Russia's Economy of Favours

This book examines the little-known phenomenon of blat--the use of informal contacts and personal networks to obtain goods and services under the rationing that pervaded Soviet Russia. Alena Ledeneva analyzes the historical, socioeconomic and cultural aspects of blat, and explores its implications for post-Soviet Russia. The political and economic reforms introduced since the collapse of the Soviet Union have radically affected everyday practices, but an understanding of blat remains crucial for interpreting the social, economic and criminal problems that affect the development of a market economy in post-Soviet Russia.

• The first full-scale study of blat - the system of black markets and contacts in Soviet Russia which underlay the Soviet system
• Full of inside information from extensive interviews, at a unique point in history, by a Russian scholar
• The understanding of blat provides essential insights into the prospects for the success of market and democratic reforms in Russia