Institutional change and the problems of restructuring the Russian fishingindustry

This article discusses how the transition from a planned towards a market-b ased economy has affected the Russian fishing industry. It is based on a se ries of studies of the Northwest Russian fishing industry where evidence fr om its past role and functioning is contrasted with the current situation. The conceptual perspective drawn on is institutional theory, with a focus o n higher-order institutions. One of the main findings is that the fishing c ompanies stand out as the only surviving party in the game. The losers are the land-based fish processing industry, the mother ship and transport flee t, and the support structures, which depend on the activities generated by the prime production (fishing). It is argued that the new institutional arr angements necessarily force a new adaptation among the fishing companies, a nd suggested that some of the changes of the higher-order institutions have been less successful than initially assumed, as there still are several ad verse elements in the Russian institutional arrangements that hinder furthe r transition toward a market-based economy.