ABSTRACT
The North Sea model changes the political economy of the UK and Norway by giving the state a direct stake in the accumulation of capital, and giving it a more central role in the pattern of economic organisation. The development of the North Sea oil industry meant a historical change for UK and Norwegian capitalism, leading to a rationalisation of structures. Even before the advent of oil, the UK and Norway had fairly large public enterprises. In the 1970s a new pattern of economic organisation has begun emerging in the UK and Norway, partly under the impact of oil and the North Sea model and partly under the impact of the international recession. In Norway, the idea of a public enterprise holding company has been rejected, and instead oil revenues will be channelled through the existing state and commercial banks, which will implement the government's industrial policy.
