Ten years after transition, an institutional deadlock exists in the Russian forest sector. It is thought that change to the institutional framework must take place in order to facilitate movement toward a market economy. This paper will review theories of institutional change, focusing on those that are central to the current situation in the forest sector. A list of features deduced from the theories, including property rights, social capital, monitoring and enforcement, and path dependency can be used as a benchmark to assess the current status of the forest sector.