Shareholder Perceptions of Individual and Common Benefits in Swedish Forest Commons

"In the period 18611918, thirty-three commons were established in Northern Sweden. This was linked to the finalisation of the Great Redistribution of Forest Holdings in Dalarna and the delimitation process in V??sterbotten and Norrbotten. They were intended to serve as an instrument for improve...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lidestav, Gun, Poudyal, Mahesh, Holmgren, Eva, Keskitalo, E. Carina H.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10535/8740
Description
Summary:"In the period 18611918, thirty-three commons were established in Northern Sweden. This was linked to the finalisation of the Great Redistribution of Forest Holdings in Dalarna and the delimitation process in V??sterbotten and Norrbotten. They were intended to serve as an instrument for improved and sustained forest production, the viability of farmers and the liveability of the rural communities in the areas where they were established. The aim of this paper is to describe the results of a study examining how three of these forest commons, one from each region, have benefitted the local shareholders and their community. The perceptions among forest common shareholders were assessed using a questionnaire. The study also assessed economic impact on shareholders in terms of extent and use of the dividend from each of the commons for the period 1958-2007, highlighting the extent of the economic support to individual shareholders and to the local community. Results reveal large differences between the three cases; there was a positive correlation between the extent of the economic support and contentment among the shareholders."