Alexeev, Michael and Weber, Shlomo (eds). The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 583 sistema is just one, a particular manifestation of a widespread phenomenon, that exists within a particular institutional space that give it a set of resources that are not available to others. At times Ledeneva acknowledges this. For example, she notes that control over formal institutions such as courts enables Putin to punish the informality of others to the advantage of his sistema. At other times, the difference between sistema and systemic is blurred and they are treated as equivalents. When this happens sistema becomes ‘everything’ and a very loose analytical concept. This is problematic on all sorts of levels. One consequence is that it is not always clear that the evidence that Ledeneva cites is using ‘system’ or ‘systematic’ in the same way that she is. A lot of the time it looks as if she is inferring the existence of sistema where others are talking about ‘system’ or ‘systematic’ and referring to something else entirely: the Soviet party-state, totalitarianism, corruption, injustice and weak rule of law and property rights, etc. Another consequence is that where formal institutions constrain informality (and vice versa) slips in and out of focus. This makes it hard to see how we can explain Russian political development using the idea of sistema, or compare Russia to other polities that have similar problems operating formal and informal institutions. Sistema is an attractive idea but it is unlikely to replace other means of describing Russian politics that allow for such comparisons and that have sharper analytical edges with which to try to say something about how Russian politics is going to develop. Department of Politics and Public Administration Neil Robinson University of Limerick Alexeev, Michael and Weber, Shlomo (eds). The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 2013. xiv + 849 pp. Figures. Tables. Notes. References. Index. £110.00. The objective of the editors is to assemble ‘up-to-date papers on a broad range of topics’ (p. 2) on Russian economic developments in the context of transformation from the Soviet system. The various contributions are intended to assess the effects of historical legacies as well as the current state of the Russian economy and its future prospects. There are thirty-three chapters, written by Russian and Western authors, including some well-known figures in the field (such as Vladimir Popov, Vladimir Mau, Valeriy Kryukov, Arild Moe, Stephen Fortesque, Steven Rosefielde, Pekka Sutela, Judith Thornton, Leonid Polischuk, Vladimir Gimpelson, Judith Shapiro and others). The papers are gathered into six sections: the past — covering the Soviet period, dismantling the command economy, transformation and privatization; institutions and governance — outlining corporate governance, the tax system, the unofficial SEER, 92, 3, JULY 2014 584 economy and corruption; resources and environment, with chapters on oil, gas, electricity, mineral resources and environmental regulation; financial and non-financial sectors — the military industrial complex, high-tech industries, agriculture, banking and finance and trade; a section on regions; and finally a concluding set of chapters on policy and social challenges, with papers on the labour market, higher education, health care, inequality and demographic developments. Collectively, the chapters cover effectively the major trends and developments of the post-Soviet Russian economy. Most of the chapters are research based, well referenced and illustrated, and contain useful citations to other works. The authors provide good detailed overviews of their topics, often with relevant comparisons to the preceding Soviet period and some make contrasts with other post-socialist countries. Most of the authors accept the assumptions of the Washington consensus (privatization, free market systems, limited state involvement, financialization and openness to the world market) as a framework against which to discuss the transformation of Russia and possible futuredevelopments.Henceformostofthecontributors,themanyinadequacies and distortions in the Russian economy are explained as consequences of the Soviet heritage and are to be alleviated by more efficient marketization, more effective privatization and appropriate institutions. Contributors highlight the post-socialist Russian experience by making comparisons with, and contrasts to, the Soviet period and Western practices. Many authors provide useful conceptual tools such as ‘state capture’ and ‘business capture’. The latter is a form of corruption where government officials obtain rent from profit earned by companies. Widespread corruption is...