Kristin Ranestad

• Ranestad, Kristin (2026). Exploring diverging paths: identifying gaps in Nordic and Latin American comparisons. Revista de Historia Económica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History (RHE-JILAEH). ISSN 0212-6109. doi: 10.1017/S0212610926101116. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article reassesses Nordic–Latin American comparisons: two regions with similar 19th-century export specializations diverged. Reviewing 24 comparisons, it shows explanations cluster around institutions and reforms, human capital, and industrial diversification, tracing overlaps, contradictions, and gaps. It tests these claims through Chile and Norway. “Nordic advantages” are less clear-cut: both built technical education, negotiated resource control through regulation, and combined liberal trade with targeted support. These factors mattered as specific configurations whose effects depended on timing, sequencing, and industry. Drawing on Marc Bloch and others, the article separates correlation from causation and outlines a mixed-methods strategy linking macro-indicators to sectoral and archival studies of taxation, education, regulation, unions, and coalitions to specify the concrete channels through which these factors operated.

• Ford, Nick; Ranestad, Kristin & Sharp, Paul (2026). Assessing the Educational Elite: Evaluating the Danish and Norwegian High School Yearbook Tradition. History of Education. ISSN 0046-760X. p. 1–25. doi: 10.1080/0046760X.2025.2595199. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We evaluate Scandinavian graduate biographies – compiled by members of the educational elite – for their value as historical sources. These biographies, published in Denmark and Norway from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, offer detailed individual-level data on education, careers and social mobility. While frequently used for tracing individual life histories, their broader utility as systematic historical data has remained underexplored. Applying source criticism, we evaluate their meaningfulness, authenticity, representativeness and credibility. We find that these biographies are largely reliable, with high response rates and minimal discrepancies when cross-checked with independent sources. However, editorial bias is evident in select cases, particularly in the post-war treatment of Nazi-affiliated graduates. Despite these limitations, the biographies represent a valuable dataset for studies on education, elite formation and economic development. Their digitisation will further enhance their potential for quantitative historical research.

• Ranestad, Kristin & Pouillard, Véronique (2026). Controlling company subsidiaries in the Global South: A comparative study of itineraries to and from mining sites in Chile and Congo. Economic History of Developing Regions. ISSN 2078-0389. p. 1–26. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper analyses mining operations by multinational mining companies in Chile and Congo (1910s–1960s), focusing on methods to establish control over subsidiaries. It examines Andes Copper Company and Chile Exploration Company (Anaconda) in Chile and Union Minière du Haut-Katanga and Société Minière du Bécéka in Congo, and compares the role of travel and communication in managing operations. It identifies striking similarities in their approaches, including international expertise for ore prospecting and technical knowledge transfer, as well as North–South travel for supervision and strategic discussions. Communication differences were influenced by company-culture variations, as well as unique historical, social, and political backgrounds of each host country. Anaconda relied on experienced expatriate staff, certain local initiatives in Chile, and frequent mail correspondence. Belgian companies in Congo faced challenges due to colonial anxieties and limited local expertise – needing closer supervision, more site visits, and increased reporting.

• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2026). Diamond artisanal mining and trafficking in the South Kasaï region of the Congo during the decolonization period (1957–1964). Resources Policy. ISSN 0301-4207. 112. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105763. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper examines the diamond extraction and commerce in South Kasaï, a key diamond-producing region in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Focusing on the late colonial years through the post-independence militarization of the province in 1964, the article examines the role of the multinational firms Forminière and Bécéka in consolidating control over diamond resources. Drawing on archival materials from both firms, held in the Sibeka archives (after the postcolonial renaming of these operations), we analyze how these firms exploited Congo’s extractive institutions, contributing to violence and state fragility. Shortly after the Congo gained independence on June 30, 1960, South Kasaï declared secession from the new republic and remained a semi-autonomous entity until 1962. Despite the ban on artisanal mining by the multinationals present in the region and by the South Kasaï provincial authorities, clandestine mining increased and started fostering the cross-border trade in diamonds, creating alternative circuits of commerce outside the monopoly of the De Beers international cartel. Against this backdrop, our findings show a ‘cycle of repression’, in which multinational management employed corruption, local exploitation, and violent measures to suppress artisanal mining and maintain dominance. We argue that the transition to independence intensified legal pluralism and informal mining cultures, undermining state authority and reinforcing the ‘resource curse’ framework. The paper contributes to debates on natural resources, extractive institutions, and conflict, offering a microhistorical perspective on diamond mining and its implications for Congolese governance.

• Ranestad, Kristin (2025). Job switching and knowledge transfer: The case of Norwegian mining and metallurgy, 1787–1940. Business History. ISSN 0007-6791. doi: 10.1080/00076791.2025.2473993. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores the career paths of educated workers, including mining engineers and other professionals, in Norway’s mining and metallurgical industries from 1787 to 1940. Employing the HISCO classification to track job switches, it analyses knowledge transfer within these industries, in line with Cohen and Levinthal’s absorptive capacity theory. The results show that educated workers primarily joined large firms, frequently moving between mining and metallurgical branches and transitioning to related sectors such as mechanical workshops, energy, and chemicals. This pattern underlines employers’ preference for prior experience in technically similar yet specialised sectors, enhancing knowledge transfer much in line with Cohen and Levinthal’s theory. Internationally experienced engineers were particularly valued. Many professionals ended their careers in public mining institutions, contributing to a significant pool of practical knowledge there. The study notes the state’s proactive role in fostering the mining and metallurgical industries, emphasising the partnership between the government and these industries.

• Ranestad, Kristin; Sharp, Paul Richard & Ford, Nicholas Martin (2022). Leaving Their Mark: Using Danish Student Grade Lists to Construct a More Detailed Measure of Historical Human Capital. Rivista di storia economica. ISSN 0393-3415. 1, p. 29–56. doi: 10.1410/102500. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2022). State reforms in early modern mining: Røros copperworks and the role of workers managers, investors and the state in business development. Business History. ISSN 0007-6791. 64(4), p. 831–853. doi: 10.1080/00076791.2020.1797681. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2021). Connecting formal education and practice to agricultural innovation in Denmark (1860s-1920): A note on sources and methods. Scandinavian Economic History Review. ISSN 0358-5522. 69(3), p. 233–252. doi: 10.1080/03585522.2020.1806920. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin & Sharp, Paul Richard (2021). Success through failure? Four centuries of searching for Danish coal. Business History. ISSN 0007-6791. doi: 10.1080/00076791.2021.1879053. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin; Bergquist, Ann Kristin & Ducoing, Cristian (2021). Different Drivers Behind Corporate Environmental Policies: The Case of the Swedish and Chilean Copper Industry. In Cajías, José Alejandro Peres & Cristian, Ducoing (Ed.), Natural Resources and Development. Divergent paths between Andean and Nordic countries. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030710439. p. 279–303. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin & Cajías, José Alejandro Peres (2021). Engineers and the knowledge gap between Andean and Nordic countries, 1850-1939. In Cajías, José Alejandro Peres & Cristian, Ducoing (Ed.), Natural Resources and Development. Divergent paths between Andean and Nordic countries. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030710439. p. 169–218. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2020). Multinational mining companies, employment and knowledge transfer: Chile and Norway from ca. 1870 to 1940. Business History. ISSN 0007-6791. 62(2), p. 197–221. doi: 10.1080/00076791.2017.1407313. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2020). Intrikate markeder: kobberproduksjon og handel i det oldenborgske monarki. In Ranestad, Kristin & Bruland, Kristine (Ed.), Skandinavisk kobber: Lokale forhold og globale sammenhenger i det lange 1700-tallet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202645533. p. 147–163. doi: 10.23865/noasp.120. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Open access. Kapitler på norsk, svensk og engelsk.

• Ranestad, Kristin & Olofsson, Sven (2020). Statlige reformer ved Røros kobberverk: arbeidere, betjenter, partisipanter og stat. In Ranestad, Kristin & Bruland, Kristine (Ed.), Skandinavisk kobber: Lokale forhold og globale sammenhenger i det lange 1700-tallet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202645533. p. 23–51. doi: 10.23865/noasp.120. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Open access. Kapitler på norsk, svensk og engelsk.

• Bruland, Kristine & Ranestad, Kristin (2020). Introduction to Scandinavian Copper. In Ranestad, Kristin & Bruland, Kristine (Ed.), Skandinavisk kobber: Lokale forhold og globale sammenhenger i det lange 1700-tallet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISSN 9788202645533. p. 9–22. doi: 10.23865/noasp.120. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Open access. Kapitler på norsk, svensk og engelsk.

• Ranestad, Kristin (2019). Copper trade and production of copper, brass and bronze goods in the Oldenburg monarchy: copperworks and copper users in the eighteenth century. Scandinavian Economic History Review. ISSN 0358-5522. 67(2), p. 190–209. doi: 10.1080/03585522.2019.1566767. Full text in Research Archive
• Ducoing, Cristian; Peres-Cajias, Jose; Badia-Miró, Marc; Bergquist, A.; Contreras, C. & Ranestad, Kristin [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2018). Natural resources curse in the long run? Bolivia, Chile and Peru in the Nordic countries' mirror. Sustainability. 10(4). doi: 10.3390/su10040965. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2017). The mining sectors in Chile and Norway, ca. 1870–1940: the development of a knowledge gap. Innovation and Development. ISSN 2157-930X. 8(1), p. 147–165. doi: 10.1080/2157930X.2017.1322030. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Chile and Norway are two ‘natural resource-intensive economies’, which have had different development trajectories, yet are closely similar in industrial structure and geophysical conditions. This paper seeks to contribute to the debate about how and why some economies based on natural resource activities have been more dynamic and innovative than others by indicating contributing factors of key differences in one natural resource sector both countries developed, namely mining. I explore how comparable knowledge organizations developed knowledge and how they help to understand differences in development. More knowledge was developed and accumulated in Norway than in Chile, which indicates that there was a knowledge gap between the two countries. Mining instructions were similar, but there were striking differences when it came to (1) number of graduates, (2) number of travel arrangements for practical learning and (3) organised geological mapping and ore surveys. These differences contribute to explain the emerging gap of the two sectors, which in turn may be linked to the role of the state. In Norway, the state was much more active in supporting knowledge development through funding of education, scholarships and the National Geological Survey. In Chile, these key knowledge organizations were given lower priority by political decision-makers.

• Ranestad, Kristin; Bruland, Kristine; Donze, Pierre-Yves; Sylvain, Wenger & Olav, Wicken (2013). Les institutions du savoir et l'industrialisation en Suisse et en Norvege au cours du long XIX siècle. In Bruland, Kristine; Borgeaud, Phillippe; Hofstetter, Rita; Lacki, Jan; Porret, Michel & Schnewly, Bernard (Ed.), La Fabrique des savoirs - Figures et pratiques d'experts. l'Equinox. ISSN 9782825710166. Full text in Research Archive

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• Ranestad, Kristin & Bruland, Kristine (2020). Skandinavisk kobber: Lokale forhold og globale sammenhenger i det lange 1700-tallet. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202645533. 230 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Open access. Kapitler på norsk, svensk og engelsk.

• Ranestad, Kristin (2018). Knowledge-Based Growth in Natural Resource Intensive Economies: Mining, Knowledge Development and Innovation in Norway 1860-1940. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9783319964119. 285 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2026). Analyzing Innovation through a Historical Patent Database: The Case of the Colonial Congo Patent System (1888-Early 1960s). Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin & Pouillard, Véronique (2026). Patents and Mining in Congo: Analyzing innovation through a historical patent database (1888-1949). Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin & Pouillard, Véronique (2025). Patents and mining in Colonial Congo: analyzing innovation through a historical patent database (1888-1963). Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2025). Diamond artisanal mining and trafficking in the South Kasaï region of the Congo during the decolonization (1957-1964). Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). Diamond artisanal mining and trafficking in the South Kasaï region of the Congo in decolonization times (1957-1964). Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). Mining Rights, Governance and Nationalizations: A comparative analysis of the copper industry in Chile and in Congo (1920s to 1980s). Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). The missions abroad of employees of the mining industries of Belgian Congo and Chile. Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). Mining Rights, Environmental Governance and Nationalizations: A comparative analysis on the copper industry in Chile and in Congo (1920s to 1980s). Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). Traveling for knowledge: The missions abroad of employees of the mining industries of Belgian Congo and Chile, 1900-1960s. Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). Natural resource exploitation. debates, methods, research questions and new ideas. Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). Traveling for knowledge, the missions aboard of mining employees to Congo and Chile, 1905-1960s. Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2024). Mining rights, environmental governance, and nationalizations, A comparative analysis on the copper industry in Chile and in Congo from the 1920s to the 1980s. Full text in Research Archive
• Pouillard, Véronique & Ranestad, Kristin (2023). Traveling for knowledge: the missions abroad of employees of the mining industries of Belgian Congo and Chile (1905-1960s). Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2018). Book review: Mark-Thiesen, Cassandra, Mediators, contract men, and colonial capital: mechanized gold mining in the Gold Coast colony, 1879–1909. The Economic History Review. ISSN 0013-0117. 71(4), p. 1435–1436. doi: 10.1111/ehr.12807. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2010). Norske og utenlandske investeringers bidrag til teknologisk utvikling i Chile. In Loge, Julia Steen (Eds.), Gull og Grønne Skoger: Norske Interesser i Latin-Amerika. Solidaritet Forlag. ISSN 9788291916262. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2010). Chile. In Loge, Julia (Eds.), Latin-Amerikaårboka: Gull og grønne skoger: Norske interesser i Latin-Amerika. Solidaritet forlag. ISSN 9788291916262. Full text in Research Archive
• Ranestad, Kristin (2008). Chile. In Renå, Anne Siri (Eds.), Oljetønner og kaffebønner: Kampen om naturressursene. Latin-Amerikagruppene i Norge og Solidaritet forlag. ISSN 9788291916231. Full text in Research Archive

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