Two sides of the same coin? Private car ownership in Sweden and Norway since 1950

Abstract

Norwegian private car density has lagged behind the Swedish and did not reach same national levels until the late 1980s, despite the same GDP per capita levels. Can both the time lag and the diffusion process be explained with national differences in income, institutions, infrastructure and population settlements? Or have regional differences in income and population density affected the outcome? The aim of this article is to compare car diffusion in Norway and Sweden in order to find explanations for the national and regional patterns of car diffusion. The conclusion is that car diffusion in Norway and Sweden displays two sides of same coin; the national levels converged, but the process did not follow the same regional pattern. Regional differences in income and population density have in general been a significant explanation for car density in Sweden, but not in Norway.