Development of Institutional Framework of Russian Forest Sector: Focusing on Federal-Local Relationship

In this paper, development of institutional framework of forest sector of the Russian Federation and the logic of institutional change is analyzed. The decentralization of forest policy has been realized under the ambiguous provision of joint jurisdiction and the weak political background of President Yeltsin, and the Khabarovsk Krai government succeeded to formulate a progressive institutional framework of forest sector. The forest lease system has been developed not only assigns the right of forest use to users based on competition but also serves as a strong policy tool to control forest users. The krai government also established a Local Code, which set concrete guidelines for forest institutions of the krai. However, this locally dominated policy framework has a weak foundation, because there exists the imbalance of human and financial resources between the federal and local governments. So, as President Putin has developed policies to establish strong federal authority, the authority of local governments has started shrinking. Without changing framework of ownership of forests and allocation of resources between federal and local governments, institutional framework of forest sector would continue to unstable.