Left in the ‘Shadows’: The Informal Moral Economy of the Russian Far East

Research into private businesses in post-Soviet Russia began with the collapse of the Soviet Union. This paper focuses on a specific segment of private entrepreneurs—semi-informal SME—and revises the concept of a ‘new entrepreneurship’ in Russia. The persons under study who entered into business were not always motivated by economic gain. Morality and loyalty play an important role in the modus operandi of such enterprises. In their activities, entrepreneurs are led by local social norms that often do not support the earning of direct profit. This attitude contradicts the dominant approach in academic writing, where private entrepreneurs in post-Socialist countries see entrepreneurship as a new perspective and an act of self-fulfilment. The strategy of the entrepreneurs under study is also oriented against constant expansion and innovation. Such practices are caused by the current economic climate in Russia, where the state shows little interest in the activities of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. This article suggests that there is a need for new conceptual tools to analyse these facets of the private economy.