). As Bo Sandelin observes, Heckscher's bibliography runs to more than 1100 entries, only a few of which have been published in English. Further, the translations appeared with a lag, sometimes with a long lag. For those not versed in the Swedish language, this book is especially valuable in its provision of a broad and deep picture of Heckscher's work and its offshoots, that continue to this day. Heckscher's main contributions are the development of the factor-proportions theory of international trade (with Bertil Ohlin, who wrote later), a monumental study of mercantilism, a study of Napoleon's Continental Blockade, and massive work on Swedish economic history. It is universally agreed that Eli Heckscher belongs to the group of great Swedish economists that consists also of Gunnar Myrdal, Knut Wicksell, Bertil Ohlin, Gustav Cassel, and Erik Lindahl. Sandelin provides a “bibliometric” comparison of these scholars.

In Part I, Håkan Lindgren offers a methodological paper much in the Heckscher tradition, using Heckscher's 1904 article on the methodology of economic history as his springboard. Lindgren's allusions to work on Swedish economic history should not detract from the universality of his ideas. Lindgren (p. 37) observes “a new debate among economists as to whether or not the discipline puts excessive emphasis on the solution of technical problems at the expense of social relevance.” Heckscher would have approved of much of what Lindgren writes, for example: “good [historical] empirical research requires a firm grasp of both economic theory and of econometric methods, but also the importance of historical knowledge concerning how things actually functioned” (p. 45). Rolfl Henrikssen's contribution is an intellectual biography of the early Eli Heckscher, drawing largely on Heckscher's correspondence. The chapter has much more detail than most readers would appreciate, except perhaps for certain specialists in the history of economic thought.

Ronald Jones leads Part II with a theoretical paper surveying the development of Heckscher-Ohlin (factor-proportions) theory, with attention to Heckscher's famous article on the issue. Jones criticizes Heckscher (and Ohlin) for not paying attention to the two-commodity, two-factor case, which lends itself to neat analytic result and presentation. Perhaps Heckscher's more-general treatment reflected the primacy that he gave to historical circumstances, which is suggested by Jones. Kevin O'Rourke offers an econometric investigation of whether attitudes toward globalization are consistent with Heckscher-Ohlin theory. His survey data incorporate twenty-three countries, but only one economy can be construed as developing (as distinct from developed or transitional).

Then three papers apply the factor-proportions theory to specific historical episodes: Peter Temin to Mediterranean trade in biblical times, Ronald Findlay and Mats Lundahl to demographic shocks (plagues) in the sixth to fourteenth centuries, and Jeffrey Williamson to world and regional tariffs from the 1860s to World War II. Temin's paper is a fascinating archaeological-economic essay. He integrates archaeological finds, literary evidence, and factor-proportions theory to draw implications for trade in the eighth century B.C. The study of Findlay and Lundahl is noteworthy for its attention to three regions: the Byzantine Empire, Islamic World, and Western Europe. The last “emerges by a wide margin as the winner in our imaginary population race” (p. 194). The explanation lies in technological advancement and extension of the “agrarian frontier.” Williamson examines annual import tariff-rate data for thirty-five countries. He defines the average tariff rate as the ratio of customs revenue to total value of imports. Limitations of this measure—inattention to both the variance of tariff rates and domestic production (potential imports if tariffs were eliminated)—are not discussed. Yet the paper is a nice analysis of tariff determination, mainly by region. It synthesizes existing work (in much of which Williamson is himself involved).

Turning to Part IV, Lars Magnusson observes that Heckscher's classic work Mercantilism was initially coolly received. Heckscher saw the primary objective of mercantilism as maximizing the external power of the state rather than maximizing wealth. What one obtains from Magnusson's essay is, again, the observation that Heckscher was a true economic historian, not an economist who looked to history to test or (worse) justify current economic theory. Douglas A. Irwin provides a great application of the Brander-Spencer model of strategic trade policy (export subsidy beneficial for the domestic firm): the Anglo-Dutch rivalry for the East Indies trade. Joel Mokyr's essay is a nice history of thought on mercantilism, the Enlightenment, and the industrial revolution; but it is only peripherally related to Heckscher's work. Deepak Lal sees commonalities between the mercantilist system and the pre-reform Third World.

François Crouzet opens up Part V with a careful exposition of Heckscher's study of the Continental Blockade, not without criticism of its shortcomings. Crouzet writes: “it is clear that Heckscher considered the Continental System as the apex of mercantilist policies” (p. 329). Lance Davis and Stanley Engerman provide their own history of the blockade, with attention also to the British blockade, which was more traditional than that of the French. They observe that, unlike Heckscher's Mercantilism, his Continental System “is regarded as an essential work whose interpretations are still acceptable to scholars” (p. 367). Patrick O'Brien emphasizes the role of the Royal Navy in his geopolitical history of the Continental System. He notes, in contrast to Heckscher and other historians, the greater success of the British blockade of France than the reverse.

In Part VI, Lennart Schön discusses Swedish industrialization in the light of Heckscher-Ohlin and Schumpeterian theories. Johan Söderberg contributes an essay on economic thought and methodology, particularly on Heckscher's writings on preferences and demand. Mats Morell reviews Heckscher's study of food consumption as measuring Swedish standards of living over time. Heckscher weighted food by calories rather than prices, because of what he viewed as an insurmountable index-number problem.

Part VII looks at Heckscher “The Man,” a point of view taken in passing by some authors in earlier chapters. Heckscher's grandchildren provide a portrait of their grandfather; while Benny Carlson examines Heckscher's change, early in life, from a social conservative to an economic liberal. Finally, Harry Flam studies Heckscher's views on Jewish assimilation and Zionism. Himself an assimilated Jew, Heckscher viewed assimilation and resettlement (not in Palestine) as the solution to the twin problems of anti-Semitism and the displaced Jewish population resulting from World War II. Interestingly, Heckscher opposed Zionism both before and after the war. In fairness, he was not alone in these views.

In sum, Eli Heckscher, International Trade, and Economic History is highly recommended. This reviewer learned a lot from many of the chapters. The editors deserve credit for assembling a distinguished volume worthy of a great economist and great economic historian.