In this paper we present the first estimate of the full income distribution in pre‐industrial Sweden (including present‐day Finland). We draw on the schedule and the individual assessments devised by the authorities to distribute the 1613 Älvsborg ransom taxation to estimate income inequality, as well as the income shares of the top quantiles and of various social groups. We find that Sweden was relatively equal compared with other early modern European societies, for two main reasons: first, because the nobility, the clergy, the burghers, and other middle‐rank social groups all held relatively small shares of the total income, and second, because the landless groups were less numerous in Sweden than in other societies. This resulted in a large share of the total income going to the relatively homogeneous group of landed peasants, who made up the majority of the population. Our study thus speaks to the political historiography of early modern Sweden, within which negotiation and collaboration between the landed peasantry and the state has been seen as pivotal to the state formation process.

中文翻译：

---

1613 年瑞典的收入不平等

在本文中，我们首次对工业化前的瑞典（包括当今的芬兰）的全面收入分配进行了估计。我们利用当局设计的分配 1613 年阿尔夫斯堡赎金税的时间表和个人评估来估计收入不平等，以及最高分位数和各个社会群体的收入份额。我们发现，与其他早期现代欧洲社会相比，瑞典相对平等，主要有两个原因：第一，因为贵族、神职人员、市民和其他中层社会群体在总收入中所占份额相对较小，第二，因为其次，因为瑞典无土地群体的数量少于其他社会。这导致总收入的很大一部分流向了占人口大多数的相对同质的土地农民群体。因此，我们的研究涉及近代早期瑞典的政治史学，其中土地农民与国家之间的谈判与合作被视为国家形成过程的关键。