Russian Culture, Property Rights, and the Market Economy

Russian Culture, Property Rights, and the Market Economy

Author: Uriel Procaccia

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-05-28

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 0521835062

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The Russian Federation is struggling, since Perestroika and the Glasnost, in a futile attempt to become a â€~normal' member in the occidental family of market economies. The attempt largely fails because corporations do not live up to Western standards of behavior, and private contracts are often not respected. What is the cause of Russia's observed difficulties? It is commonly believed that these difficulties are an expected outcome of a rocky transition from a Marxist, centrally planned system, to a market based economy. This book challenges the accepted wisdom. In tracing the history of contract and the corporation in the West, it shows that the cultural infrastructure that gave rise to these patterns of economic behavior have never taken root on Russian soil. This deep divide between Russian and Western cultures is hundreds of years old, and has little, if anything to do with the brief, seventy-year-long experimentation with overtly Marxist ideology. The transformation of Russia into a veritable market economy requires much more than an expensive and difficult transition period: it mandates a radical change in her cultural underpinnings. The book's main thesis is supported by an in-depth comparison of Western and Russian theology, philosophy, literary and artistic achievements, musical and architectural idioms and folk culture.


Book Synopsis Russian Culture, Property Rights, and the Market Economy by : Uriel Procaccia

Download or read book Russian Culture, Property Rights, and the Market Economy written by Uriel Procaccia and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-05-28 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Russian Federation is struggling, since Perestroika and the Glasnost, in a futile attempt to become a â€~normal' member in the occidental family of market economies. The attempt largely fails because corporations do not live up to Western standards of behavior, and private contracts are often not respected. What is the cause of Russia's observed difficulties? It is commonly believed that these difficulties are an expected outcome of a rocky transition from a Marxist, centrally planned system, to a market based economy. This book challenges the accepted wisdom. In tracing the history of contract and the corporation in the West, it shows that the cultural infrastructure that gave rise to these patterns of economic behavior have never taken root on Russian soil. This deep divide between Russian and Western cultures is hundreds of years old, and has little, if anything to do with the brief, seventy-year-long experimentation with overtly Marxist ideology. The transformation of Russia into a veritable market economy requires much more than an expensive and difficult transition period: it mandates a radical change in her cultural underpinnings. The book's main thesis is supported by an in-depth comparison of Western and Russian theology, philosophy, literary and artistic achievements, musical and architectural idioms and folk culture.


Property Rights and Property Wrongs

Property Rights and Property Wrongs

Author: Timothy Frye

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-03-24

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1108239145

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Secure property rights are central to economic development and stable government, yet difficult to create. Relying on surveys in Russia from 2000 to 2012, Timothy Frye examines how political power, institutions, and norms shape property rights for firms. Through a series of simple survey experiments, Property Rights and Property Wrongs explores how political power, personal connections, elections, concerns for reputation, legal facts, and social norms influence property rights disputes from hostile corporate takeovers to debt collection to renationalization. This work argues that property rights in Russia are better seen as an evolving bargain between rulers and rightholders than as simply a reflection of economic transition, Russian culture, or a weak state. The result is a nuanced view of the political economy of Russia that contributes to central debates in economic development, comparative politics, and legal studies.


Book Synopsis Property Rights and Property Wrongs by : Timothy Frye

Download or read book Property Rights and Property Wrongs written by Timothy Frye and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-24 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secure property rights are central to economic development and stable government, yet difficult to create. Relying on surveys in Russia from 2000 to 2012, Timothy Frye examines how political power, institutions, and norms shape property rights for firms. Through a series of simple survey experiments, Property Rights and Property Wrongs explores how political power, personal connections, elections, concerns for reputation, legal facts, and social norms influence property rights disputes from hostile corporate takeovers to debt collection to renationalization. This work argues that property rights in Russia are better seen as an evolving bargain between rulers and rightholders than as simply a reflection of economic transition, Russian culture, or a weak state. The result is a nuanced view of the political economy of Russia that contributes to central debates in economic development, comparative politics, and legal studies.


Copyright, Freedom of Speech, and Cultural Policy in the Russian Federation

Copyright, Freedom of Speech, and Cultural Policy in the Russian Federation

Author: Michiel Elst

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2004-11-01

Total Pages: 738

ISBN-13: 9047406281

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The book provides a detailed analysis of the freedom of expression, and of copyright legislation in Russia, always with an eye on historic comparisons and evolutions . At the same time it gives a synthetic overview of the main changes in constitutional, civil and economic law in the last 15 years.


Book Synopsis Copyright, Freedom of Speech, and Cultural Policy in the Russian Federation by : Michiel Elst

Download or read book Copyright, Freedom of Speech, and Cultural Policy in the Russian Federation written by Michiel Elst and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2004-11-01 with total page 738 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a detailed analysis of the freedom of expression, and of copyright legislation in Russia, always with an eye on historic comparisons and evolutions . At the same time it gives a synthetic overview of the main changes in constitutional, civil and economic law in the last 15 years.


Kremlin Capitalism

Kremlin Capitalism

Author: Joseph R. Blasi

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2018-10-18

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1501722220

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The first book to describe Russia's massive economic transformation for an American audience, Kremlin Capitalism provides a wealth of data and analyses not previously available in this country. The authors articulate the political and economic goals of Russian privatization, examine the current ownership of the largest enterprises in Russia, and chart the serious problem of corporate governance in the new private businesses. Kremlin Capitalism is based on the only continuous study of Russian privatization throughout the Russian Federation from 1992 to the present. The authors tracked down the story of the transition in the cities, towns, and villages of fifty of Russia's eighty-nine provinces, updating their findings after the June 1996 election. The result is an up-to-the-minute report of the largest property transfer in history and an analysis of one of this century's most significant economic transformations. The volume also characterizes the position of workers in terms of unemployment, wages, union power, and their changing role as employee shareholders.What really happened when Russia privatized its economy? The Kremlin brokered the initial struggle among different interest groups eager to claim a portion of Russian property: workers, managers, the Mafia, the old Soviet bureaucracy, regular citizens, entrepreneurs, Russian banks, and foreigners. While competing with one another, all struggled to free themselves from seventy years of Communist economic culture. Four years after the process began, have large companies learned to offer goods and services profitably and pay dividends to shareholders? Individual stories come alive as the book explores problems Russians face in structuring a new economic system, defining the ownership and governance of thousands of corporations one by one. Russian economic practices are being forged in the heat of fierce political struggles between resurgent Communists and nationalists and old Soviet managers, on the one hand, and more liberal elements of its infant democratic system on the other. Whether a few big conglomerates and the powerful banks and holding companies from Soviet days will dominate the new Russian economy to the exclusion of most citizens remains to be seen.Many questions persist. How will billions of dollars of capital be raised to retool, restructure, and reorient the heart and soul of Russia's economy? Will open stock markets stimulate a new economic order or will that new order be imposed through strong state supports and subsidies? What role will be played by shadowy conglomerates that are trying to shape a disorganized economy into something resembling the old Soviet system? The authors note the paradox of a capitalism conceived, designed, implemented, and evaluated by the Kremlin when one aim of reform is to allow market forces to play freely. Kremlin Capitalism asks whether rapid privatization has catalyzed or complicated the transition to a more liberal political and economic system, a question that will reverberate for decades.


Book Synopsis Kremlin Capitalism by : Joseph R. Blasi

Download or read book Kremlin Capitalism written by Joseph R. Blasi and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book to describe Russia's massive economic transformation for an American audience, Kremlin Capitalism provides a wealth of data and analyses not previously available in this country. The authors articulate the political and economic goals of Russian privatization, examine the current ownership of the largest enterprises in Russia, and chart the serious problem of corporate governance in the new private businesses. Kremlin Capitalism is based on the only continuous study of Russian privatization throughout the Russian Federation from 1992 to the present. The authors tracked down the story of the transition in the cities, towns, and villages of fifty of Russia's eighty-nine provinces, updating their findings after the June 1996 election. The result is an up-to-the-minute report of the largest property transfer in history and an analysis of one of this century's most significant economic transformations. The volume also characterizes the position of workers in terms of unemployment, wages, union power, and their changing role as employee shareholders.What really happened when Russia privatized its economy? The Kremlin brokered the initial struggle among different interest groups eager to claim a portion of Russian property: workers, managers, the Mafia, the old Soviet bureaucracy, regular citizens, entrepreneurs, Russian banks, and foreigners. While competing with one another, all struggled to free themselves from seventy years of Communist economic culture. Four years after the process began, have large companies learned to offer goods and services profitably and pay dividends to shareholders? Individual stories come alive as the book explores problems Russians face in structuring a new economic system, defining the ownership and governance of thousands of corporations one by one. Russian economic practices are being forged in the heat of fierce political struggles between resurgent Communists and nationalists and old Soviet managers, on the one hand, and more liberal elements of its infant democratic system on the other. Whether a few big conglomerates and the powerful banks and holding companies from Soviet days will dominate the new Russian economy to the exclusion of most citizens remains to be seen.Many questions persist. How will billions of dollars of capital be raised to retool, restructure, and reorient the heart and soul of Russia's economy? Will open stock markets stimulate a new economic order or will that new order be imposed through strong state supports and subsidies? What role will be played by shadowy conglomerates that are trying to shape a disorganized economy into something resembling the old Soviet system? The authors note the paradox of a capitalism conceived, designed, implemented, and evaluated by the Kremlin when one aim of reform is to allow market forces to play freely. Kremlin Capitalism asks whether rapid privatization has catalyzed or complicated the transition to a more liberal political and economic system, a question that will reverberate for decades.


The Political Economy of Russia

The Political Economy of Russia

Author: Neil Robinson

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1442210753

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This timely book explores Russia's political development since the collapse of the USSR and how inextricably it has been bound up with economic change. Assessing the legacies of the Soviet period, leading scholars trace the evolution of Russia's political economy and how it may develop as bitter battles continue to be waged over property and state revenues, the development of private agriculture, and welfare. This book puts these domestic issues in international and comparative perspective by considering Russia's position in the global economy and its growing role as a major energy producer. Focusing especially on the nature and future of Russian capitalism, the contributors weigh the political problems that confront Russia in its ongoing struggle to modernize and develop its economy.


Book Synopsis The Political Economy of Russia by : Neil Robinson

Download or read book The Political Economy of Russia written by Neil Robinson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2012 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book explores Russia's political development since the collapse of the USSR and how inextricably it has been bound up with economic change. Assessing the legacies of the Soviet period, leading scholars trace the evolution of Russia's political economy and how it may develop as bitter battles continue to be waged over property and state revenues, the development of private agriculture, and welfare. This book puts these domestic issues in international and comparative perspective by considering Russia's position in the global economy and its growing role as a major energy producer. Focusing especially on the nature and future of Russian capitalism, the contributors weigh the political problems that confront Russia in its ongoing struggle to modernize and develop its economy.


Markets Versus Hierarchies

Markets Versus Hierarchies

Author: Ekaterina Brancato

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1848447256

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Historians have often debate why political factors have dominated economic developments in Russian history, but never as systematically as in this ambitious interdisciplinary study. . . An excellent, highly original work. It will interest a broad scholarly audience including economists, historians, free market advocates, business historians, management specialists, and public policy experts. This well-written volume is an essential holding for research libraries. Highly recommended. J.P. McKay, Choice This unique book uses a transaction cost perspective to illustrate how hierarchies influenced the structure of markets and behaviour of individual businesses and cartels in pre-revolutionary, Soviet and present-day Russia. Ekaterina Brancato exposes the devastating effects of self-interested decision-making of government officials on economic growth, and highlights the inefficiencies of the legal system in Russia. She demonstrates that throughout Russian history considerable state involvement in the economy has meant that some markets were highly regulated; for most of the 20th century, open markets were suppressed by the political regime, and entrepreneurial success has been dependent on networking. The general population, the author argues, has exhibited an inadequate propensity to self-govern. In addition, the laws of contract and private property, crucial for development of markets, have been ineffective. The book concludes that, consequently, the cost of market transactions has been high and the cost of social networking through hierarchies relatively low. This book will strongly appeal to academics and students specializing in industrial organization, public choice, transition, entrepreneurship, social networks and cultural studies as well as Russian economic history and political economy. Business and management students focusing on transition economies will also find this book to be of particular interest.


Book Synopsis Markets Versus Hierarchies by : Ekaterina Brancato

Download or read book Markets Versus Hierarchies written by Ekaterina Brancato and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historians have often debate why political factors have dominated economic developments in Russian history, but never as systematically as in this ambitious interdisciplinary study. . . An excellent, highly original work. It will interest a broad scholarly audience including economists, historians, free market advocates, business historians, management specialists, and public policy experts. This well-written volume is an essential holding for research libraries. Highly recommended. J.P. McKay, Choice This unique book uses a transaction cost perspective to illustrate how hierarchies influenced the structure of markets and behaviour of individual businesses and cartels in pre-revolutionary, Soviet and present-day Russia. Ekaterina Brancato exposes the devastating effects of self-interested decision-making of government officials on economic growth, and highlights the inefficiencies of the legal system in Russia. She demonstrates that throughout Russian history considerable state involvement in the economy has meant that some markets were highly regulated; for most of the 20th century, open markets were suppressed by the political regime, and entrepreneurial success has been dependent on networking. The general population, the author argues, has exhibited an inadequate propensity to self-govern. In addition, the laws of contract and private property, crucial for development of markets, have been ineffective. The book concludes that, consequently, the cost of market transactions has been high and the cost of social networking through hierarchies relatively low. This book will strongly appeal to academics and students specializing in industrial organization, public choice, transition, entrepreneurship, social networks and cultural studies as well as Russian economic history and political economy. Business and management students focusing on transition economies will also find this book to be of particular interest.


The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy

The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy

Author: Michael Alexeev

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-06-04

Total Pages: 864

ISBN-13: 0199344132

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By 1999, Russia's economy was growing at almost 7% per year, and by 2008 reached 11th place in the world GDP rankings. Russia is now the world's second largest producer and exporter of oil, the largest producer and exporter of natural gas, and as a result has the third largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, behind only China and Japan. But while this impressive economic growth has raised the average standard of living and put a number of wealthy Russians on the Forbes billionaires list, it has failed to solve the country's deep economic and social problems inherited from the Soviet times. Russia continues to suffer from a distorted economic structure, with its low labor productivity, heavy reliance on natural resource extraction, low life expectancy, high income inequality, and weak institutions. While a voluminous amount of literature has studied various individual aspects of the Russian economy, in the West there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the socialist legacies, the current state, and future prospects of the Russian economy gathered in one book. The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy fills this gap by offering a broad range of topics written by the best Western and Russian scholars of the Russian economy. While the book's focus is the current state of the Russian economy, the first part of the book also addresses the legacy of the Soviet command economy and offers an analysis of institutional aspects of Russia's economic development over the last decade. The second part covers the most important sectors of the economy. The third part examines the economic challenges created by the gigantic magnitude of regional, geographic, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity of Russia. The fourth part covers various social issues, including health, education, and demographic challenges. It will also examine broad policy challenges, including the tax system, rule of law, as well as corruption and the underground economy. Michael Alexeev and Shlomo Weber provide for the first time in one volume a complete, well-rounded, and essential look at the complex, emerging Russian economy.


Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy by : Michael Alexeev

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy written by Michael Alexeev and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 864 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By 1999, Russia's economy was growing at almost 7% per year, and by 2008 reached 11th place in the world GDP rankings. Russia is now the world's second largest producer and exporter of oil, the largest producer and exporter of natural gas, and as a result has the third largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, behind only China and Japan. But while this impressive economic growth has raised the average standard of living and put a number of wealthy Russians on the Forbes billionaires list, it has failed to solve the country's deep economic and social problems inherited from the Soviet times. Russia continues to suffer from a distorted economic structure, with its low labor productivity, heavy reliance on natural resource extraction, low life expectancy, high income inequality, and weak institutions. While a voluminous amount of literature has studied various individual aspects of the Russian economy, in the West there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the socialist legacies, the current state, and future prospects of the Russian economy gathered in one book. The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy fills this gap by offering a broad range of topics written by the best Western and Russian scholars of the Russian economy. While the book's focus is the current state of the Russian economy, the first part of the book also addresses the legacy of the Soviet command economy and offers an analysis of institutional aspects of Russia's economic development over the last decade. The second part covers the most important sectors of the economy. The third part examines the economic challenges created by the gigantic magnitude of regional, geographic, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity of Russia. The fourth part covers various social issues, including health, education, and demographic challenges. It will also examine broad policy challenges, including the tax system, rule of law, as well as corruption and the underground economy. Michael Alexeev and Shlomo Weber provide for the first time in one volume a complete, well-rounded, and essential look at the complex, emerging Russian economy.


Networks in the Russian Market Economy

Networks in the Russian Market Economy

Author: M. Lonkila

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2010-11-17

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 0230294936

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A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. This book examines the significance of networks among the firms operative in the contemporary Russian software industry in the St. Petersburg region.


Book Synopsis Networks in the Russian Market Economy by : M. Lonkila

Download or read book Networks in the Russian Market Economy written by M. Lonkila and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-11-17 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. This book examines the significance of networks among the firms operative in the contemporary Russian software industry in the St. Petersburg region.


Economic Policy Making and Business Culture

Economic Policy Making and Business Culture

Author: David A. Dyker

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1848167822

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This book addresses one of the fundamental problems in Russian society, and in Russia's relations with the rest of the world. Why do Russians tend to react differently from ?us? in given diplomatic or business situations? Why do they find the notion of a contract difficult to grasp? Why do they seem hostile to the principle of the level playing field? How do they see Russia's position within the globalised economy? In order to probe these issues, the author begins with a historical analysis, looking at the pattern of political and economic development since Tsarist times, always asking the questions: What is unique to Russia in all this, and which unique features tend to recur in different periods? In seeking to illuminate the interface between Russia and the world, the author also examines Russia's attitude to itself, and to its own resources ? natural and human ? to land as an agricultural resource, and later oil and gas; and to people ? as cheap labour and as highly trained scientific personnel. This book is firmly based on scholarly sources, in English, French and Russian, but aims to go beyond the academic audience to address the concerns of people encountering Russians and Russian organizations in their everyday lives.


Book Synopsis Economic Policy Making and Business Culture by : David A. Dyker

Download or read book Economic Policy Making and Business Culture written by David A. Dyker and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2012 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses one of the fundamental problems in Russian society, and in Russia's relations with the rest of the world. Why do Russians tend to react differently from ?us? in given diplomatic or business situations? Why do they find the notion of a contract difficult to grasp? Why do they seem hostile to the principle of the level playing field? How do they see Russia's position within the globalised economy? In order to probe these issues, the author begins with a historical analysis, looking at the pattern of political and economic development since Tsarist times, always asking the questions: What is unique to Russia in all this, and which unique features tend to recur in different periods? In seeking to illuminate the interface between Russia and the world, the author also examines Russia's attitude to itself, and to its own resources ? natural and human ? to land as an agricultural resource, and later oil and gas; and to people ? as cheap labour and as highly trained scientific personnel. This book is firmly based on scholarly sources, in English, French and Russian, but aims to go beyond the academic audience to address the concerns of people encountering Russians and Russian organizations in their everyday lives.


Culture Matters in Russia—and Everywhere

Culture Matters in Russia—and Everywhere

Author: Lawrence Harrison

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2015-04-23

Total Pages: 583

ISBN-13: 1498503519

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This book pulls together experts in the fields of economics and Russian culture, all participants in the Samuel P. Huntington Memorial Symposium on Culture, Cultural Change and Economic Development, a follow-up to the 1999 Cultural Values and Human Progress Symposium at Harvard University. As the sequel to the 2001 volume Culture Matters, it discusses modernization, democratization, economic, and political reforms in Russia and asserts that these reforms can happen through the reframing of cultural values, attitudes, and institutions. (Cover design by Katie Makrie.)


Book Synopsis Culture Matters in Russia—and Everywhere by : Lawrence Harrison

Download or read book Culture Matters in Russia—and Everywhere written by Lawrence Harrison and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-04-23 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book pulls together experts in the fields of economics and Russian culture, all participants in the Samuel P. Huntington Memorial Symposium on Culture, Cultural Change and Economic Development, a follow-up to the 1999 Cultural Values and Human Progress Symposium at Harvard University. As the sequel to the 2001 volume Culture Matters, it discusses modernization, democratization, economic, and political reforms in Russia and asserts that these reforms can happen through the reframing of cultural values, attitudes, and institutions. (Cover design by Katie Makrie.)