Small Business in Russia at the turn of 2000s
Keywords:
Venäjä, yrittäjyys, epävirallinen talous, liiketoiminnan riskit, haastattelututkimusAbstract
The article describes small business risks during Russian socio-economic transformation. It characterizes some key experiences from the initial phases of business such as and access to capital, volatility of income and problems of competition. Shuttle trade is shortly focussed as an example of “bazaar capitalism”, and the links between business, criminality and public administration illustrated. Finally, the fragility of entrepreneurship, linked also with various life style risks, is discussed. The text is based on semi-structural thematic interviews collected in Project “New Risks and Emerging Needs in Transforming Russia (1998–2000), funded by the Academy of Finland, and in Project “Life Trajectories of Saint Petersburg People in Post-Soviet Russia” (2015–17), funded by the Russian Academy of Sciences.
