Technology and Productivity in the Port of Gothenburg c. 1850–1965 1

This article discusses the timing and impact of technological change in Scandinavia’s largest port, Gothenburg. It argues that technological change was gradual for a long period of time and that the forklift and the pallet—introduced in 1947 and diffused in the mid-1950s—was responsible for setting off a series of changes. Productivity growth is a subject much neglected in precontainer port studies. The current analysis goes beyond earlier, simplistic notions of productivity and offers new ways of measuring port output. The productivity figures presented strongly indicate growth up to the Second World War—an empirical finding that contrasts with results from other ports. And the study goes on to suggest that growth accelerated in the postwar years. The pattern offers tentative support for the contention that the impact of the forklift was revolutionary.