Elsevier

Marine Policy

Volume 33, Issue 2, March 2009, Pages 280-287
Marine Policy

Political regulation and radical institutional change: The case of aquaculture in Norway

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2008.07.006Get rights and content

Abstract

This study investigates the transformation of the political regulation of the Norwegian aquaculture industry. The study is conducted as a historical-institutional analysis of industrial development combined with analyses of the multiple impacts of directives produced by changes in international political institutions. We describe a transformation from a corporate regulation regime to a new regime based on control and monitoring. The origin of these changes is very much a result of the interplay between actors and organizations at separate but interconnected levels. Our empirical discussion is informed by the neoinstitutional organization theory.

Section snippets

Introduction and research question

Over the past couple of decades the economy of several small western nations such as Norway is “opened up”. However, despite the observation of de facto change in political institutions, the origin, cause and effect of these changes are highly debated. The typical Scandinavian corporate state model is basically abandoned [1], but the welfare state has survived [2]. Europeanization (the four freedoms and the single market) is evolving, but its impact on national and European industrial sectors

Approach to institutional change

Regulation is a politically sanctioned intervention in order to achieve specific goals. A common divide in the regulation literature is between economic and social regulation. Two main reasons to regulate economic activity are conceivable. First, within neo-classical economic theory, a welfare economic argument points to various forms of market failure that hinder optimal use of available resources, and where public regulations are implemented in order to correct the failure. The most common

The political regulation of the Norwegian aquaculture industry

NAI is, in economic terms, by far the most important part of the Norwegian seafood sector. The industry comprises a variety of species; however, the main products remain salmon. The 2006 output was close to 6,30,000 tons of salmon, and rising, with a first-hand value of approximately NOK 15.6 billion (EUR 1.9 billion). Most of the salmon is exported, and France, Denmark, and Poland were the most important markets. The industry engaged 2484 employees, and 998 permits were in operation,

Crisis, regulation, and institutional change

In our paper, we have demonstrated the change from a corporative distribution regime to a control and monitoring regime (see [7], [32]). This change is explained partly by catalytic shocks, partly as the impact of strategic agency, and partly by broader institutional shifts that provide new institutional options. The outcome of the change can be explained by a desire to harmonize with the external world, and by means of self-protection and self-preservation, against risk and responsibility. The

Concluding discussion

Our study adds to the literature on regulatory capitalism in two ways. First, we illustrate that institutional change is possible despite the fact that the intentions of the actors and organizations involved are conditioned by the institutions and structures they change. Neo-institutional organization theory emphasizes how regimes that are “new” will always inherit some structure, rules and procedures from former regimes [33], [34], [35]. Thus, political reforms are more often “myth and

Acknowledgements

We appreciate constructive comments from Oluf Langhelle, from Anne Moxnes Jervell, and from the informal “fisheries regulation group” for responses on presented material. Fiskeri-og havbruksnæringas forskningsfond has financed the work.

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