Browsing by Author "Carlsson, Lars"

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Ancient Lands Cast Long Shadows: The Case for Reconnection with English Commons for Sustainable Management and Use
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Humphries, Andrew; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"This paper attempts to bring into context historical and contemporary aspects of the institutional framework of English commons with particular reference to the upland grazing areas of the North and West which are of particular significance for sheep grazing. The context for a system based on ancient customary practice in the 21st century will be addressed together with proposals for modernising legislation based on statute. The contemporary response of commoners will be outlined with particular reference to Cumbria which embraces 30% of the English common land area. The principle characteristics discussed are relevant to England and Wales. Scotland has a different history and legal framework."
Co-Management Across Levels of Organization: Concepts and Methodological Implications
(2003) Carlsson, Lars; Berkes, Fikret
From Page 2: "There is a growing literature on social-ecological linkages and sustainable use of natural resources. This research can be divided into two broad categories. The first category consists basically of case studies that reveal the existence of an extremely rich variety of systems of management of common-pool resources. The second type of research sets out to find empirical and theoretical support for the prospects of suggesting, and deliberately building management systems that fulfill well-known criteria for sustainable use (Burger et al., 2001; Berkes and Folke, 2002). In both types of research, the concept and principles of co-management have been an integral part. This paper is based on the presumption that the two lines of research could be merged and synthesized. The paper deals with three broad questions: 1) What is co-management and how should the phenomenon be understood?; 2) What is co-management good for?; and 3) How can real-life instances of co-management be investigated and analyzed?"
Commons and Landscape
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Olwig, Kenneth; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"This essay will argue for the necessity of combining the historical/empirical and the theoretical/institutional oriented approaches to the commons, with an approach that takes cognizance of the commons enormous symbolic importance to society as an epitome of shared abstract values and democracy. The link between these approaches to the commons lies in the conception of the commons as landscape."
Commons for Whom? On New Coastal Commons on North Norwegian Coasts
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Sandberg, Audun; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"There are dramatic events taking place on North-Norwegian Coasts during this period. On the surface this appears as a surprising shift in the opinion of the coastal population in crucial questions. One such fundamental question in coastal areas has been the issue of Norwegian membership in the European Union, where the opinion is tilting from opposition tied to fishing rights for wild fish towards support tied to marketing access for farmed fish. But underneath this there are other long term processes that might enable us to explain why the once crucial issue of local resource control now seems to be of less importance than it was in 1972 and even as late as 1994. This paper is an initial attempt to outline what is going on in a typical resource-dependent region when the fundamental institutional relations are changed. In doing so, it does not utilize contemporary concepts like privatisation, individualization, re-feudalisation, or other ideologically based constructs as explanatory factors. Rather it is using basic property rights as useful representations of an important analytical link between the biophysical world and the social world. By tracing the effects of different designs of property rights on both natural stocks of fish and on coastal ecosystems, and on social systems like coastal communities, firms, corporations and political parties, we might come nearer to possible explanations of seemingly surprising events. "The fundamental assumption here is that the attempts at a more 'rational' resource management for wild marine fish have had unintended consequences. Over the years this benevolent political gesture has become much like a Trojan horse for coastal communities. Hidden inside precious gift that modern resource management regimes were to the coastal population, there are three dangerous soldiers: one is the soldier of increased social rigidity that rises from increased ecological uncertainty, the second is the soldier of inefficiency and lack of innovation that results from the accumulation of inequality, and the third soldier is the danger of unsustainable use of coastal ecosystems and ecosystem services."
The Commons in Navarra: Urbasa-Andia-Limitaciones
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Oses, Nuria; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"As the common land in Navarra is so extended and diverse, in the following, I will put my attention in one of these common land: Urbasa and Andia, which have been till recently, state commons. I will analyse who are the actors entitled to appropriate, what are the goods the actors appropriate, how do the actors go about appropriating and what are the actors allowed to do with the good appropriated. I will also analyse the effect that the exploitation of Urbasa and Andia has had on the landscape of these territory."
Commons in Urban Industrialized Society
(1996) Carlsson, Lars
"Common forests are often associated with developing countries. Overpopulation, lack of technical and economic resources, deforestation and a tension between central bureaucracies and local people are significant characteristics for a great number of commons in these countries. This paper focuses on a quite different situation: the role of common forests in an industrialized country. The Swedish common forests have survived for more than one hundred years; no deforestation has been observed and the total amount of biomass is increasing. The commons are regarded by experts as well managed both in terms of efficiency and with regard to the preservation of biodiversity. Compared to other types of ownership the commons have a very special organization. The base consists of 25,000 individual shareholders with property rights in the forests. This medieval pattern of ownership seems to survive; moreover it seems to be quite prosperous within the realm of modern society with its highly competitive forest industries. This paper explains why the Swedish common forests have survived as vital and competitive actors in the timber market. Three main explanations are discussed: the commons' conscious attempts to reduce transaction costs, their general inventiveness in adjusting to changed circumstances, and their acclimatization to the logic of the negotiated economy characterized by fuzzy borders between different sectors."
Commons: Old and New
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Berge, Erling; Olwig, Kenneth; Carlsson, Lars; Jansson, Ulf; Sandell, Klas; Wedin, Maud; Pardo, Mercedes; Oses, Nuria; Sevatdal, Hans; Sandberg, Audun; Brown, Katrina Myrvang; Sellar, David; Humphries, David
"The document is a proceedings from a workshop 11-13 March 2003 in Oslo. It presents case studies on commons in Norway, Spain, Sweden, Scotland, and Wales (UK) along with 3 papers with more theoretical discussion of 1) characteristics of protected areas seen as a type of commons, 2) the symbolic value of commons, and 3) the problem of managing commons across levels of organization."
Commons: Old and New -- On Environmental Goods and Services in the Theory of Commons
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"The modern and largely academic and urban initiated concern with environmental protection of landscapes, species, watersheds, biodiversity, ecosystem-services etc. are framed by a language suggesting that the main concern is the protection and preservation of precarious resources of common interests for mankind. "Thus the values deserving the attention of environmental protection seem to be very different from the concerns shaping the evolution of traditional commons: the control of access to and extraction of resources seen as limited but essential for the survival of local communities. "The paper will explore the theoretical differences and similarities of the two types of interests driving the concern for preserving values. It will be suggested that a basic difference lies in the distinction between values where there is rivalry in appropriation and values where there is non-rivalry. It will further be argued that in designing new institutions for managing protected areas, an understanding of traditional commons and how the new values to be protected are different from and interact with the old values will be important to achieve sustainability of resource use within the protected areas."
Community Rights and Access to Land in Scotland
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Sellar, David; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"The purpose of the paper was to give a flavour of the great land debate which has been raging in Scotland for some years, and of which the most tangible outcome so far has been the Land Reform Scotland Act. This Act, passed by the Scottish Parliament in January 2003, contains provisions permitting general public access to land, and allowing for the community purchase of land. Before moving on to the land debate, the paper considered a number of preliminary points: the history of commons or 'commonties' in Scotland; whether anything approximating to an allemansrett might be said to exist in Scotland; the Trust concept; and two myths regarding ownership and access."
The Environment as a Common Good in the Time of Globalization: Its Conceptualization and Social Perception
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Pardo, Mercedes; Echavarren, Jose M.; Aleman, Eliana; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"It is usual to consider the environment as a common good, but we are far from having a clear definition of either of them: the environment and the common. Both vary according the scope of the analysis (world, national, regional, provincial, local), the different societies, and the diverse elements included, and so vary the social perception and action on the environment. On the other hand, new and increasing demands from the environment as a common good, as it is the case of preserving biodiversity or landscape among others) might clash with traditional commons. Societies face now a challenge to compatibilize traditional commons and the new common: the environment. In order to study the idea of the environment as the new common is relevant to pay attention to legal conceptions and issues related with property rights. A conceptual and historical clarification of the sense and meaning of common is required. In this paper the conceptual problematic of the term common for the case of the environment is analyzed, and the change in its social perception within the process of industrialization and globalization. A case study of Navarre (Spain) show how people conceive Nature in terms of common good."
Forest Enterprises in Transition: Business Behavior in the Tomsk Forest Sector
(1999) Carlsson, Lars; Lundgren, Nils-Gustav; Olsson, Mats-Olov
"The overall aim of this study and a sequence of other case studies conducted by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is to establish a foundation for a better understanding of the transformation of the Russian forest sector.1 In this study, however, we concentrate on the single enterprise. The basic goal is to provide in-depth information regarding positive and negative aspects of the transformation of the forest sector as the process is perceived by the actors themselves, i.e., managers and other stakeholders related to various forest enterprises. This analysis is aimed at contributing information useful for the creation and identification of appropriate options for policy making. In short, one aim is to contribute research that might make the Russian forest sector better suited to generate economic welfare under sustainable management of its resources."
Forest Finns vs. Swedish Commons
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Wedin, Maud; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"The Savolax expansion 1400-1500; Svidden cultivation as a general; Svidden cultivation made by forest Finns; spruce forest, slash- and burn, forest rye; Svidden 'culture': Access to land more important than ownership, using large areas; Extended expansion to Scandinavia, first Sweden, later Norway and even the colony New Sweden. Also migration east and southwards (religion). Reasons for migration (push-): Civil war, war against Russia, deterioration of climate, overpopulation, taxation (noble people who were granted land as reward for instance Ruovesi and Rautalampi) (and pull) the search for new svidden areas. Two choices: change the way to support themselves or migrate. The state asked for new settlements, gave about six years of freedom from taxation."
If Money Only Grew on Trees: The Russian Forest Sector in Transition
(2000) Carlsson, Lars; Olsson, Mats-Olov; Lundgren, Nils-Gustav
From Introduction: "'Russia is endowed with enormous forest resources.' Unfortunately, this is a common claim based on misconception. Russia does not have enormous forest resources but a tremendous amount of forests, which is something quite different. "Why is Russia, despite its affluence in terms of forests,unable to utilize its endowments to generate economic growth and social welfare? What happened to all the hope that the forest sector would become a central engine in the transition toward a Russian market economy? This article attempts to answer these questions by using the forest sector as an example,but other sectors would certainly apply."
The Institutional Geography of Early Modern Swedish Commons: The Case of Grimstens Hundred in Central Sweden
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Jansson, Ulf; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"In the debate on commons over the last 30 years the starting point has often been Hardin's seminal paper The Tragedy of the commons from 1968. This view has been challenged over the years, mainly within the discussion that can be labeled common-pool resources (CPR). This discussion has however focused very little on the geography of the commons. A growing and interesting discussion on institutional geography partly connected to actor-network theory engage both the geography and the social organisations. This paper is an attempt to bring the historical geography of the commons in Sweden into this discussion."
Institutions and the Emergence of Markets: Transition in the Arkhangelsk Forest Sector
(1999) Carlsson, Lars; Lundgren, Nils-Gustav; Olsson, Mats-Olov; Varakin, Mikhail Yu
"The aim of this project is to describe and analyze the current institutional framework of the Russian forest sector. This is done through a series of case studies in several Russian regions. In this report we present the results of a study in the Arkhangelsk region in northern Russia."
Keeping Away from the Leviathan: The Case of the Swedish Forest Commons
(2001) Carlsson, Lars
"The role of common property in industrialised society raises a number of questions relevant to constitutional and democratic theory and policy. These questions are discussed here with reference to the current situation of the Swedish Forest Commons. It is shown that commons which have survived for more than one hundred years have difficulties in handling the entrenchment of the principles of liberal democracy, even though their existence is ultimately protected by the liberal democratic state. With reference to Giddens' (1984) theory of structuring and Kiser and Ostrom's (1982) meta-theoretical framework, this article challenges the theory that the constitution forms an institutional hierarchy by restraining collective and operational rules, suggesting rather that lower level rules change and adapt independently. It subsequently tackles the problem of how to identify appropriately the constitution of the commons. Finally it stresses that, despite the fact that the State (the Leviathan [2] ) guarantees the existence of the commons, one of their means of survival is to keep away from the State."
Management, Resilience and the Strategy of the Commons
(2000) Carlsson, Lars
"The paper discusses how two different forest management systems, one emanating from state ownership, the other from communal property rights, affect the amount of forest biomass per hectare over a period of well over a hundred years. As management units, both forests were created as a result of the delineation of Swedish Crown land. The forests in question are adjacent and in 1884, when they were created, they were also quite similar in many other respects. In the communal forest more than half of the forest resource was immediately harvested but it is shown that, due to deliberate regeneration programs, its forest resource has been steadily restored. In the adjacent state forest, however, the volume continued to decrease over the next 70 years. With reference to resilience theory, it is argued that, due to a more rigid management in the state forest, creative destruction was extended while forest density was accordingly reduced. It is suggested that a decisive difference is the ownership and organization of the units, all of which have had a profound effect on the forest resource. For example, while the management system in the communal forest is a based on a target income strategy having the effect that harvesting increases when prices rise and a 'debatable' type of forestry, state management is based on the 'scientific' methods of its time. It is concluded that the owners of the communal forest over a significant period of time have applied a management system that is more sensitive to changes in the ecosystem. Whether in the long run communal or state behavior should be regarded good or bad is left as an open question in the paper. It is argued that it might simply be a matter of time and two different modes of resilience. In both cases, 'the ability of [the] system to maintain its structure and patterns of behavior in the face of disturbance' is maintained (Holling, 1986: 296). However, it is concluded that the management of the communal forest seems to be more responsive to changes in the environment compared to the centrally decided state management system."
Managing Commons Across Levels of Organization
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Carlsson, Lars; Berge, Erling
"Co-management has proven effective for sustainable management of natural resources. However, contemporary research indicates that in many cases local communities of resource users have develop sophisticated systems of collaboration, not only with the State but also with numerous other actors. These experiences also show that the State is no unity meaning that a community can establish different types of relations with different units of 'the State.' In this article the concept co-management network is launched as a way to label, and thereby to get a better understanding of these webs of collaborative agreements. It is conjectured that co-management networks normally are developed over significant periods of time, that they in essence nurture cross-scale institutional linkages, and that these characteristics enhance capacity building for better natural resources management. Finally, it is suggested that more research, which would explicitly employ the idea of co-management networks should be conducted."
Network Governance of the Commons
(2006) Carlsson, Lars; Sandström, Annica
"The survival of the commons is closely associated with the potential to find ways to strengthen contemporary management systems, making them more responsive to a number of complexities, like the dynamics of ecosystems and related, but often fragmented, institutions. A discussion on the desirability of finding ways to establish so-called cross-scale linkages, i.e. connections among different actors from different levels of organisation and geographical settings, recently has been vitalised in the literature. The establishment of such linkages is believed to have many advantages for the sustainable management of the commons. In the same vein, concepts like adaptive management, co-management and adaptive co-management have been discussed. In essence, these ways of organizing management to generate alternative governance systems are more closely related to network governance and social network theory, than to political administrative hierarchy. However, so far, attempts to incorporate social network analysis (SNA) in this literature have been rather few, and not particularly elaborate. In this paper, a framework for such an approach will be presented. The framework provides an analytical skeleton for the understanding of joint management and the establishment of cross-scale linkages. The relationships between structural network properties - like density, centrality and heterogeneity, and innovation in adaptive co-management systems - are highlighted as major features of high functioning management systems. The paper makes a theoretical and methodological contribution to the understanding of co-management, and thereby to the survival of the commons."
Network Governance of the Commons
(2008) Carlsson, Lars; Sandström, Annica
"The survival of the commons is closely associated with the potential to find ways to strengthen contemporary management systems, making them more responsive to a number of complexities, like the dynamics of ecosystems and related, but often fragmented, institutions. A discussion on the desirability of finding ways to establish so-called cross-scale linkages has recently been vitalised in the literature. In the same vein, concepts like adaptive management, co-management and adaptive co-management have been discussed. In essence, these ways of organizing management incorporate an implicit assumption about the establishment of social networks and is more closely related to network governance and social network theory, than to political administrative hierarchy. However, so far, attempts to incorporate social network analysis (SNA) in this literature have been rather few, and not particularly elaborate. In this paper, a framework for such an approach will be presented. The framework provides an analytical skeleton for the understanding of joint management and the establishment of cross-scale linkages. The relationships between structural network properties - like density, centralization, and heterogeneity - and innovation in adaptive co-management systems are highlighted as important to consider when crafting institutions for natural resource management. The paper makes a theoretical and methodological contribution to the understanding of co-management, and thereby to the survival of the commons."
New Challenges for Old Commons: The Implications of Rural Change for Crofting Common Grazings
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Brown, Katrina Myrvang; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"This paper concerns the way in which 'old' common property institutions cope with and respond to 'new' challenges posed by post-productivist rural change. Common property regimes were once widespread throughout much of the Western European landscape but the prevailing trend over the last few centuries has been towards their demise. The interrelated pressures of population growth, commercialisation, industrialisation, successive rounds of enclosure legislation, and an academic and cultural privileging of individual forms of property, have all conspired to effect the extinguishment and erosion of communal resource rights (North & Thomas, 1973; Dahlman, 1980; De Moor et al. 2002). Nevertheless, a number of these 'old commons' have survived to the present day in countries such as Norway, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland."
Norwegian Commons: History, Status and Challenges
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Sevatdal, Hans; Grimstad, Sidsel; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"This paper will look at the Norwegian Commons with the following focus: How these ancient institutions have evolved during the last 200 years; The interests of the different stakeholders and the ensuing conflicts up to the present; How the institutions managing the commons have adapted to the changes in the Norwegian society from agrarian towards an industrialised and more urbanised country. By investigating the history and the privatisation and formalisation processes the commons have undergone, we are able to see how the institution has been able to adapt to changing economic and political environments. It illustrates the tension that has been and still is between the central power and the local community concerning the state commons. These tensions are however only one aspect of conflicts relating to the commons; at times there were equally high tensions between different local communities and also between various stakeholders within local communities. But maybe the most important is that it shows that the institution of the commons has persisted for nearly a thousand years, and that it may exist side by side with 'ordinary' private and public ownership of land. It can also adapt and modernise into becoming an important voice of the local community in local and central politics. It has also been a goal of this research to provide documentation of one example (of many) of the thriving existence of common property ownership in modern western countries, showing that this ownership form is not an 'archaic' or outdated form that only exists in poorer developing countries. Furthermore the report shows that the commons have not been a stagnant form of ownership, but has changed and still changes according to the tendencies particularly in the rural/agricultural sector. It discusses some of the modern time challenges for the commons in society."
Policy Making and Local Economic Development: Tessellation or Idealization?
(1995) Carlsson, Lars
"Political systems are occupied by the endeavor of contributing to local economic development. This fact is especially significant for the circum-polar north and its demand for local economic development. Political decisions are made and development programs are created, in order to circumvent negative trends in non-vital areas, such as sparsely populated regions, declining municipalities etc. This description however, illustrates an idealization of the policy making process albeit reflecting a dominant political discourse. Sovereign political decision units are supposed to be the true creators of policies, i.e. a top-down approach. The objects of the policies including 'peasants', villages, companies or associations are viewed as either recipients of, or irrelevant for, the policy process. An alternative view, the mosaic model, predicates that the processes of policy making consist of many pieces all of which can be contributive. If policy is defined as a set of ideas and activities in order to solve relevant problems, it is obvious that both the ideas and the problem solving process can be attributed to different actors. The conclusion of this paper is that politicians and administrators, dealing with local economic development, are normally faced with a multi-actor situation. However, if it is possible to organize situations where those different actors are contributing to problem solving, a developing mosaic can be created. This is, in turn, a matter of coordination from below, not from the top of formal political hierarchies."
Policy Networks as Collective Action
(1996) Carlsson, Lars
"One important contribution to the policy sciences, and inter organizational research in particular, has been the introduction of the so called policy network approach. Despite the fact that the network approach has produced a multitude of concepts, it still lacks a theoretical scaffold. As a consequence, there is a tendency to regard, for example, policy communities, iron triangles, or implementation structures, and other network constructs as deviations from the real processes of policy making, i.e. those supposedly triggered by formal political decisions. This reflects a failure in realizing the difference between social and political order. One way out of this dilemma is to regard different empirical appearances of network concepts as expressions of collective action. Consequently, these types of collective action must be explained with reference to adequate theory. Referring to something called 'network theory' is hardly a fruitful way. But, accepting that units other than formal organizations can be understood as variants of collective action increases our ability to understand the ongoing processes of the creation of social and political order in society. This also advances our ability to deal with an extremely important question: How can contemporary 'multi-actor-societies' be governed?"
Prerequisites for the Evolution of Markets: An Institutional Analysis of Russian Forestry: A Project Proposal and its Funding Needs
(1996) Carlsson, Lars; Lundgren, Nils-Gustav; Olsson, Mats-Olov
"Contemporary research indicates that the wood supply from the USA, Canada, and the tropical areas will decline. The Russian forests are underexploited, and have the potential to fill this gap. This is, however, primarily depending on whether adequate institutional arrangements will be developed in order to smoothen the entrance and the entrenchment in this new market. In this context it is important to emphasize that institutional arrangements are not to be understood as formal organizations and formally written laws and regulations. Institutions are 'the rules of the game,' i.e., those formal or informal rules that are de facto used by a set of actors. Such institutional arrangement, well functioning, is a basic prerequisite for the development of Russian forestry. Logically, a Russian forestry sector poorly governed will be a severe obstacle for the transition to a market economy. "It is important to realize that forests are no resources per se. Only within a framework of institutional arrangements can a forest resource be regarded as an asset in an economic sense. Socio-economic development requires new institutions to facilitate the processes. The forestry sector can be expected to play a significant role in this development. Trade, transport, management, marketing, etc., and, in the end, the sustainable utilization of the entire Russian forest resource, are dependent on the establishment of an adequate institutional framework. When referring to institutional arrangements relevant for forestry, we mean, among other things, the existence of market information systems, rules, technology, and so forth. We also refer to the clarity and simplicity of rules of trade, financing, contracting, etc. Finally, we refer to a whole cluster of variables related to property rights, ownership, usufruct rights, monitoring and sanctioning of infringements, etc."
The Right of Public Access in Sweden: A History of Modernization and a Landscape Perspective
(Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2003) Sandell, Klas; Berge, Erling; Carlsson, Lars
"In summary, the right of public access in Sweden is in common law and can be seen as the 'free space' between various restrictions, mainly: (i) economic interests; (ii) people's privacy; (iii) preservation; and (iv) the utilisation of the landscape. For example, camping for not more than 24 hours is generally allowed, traversing any ground, lake or river, swimming, lighting a fire etc. are permitted wherever the restrictions mentioned above are not violated."
Scarecrows and Decoys. Why Suppose Political-Administrative Hierarchy?
(1993) Carlsson, Lars
"A great number of people are eager to describe modern western societies as mixed economies, as multi-actor-societies with fuzzy borders between public and private organizations and institutions. In this article it is argued that if we aim at understanding the processes of policy making, we have to start our investigations from a point of departure where we do not unreflectively assume that political administrative hierarchy is prevailing. We have to take our own descriptions seriously. The relevance of formal political institutions has to be proved, not taken for granted. It is also argued that despite the fact that no one admits that he or she has adopted a naive 'stage-model' of the policy making process, this image of the process is still vigorous in the minds of a great number of researchers dealing with policy analysis. These circumstances can be explained not only by the history of political science, with its focus on formal institutions, but also by the fact that hierarchy is a human way of simplifying a complex environment. Finally the Implementation Structure Approach is suggested as a methodological device for resisting this hierarchic temptation."
The Swedish Common Forests: A Common Property Resource in an Urban, Industrialised Society
(1996) Carlsson, Lars
"Common forests are frequently associated with developing countries, where overpopulation, a lack of technical and economic resources, deforestation and a tension between central bureaucracies and local people contribute to forest loss and depletion. This paper focuses on a quite different situation: the role of common forests in an industrialised country. The Swedish common forests have survived for more than 100 years; no deforestation has been observed and the total amount of biomass is increasing. The forests are considered by experts to be well managed both in terms of efficiency and with regard to the preservation of biodiversity. At the same time their extent remains intact; in fact, only about 70% of the annual production of biomass is harvested. Compared to other types of ownership the commons have a very special organisation. The basis consists of 25,000 individual shareholders with property rights in the forests. This medieval pattern of ownership seems to survive; moreover it seems to be quite prosperous within the realm of modern society with its highly competitive forest industries. This paper explains why the Swedish common forests have survived as vital and competitive actors in the timber market. Three main explanations are discussed: the commoners' conscious attempts to reduce transaction costs, their general inventiveness in adjusting to changed circumstances, and their acclimatisation to present economic conditions."
Swedish Common Forests: Implementation Study of Collectively-Owned Forest Lands
(1994) Carlsson, Lars
"The aim of this paper, prepared for the purpose of the Workshop on Design Principles at the Beijer Institute, 27-28 August, 1994 in Stockholm, Sweden, is to give a short description of the on going Swedish Common Forests Project. This research is sponsored in part by the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, with support from the World Environment and Resources Program of the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation, the World Bank, the Co-ordinating Committee of the Swedish Research Councils (FRN)and Dalarnas Forskningsrad (the Research Council of Dalarna), Sweden."
To Keep Away from the Leviathan: The Case of the Swedish Common Forests
(1995) Carlsson, Lars
"The aim of this paper is to illustrate and discuss the current situation of the Swedish common forests. With reference to Giddens' (1984) theory of structuration and Kiser and Ostrom's (1982) meta-theoretical framework the commons are analyzed. It is shown that, even though the commons have survived for more than one hundred years and even though their existence is ultimately secured by the State, they have difficulties in handling the entrenchment of the principles of the democratic State. This observation gives rise to the question of whether it is possible to identify the relevant constitution governing the commons, and whether it is relevant to argue that the constitution decides collective and operational rules at a lower level in the institutional hierarchy. Finally it is concluded that, despite the fact that the State (the Leviathan) guarantees the existence of the commons, one of their means of survival is to keep away from the State."
Towards a Sustainable Russian Forest Sector
(1999) Carlsson, Lars
"Russia's forest resources are enormous but despite almost ten years of transition problems are still immense, both in terms commercial output and with respect to forest management. In this article it is suggested that one way of changing the situation is to initiate an introduction of community managed forests. Using the Swedish forest commons as an example it is argued that such a change in property rights will provide an alternative to massive privatization of the forests as well as to an undesirable continuation or strengthening of state forest management. Finally, it is concluded that such an introduction of new property rights regimes will not provide the solution to the problems but contribute to the establishing of a better institutional framework in the Russian forest sector."
Why is the Russian Bear Still Asleep After Ten Years of Transition?
(2000) Carlsson, Lars; Lundgren, Nils-Gustav; Olsson, Mats-Olov
"By virtue of its former importance in the Russian economy and its future prospects for wealth creation the forest sector is a good illustration of the Russian dilemma. The nation seems to have it all: resources, people, endless needs to be fulfilled and in comparison to many poor areas of the world there already exists a production apparatus, however underutilized. Yet, despite deliberate efforts to induce the 'blessings' of capitalism, the 'Russian Bear' still seems to be asleep. How can this be explained? Answering this question is the task of this article. Presumably the answer is relevant not only for the forest sector but for other sectors of the Russian economy as well. The article aims at increasing our understanding of the creation of a market economy by providing the fundamental insight that there are no easy top-down procedures that automatically lead to this goal."