Louice Bådholm is a 3rd year PhD Student at the Department of Economic History at Uppsala University. In her dissertation, she explores the development of a transborder market encompassing transportation, cruising, and duty-free sales between Finland, Sweden, and the Åland Islands during the post-war period. The research primarily highlights the duty-free phenomenon and focuses on the largest ferry operators in this traffic: Viking Line and Silja Line. She is spending the spring of 2026 at the Center for Nordic Studies (CENS) to deepen her knowledge and understanding of the economic, social, and cultural history of Finland.
CENS felt like a natural place for my PhD exchange semester, given its strong focus on the Nordic region.
What has brought you to CENS as a visiting researcher?
My first interaction with people at CENS was at the 7th Nordic Challenges Conference in Reykjavik, 2024. After that, I presented at a research seminar here in the autumn of 2024. After being invited to CENS by Johan Strang, I applied for and received a scholarship from the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation that made my visit to Helsinki possible. CENS felt like a natural place for my PhD exchange semester, given its strong focus on the Nordic region. I think topics such as the political history of the Nordic welfare state and Nordic cooperation are a very important context for my dissertation project. As an early-career researcher, it is great to be able to spend time in a research environment that provides new insights into my own research and more or less closely related topics.
The more I read about the duty-free phenomenon, the more I wondered how duty-free sales actually became possible within the Nordic context.
My dissertation is part of the research project Transbordering Business – Passenger Ferries as Enactments of Consumption in Postwar Finnish–Swedish Relations (with Daniel Normark, Klara Arnberg, and Tiina Männistö-Funk), but I had a lot of freedom to develop my own topic within the project. The duty-free phenomenon caught my interest from the very beginning, but the focus of the dissertation has changed since I first started working on it in 2023. The more I read about the duty-free phenomenon, the more I wondered how duty-free sales actually became possible within the Nordic context.
In my opinion, the duty-free phenomenon is an intriguing topic because it resembles something that, historically, is almost like an exemption from ordinary practice. There are so many interesting entry points into the subject, and I think looking at the long-term development of duty-free trade through the lens of ‘the market’ is one of them, since it entails aspects of how markets can develop in border regions and how borders can be sources of opportunity and productivity. Another topic that I will explore in my dissertation is Ålands’ decision to stay outside of the EU VAT and excise duty area after the European Community decided to abolish intra-European duty-free sales in the 1990s. This touches upon the topic of what the market can create outside of itself and the abilities of actors involved in the making of markets to shape their institutional surroundings.
Are there some cultural or institutional particularities in the duty-free practices within the Nordic economic landscape?
More generally, duty-free sales developed from around the 1940s into a way of financing important transport infrastructures such as airports and, in this case, ferry transport links. What makes the Nordic context interesting in relation to duty-free sales is, in my opinion, how Sweden and Finland developed into high-taxation countries during the same period. Historically, one of the main goods sold in duty-free stores was alcoholic beverages. In Sweden and Finland, these goods shifted from being regulated mainly through quantity restrictions (the Bratt system) to being regulated through high prices achieved through taxation. The institutional setting with high land prices and low sea prices acted as a key driver for sales and consumption, something that turned Viking Lines’ and Silja Lines’ duty-free shops into increasingly popular aspects of the travel experience.
I find it puzzling how the sale of untaxed goods could become such an important part of financing this infrastructure, especially between two countries that were expanding their welfare states through taxation during the same period.
The ferry traffic is one of the main transport links between Sweden and Finland, and since the 1970s, it has been part of the European road network. For truck drivers, one of the fastest ways from continental Europe to Finland includes the ferry traffic. I find it puzzling how the sale of untaxed goods could become such an important part of financing this infrastructure, especially between two countries that were expanding their welfare states through taxation during the same period.
Another particularity that I have already touched upon is how the sales of duty-free goods could continue on the ferry routes between Sweden, Finland, and Åland even after the abolishment of intra-European duty-free sales that came into effect in 1999. This makes the ferries routed through the Åland Islands a special case within the history of duty-free trade since the continuation of duty-free sales was the main reason behind Åland’s decision to stay outside of the EU VAT and excise duty area. Some other islands remain outside of the EU VAT and excise duty area as well, such as the Channel Islands, but for different reasons
What could be better than discussing research on Silja Line and Viking Line passenger ferries while actually being on one of their ferries!?
As a part of her visit, Louice participated in a CENS seminar cruise between 12. –14. February. How was the experience of developing your dissertation during a seminar that took place on a cruise ferry?
What could be better than discussing research on Silja Line and Viking Line passenger ferries while actually being on one of their ferries!? I think it is great fun to research a phenomenon that you can experience yourself within your lifetime (at least to some degree), which is not always the case with historical research.
The CENS early career workshop helped me develop my dissertation by allowing me to discuss my ideas with other PhDs, all while being in a very fitting environment. The workshop consisted of two days of discussions, where I, among other things, got to explore the framing of my dissertation.
What are you looking forward to during the rest of your visit at CENS?
During my visit at CENS, I look forward to learning more about the economic, political, and cultural history of Finland. It is very important for my dissertation that I understand not only the Swedish part of the story. I also look forward to participating in the research seminars at the department. I also have some archival work to conduct while being here – I am, for instance, going to look into some sources from the Finnish Customs Authorities. It would be great to be able to tell a more comprehensive story about the regulations directed towards the sales of duty-free goods, since these were an important part of the development of the transborder market over time.