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Electronic No. 77-8029.

On the web since fall 2000

Journal of Economic Sociology is indexed by Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) from Web of Science™ Core Collection

Funded by the National Research University Higher School of Economics since 2007.

2011. Vol. 12. No. 5

Full text of the journal


Vadim Radaev
Editor’s Foreword
P. 5–7

Interviews

Alexandra Benham, Lee Benham
Interview with Alexandra Benham and Lee Benham: «We Select the Best Young Researchers»
P. 8–13

New Texts

Olga Bessonova
Outcomes of Transformation of the Soviet Housing Model
P. 14–29

Despite the 20 years of economic transformation from the redistributive system (razdatok) to the market, the Russian modern housing policy has returned to the large-scale introduction of departmental and public housing and municipal mortgage (at reduced rate) for government employees. It resulted from the mechanism of market-razdatok equilibrium. In the course of historical changes in Russia it came through three institutional cycles. At structured phases of these cycles the razdatok turns out to be in the front while at the transformation stages a quasi market is formed. Both models generate significant outcomes but then face a crisis. This impasse is usually resolved by mutual replacement of these models. The new housing policy should synthesize market and redistributive (razdatok) mechanisms as indicated by the experience of welfare states’ formation in the developed countries

New Translations

Alya Guseva
Into the Red: The Birth of the Credit Card Market in Postcommunist Russia
P. 30–53

The book “Into the Red: The Birth of the Credit Card Market in Postcommunist Russia” by Alya Guseva explores the emergence of the credit card industry in Russia and discusses the demand creation process for absolutely new product. The research is based both on the written sources and on interviews and archival data collected in two series in Moscow (Russia) from 1998 to 1999 and from 2003 to 2005. The author finds out that the socialist legacies shaped the Russian credit card market development. This path-dependence of the Russian market resulted in non-trivial solutions discovered by the market actors trying to cope with uncertainty and complementarity as two critical factors. Social networks play a vital role here as well. Networks joined by consumers and organizations aid to develop markets for mass consumption.
The journal “Economic Sociology” publishes the first chapter of the book, “The Architecture of Credit Card Market”, providing with the theoretical foundations for the empirical research. This chapter addresses the problems faced by banks in nascent credit card market. Banks are expected to cope with uncertainty in credit lending, to create consumer demand and at the same time to appeal to merchants. In addition, there is a specific problem generated from cultural factors, including a mistrust of formal institution of money lending. The author briefly considers how the US banks and their Russian counterparts coped with the mentioned challenges.

Insight from the Regions

Tatyana Zhuravskaya
«Grey» Importation over the Russian-Chinese Border: What’s New?
P. 54–71

The research aims at describing mechanisms and practices of «grey» importation of consumer goods over the Russian-Chinese border. It also demonstrates significant changes which happened over the last 10 years. The city of Blagoveshchensk (Amur region) serves as a case studied. Data covers in-depth interviews, observations, information from the website «Amur.info» and relevant legislation. «Grey» importation and shuttle trade are discussed from the standpoint of the new institutional economics and networks perspectives. The comparison of early and late 2000s business practices shows that applied «grey» business schemes are flexible and universal. In addition, there are important shifts in actors’ status, role of Customs office and goods quality.

Debut Studies

Natalya Voronina, Irina Zangieva
Attitudes of Employees to Intrafirm Interaction in the Sphere of Social and Labor Relations
P. 72–90

The article is devoted to employees’ orientations within the space of «cooperation−conflict». Social attitudes of employees to interactions between main actors of labor relations are empirically studied by instruments of factor analysis.

Professional Reviews

Anastasiya Dubova
Studies in Social Roots of the Police Informal Economic Activity
P. 91–105

The article describes the academic literature on social roots of police involvement into informal economy. The major issue for investigation is: why do policemen move from law enforcement officers into market actors? Does it result from group norm socialization or their individual characteristics? Three concepts involving individual, group and system factors are introduced. Attempts to adapt approaches applied in sociology of deviant behavior (social criminology) to economic sociological tasks are undertaken. In conclusion, potential trajectories for the future research of these issues are indicated. полиция

New Books

Alisa Maksimova
Economic Sociology Guide to Durkheimian School. Book Review on Steiner Ph. 2010. Durkheim and the Birth of Economic Sociology. Translated by Tribe K. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
P. 106–114

Research Projects

Ivan Boldyrev, Olesya Kirchik
The History of Equilibrium Theory in 1960–1990 and the Economics and Math Perspective in the Soviet Economic Theory
P. 115–122

Syllabi

Rafael Mrowczynski
Social Structures and Social Inequalities
P. 123–138

Conferences

Marina Nikitina
Lab for Comparative Social Research’s Summer School «Multilevel Analysis in Comparative Studies», 21 August – 2 September, 2011
P. 139–140

Anna Zhelnina
Seminar «Cultural Industries: From Economic, Sociological and Management Perspectives», 14 –15 October 2011
P. 141–144

 
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