Learning and Returning

Learning and Returning Return Migration of Swedish Engineers from the United States, 1880–1940 Per-Olof Grönberg, Learning and Returning: Return Migration of Swedish Engineers from the United States, 1880-1940 ABSTRACT This thesis examines aspects of international migration and return migration among Swedish engineers – particularly to and from the United States between 1880 and 1940. The social, geographical, and educational backgrounds of these engineers and their role in diffusing technological knowledge in Sweden in addition to being a possible source of technical development during the country’s second industrial breakthrough is of particular interest. Swedish engineers were a geographically mobile group. The labour market and contemporary mass emigration to North America contributed. However, the ideal of an emigrating engineer was, in a Weberian sense, a “target migrant” who planned to return after a well-defined interval. More than two- thirds of the emigrating engineers later returned to Sweden. International industrial competition was important in the Swedish development nationalism and so was American examples and returning Swedish-Americans. American experience, but also German, was a valuable symbolic capital in what can be identified as an engineering field in line with Bourdieu. The engineers were informed about technical development in the leading industrial countries and this spurred an interest to work with technology that was largely unknown in Sweden at the time. The engineers emigrated to learn the technology and the contemporary spirit in Sweden increased the power and influence of engineers with this experience. Return rates among engineers differed according to their social, geographical and educational background. Generally speaking, engineers from a high social origin, a high level of education, and born in the larger cities were most prone to return. The social and symbolic capital of these engineers made them attach greater importance to the opportunities on the engineering field. Foreign experience raised engineers with low social origins and levels of education. However those with a higher background and more education classes, who also had foreign experience were the ones who were most likely to reach the level of management. Four representative companies are studied to examine the role of returning engineers. These are: ASEA (electrical), Sandvikens Järnverks AB (steel and iron), Bolidens Gruv AB (mining) and Bolinders Mekaniska Verkstads AB (engineering industry). The share of returning engineers who filled responsible positions was highest at ASEA. It was somewhat lower at Sandviken. At the other two companies, there were returning engineers in the top management but the source material does not allow for the same kind of systematic study as at the two former. Even if there also was purely technical influence brought about by the returning engineers, the knowledge gained from American companies consisted mainly of how to rationally organise workshops and rolling mills etc. in a more or less Taylorist spirit. Often, these practices were combined with welfarism that largely also came from the United States. However, it would be an exaggeration to call all these practices American as engineers with experience in Germany also contributed ideas regarding organisation. The technical influence on Sweden was thus a mix in which the United States was most important. In the electrical industry, engineers who had worked in Germany challenged those who returned from the United States while those with experience in Britain contributed to Swedish engineering companies. Engineers who had worked in Norway played a considerable role in the mining industry. It was in the field of steel and iron production Swedish-American engineers were most evident. The returning engineers filled a large number of key positions in the leading companies in the four industrial branches studied here. The fact that there were several engineers with similar experience acting after a specific pattern ensured they held considerable influence. Returning engineers were most evident in the electrical and engineering industries and least conspicuous in mining although even there a fourth of all managing directors and chief engineers had foreign experience. This pattern clearly points to the returning engineers as being a source of technical development in Sweden during the second industrial breakthrough. As such, they could possibly be considered an historical example of what today is often referred to as ‘brain-gain’. Key words: emigration, return migration, engineers, technology transfer, Sweden, United States, industrialisation, electrical industry, steel and iron industry, mining, engineering industry. ISBN 91–7305–513–1 ISSN 0349–5132 Learning and Returning Return Migration of Swedish Engineers from the United States, 1880–1940 Per-Olof Grönberg This book falls within the framework of the research project ”Return migration, technical dispersion and entrepreurship: USA–Sweden 1890–1940” financed by The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation. Cover illustration: From the left, J. Sigfrid Edström, Harald Håkansson and Emil Lundqvist in Pitts- burgh, PA, United States, 1895. Source: Karl Axel Bratt, J. Sigfrid Edström. En levnadsteckning. Förra delen (Stockholm, 1950), 41. Department of Historical Studies, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden Report No. 22 from the Demographic Data Base, Umeå University, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden © The Demographic Data Base and the author Printed by Nyheternas Tryckeri KB, Umeå 2003 ISBN 91–7305–513–1 ISSN 0349–5132 Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 9 1.1. Purposes, questions and points of departure 9 1.2. The organisation of this study 11 1.3. Previous research on return migration 12 Demographic aspects 12 Influences from return migration 12 Influences from returned or immigrated engineers and technicians 14 Mass production, taylorism, rational organisation and labour- management relations 15 Other foreign influences with regard to industry 17 1.4. Definitions 21 What is an engineer? 21 Technology and technical change or development 21 Emigration and return migration 22 1.5. Theoretical framework 22 Information, interest, access and knowledge 24 Organisation 26 Power 26 Factors influencing the implementation of technology 29 Returning engineers as a source of development 30 1.6. Limitations 32 1.7. Sources 34 Directories 35 The directories of the technical educational institutes 35 The Swedish Trade Calendar (Sveriges Handelskalender) 37 Books, newspapers, newsletters and journals 37 Letters 38 Other sources 40 1.8. Method 40 Collective biography 40 Case studies of companies 41 The dispersal of returned engineers to major Swedish companies 43 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 53 2.1. Sweden’s transition from an agricultural to an industrial society 53 2.2. Development nationalism 56 2.3. American and German models 57 2.4. Engineers in Sweden and abroad 58 2.5. Swedish international migration until around 1930 61 Journeyman traditions and study trip migrations 61 Labour market emigration and traditional emigration 62 Swedish emigration to North America 55 62 Swedish settlement and life in North America 64 3. EMIGRATION AND RETURN MIGRATION OF SWEDISH ENGINEERS 69 3.1. Emigration and return of Swedish engineers in shares and numbers 70 International destinations of Swedish engineers, 1880–1930 71 3.2. Reasons for Emigration and Return 75 “Traditional” emigration 75 Swedish engineers in the United States 76 The Swedish Engineers’ Society of Chicago 77 Target migration 81 Time between graduation and emigration 84 Duration of stay abroad 86 3.3. Emigration and return over time 87 3.4. Social and occupational background of emigrants and returnees 89 3.5. Geographical background and emigration 92 3.6. Educational background 95 Level of education and its influence upon migration 95 Educational sector and its influence upon migration 97 3.7. Occupational careers of the returned engineers 100 3.8. Concluding discussion 106 4. ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY: Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) 113 4.1. Electrical engineering in Sweden 114 4.2. Previous research about ASEA 114 4.3. The managing director: J. Sigfrid Edström (1870–1964) 116 4.4. Engineers in leading positions at ASEA 118 4.5. Technical chiefs 123 Ernst Danielson (1866–1907) 123 Emil Lundqvist (1870–1942) 125 Carl Silvander (1876) 128 Jens Lassen la Cour (1876–1956) 129 4.6. Leading engineers in the construction departments 130 Laboratories and consulting offices 130 The literary patent department 133 The construction offices 133 The standardisation office 134 Direct and alternating current machines, transformers and turbine generators 135 Commuting motors, rail apparatus, mining and relays 136 Apparatus 139 The crane office and workshop 142 4.7. Leading engineers in the production departments 143 The workshops in Västerås 143 Tool making 149 The foundries 150 4.8. Concluding discussion 151 5. STEEL AND IRON INDUSTRY: Sandvikens Järnverks AB 163 5.1. The history of the iron works in Sandviken 163 5.2. Previous research about the iron works in Sandviken 164 5.3. Managing directors 165 Early British influences 165 Karl Fredrik Göransson’s welfarism 166 Karl Fredrik Göransson’s experiences, inspirations and actions 166 The Wednesday evening meetings, 1923–1930 170 5.4. Engineers in leading positions at Sandviken 172 5.5. The construction department 176 5.6. The rolling mill and forging department 178 Eric Esselius (1873–1947) 178 Esselius’s inspirational

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