earticle

영어

The Joseon Dynasty experienced the devastation of forests in the 18th and 19th centuries. This study insists that it resulted from the pre-modern socio-economic system of the dynasty. The social system of Joseon lacked the capacity to handle the structural problem. In the retarded social system, all the forests in the country became virtually common resources. People fought each other to get more private profits from the common resources. The people of the lower classes suffered from double and triple distress in the situation. We can consider the following three alternatives to resolve the problem: strict administrative regulation; agreement between interested parties; and authorization of ownership. Economics teaches that the last one is most effective. However, this study points out all the alternatives useless in those days because the social system itself of the country was totally corrupted, outmoded and incompetent.