ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the seventeenth-century institutional business environment in the Nordic kingdoms, and what opportunities the kingdoms offered individuals wanting to pursue their overseas career. Here it is shown that the Nordic kingdoms provided economic incentives and political protection for individuals previously connected to trading enterprises elsewhere. The chapter also shows that especially Dutch commercial companies served as an important stepping-stone in the early careers of these men. The Dutch companies served as educators to accumulate the techniques and experience of overseas business. In exchange for such capacity and experience, the Nordic kingdoms offered an institutional platform to participate in overseas business.
