“Black Swan” and Other Rules of Everyday Legality in Small Business: Comparative Analysis of “Ordinary” and Politically Connected Entrepreneurs in Russia Cover Image

«Черный лебедь» и другие правила повседневной легальности в малом бизнесе: сравнительный анализ «рядовых» и политически аффилированных предпринимателей в России
“Black Swan” and Other Rules of Everyday Legality in Small Business: Comparative Analysis of “Ordinary” and Politically Connected Entrepreneurs in Russia

Author(s): Maria Sakaeva
Subject(s): Business Economy / Management, Politics and law, Evaluation research, Present Times (2010 - today)
Published by: Центр независимых социологических исследований (ЦНСИ)
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Everyday Legality; Mobilization of Law; Post-Soviet Studies; Politically Connected Business; State Regulation;

Summary/Abstract: On the basis of qualitative data collected in one Russian region in 2013–2016, the article considers everyday legality for small entrepreneurs and how the law appears and materializes in their social experience, substantially influenced by the norms and requirements of state regulation. The article analyzes how entrepreneurs cope with the law, legal institutions, and authorities—how and why they apply the law (or refuse to do so) in interactions with state bodies and officials. This topic is highly relevant due to the overregulation of the economy and of the state in contemporary Russia. Entrepreneurs in this study are defined as social actors who are not only the objects of influence from the law, but who form the field for implementing the law through their own entrepreneurial activity. The research shows why and how experiences and resources arising from political affiliation open up a wide range of actions with the law and its agents for entrepreneurs elected to regional and local legislatures. The study reveals that “ordinary” entrepreneurs have access to a certain set of possibilities for maneuvering within the system of state regulation and they are able to protect themselves in coping with the state and its agents. A comparative analysis of everyday legality of politically affiliated and “ordinary” entrepreneurs shows that different resources, previous experiences, and status trigger the restrictive or permissive effects of formal institutions in the process of entrepreneurial activity.

  • Issue Year: 11/2019
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 31-56
  • Page Count: 26
  • Language: Russian