The Development of Small Entrepreneurship in Russia

Entrepreneurship, Private sector, SME, Transition

The Ambivalence of Power in the Twenty-First Century Economy

The Ambivalence of Power in the Twenty-First Century Economy contributes to the understanding of the ambivalent nature of power, oscillating between conflict and cooperation, public and private, global and local, formal and informal, and does so from an empirical perspective. It offers a collection of country-based cases, as well as critically assesses the existing conceptions of power from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The diverse analyses of power at the macro, meso or micro levels allow the volume to highlight the complexity of political economy in the twenty-first century. Each chapter addresses key elements of that political economy (from the ambivalence of the cases of former communist countries that do not conform with the grand narratives about democracy and markets, to the dual utility of new technologies such as face-recognition), thus providing mounting evidence for the centrality of an understanding of ambivalence in the analysis of power, especially in the modern state power-driven capitalism. Anchored in economic sociology and political economy, this volume aims to make ‘visible’ the dimensions of power embedded in economic practices. The chapters are predominantly based on post-communist practices, but this divergent experience is relevant to comparative studies of how power and economy are interrelated

Wie in Rußland Märkte entstehen: Vertragsdurchsetzung und Markteintritt

'Der Bericht untersucht die Entwicklung einer neuen Unternehmerschaft im Rußland der späten neunziger Jahre. Er behandelt die Beziehungen der Unternehmer zu ihren Geschäftspartnern und ihre Perzeption der Marktinfrastruktur. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird der Vertragsdurchsetzung und den Schwierigkeiten, die beim Markteintritt entstehen, gewidmet, darüber hinaus werden die von russischen Unternehmern entwickelten Geschäftsstrategien betrachtet. Die Studie basiert auf Datensätzen, die 1997-1998 in zwei Erhebungen unter Managern und Unternehmern in privaten Betrieben gesammelt wurden. Die Erhebungen wurden vom Autor und von einer Forschungsgruppe des Moskauer Zentrums für Politische Technologien (Leitung: I. Bunin) durchgeführt. Das amerikanische Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) hat die Studie finanziert.' (Textauszug)'The paper is aimed to delineate the main trends in the development of new Russian entrepreneurship in the late 1990s. It deals with the relationships of entrepreneurs with their business partners and the market infrastructure. Special attention is given to business contract enforcement and market entry problems. Relevant business strategies developed by Russian entrepreneurs are considered. The analysis is based an data collected in two surveys conducted in 1997-1998 of non-state enterprise managers and entrepreneurs. The surveys have been conducted by the author and research team of the Centre for Political-Technologies (Moscow) (head - I. Bunin). The U.S. Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) funded the research.' (extract

Izlazak iz sjene? Ruske tvrtke na putu prema legalizaciji

Širenje ruskoga domaćeg tržišta ozbiljno je ugroženo time što su brojne vodeće tvrtke još uvijek uključene u sivu ekonomiju. Poznato je da je rusko zakonodavstvo puno suprotnosti, a i previsoki su transakcijski troškovi legalizacije. Ono što je danas novo – a nije tako bilo 1990-ih – jest to što vlasnici tvrtki i vodeći menedžeri razmatraju mogućnosti postupne legalizacije ekonomskih aktivnosti. Istodobno se pojavljuje mišljenje da se legalizacija ne može uspješno postići pukim usvajanjem pozitivnih zakona i snižavanjem poreznih stopa. Ona podrazumijeva korjenite promjene u institucionalnim uvjetima. Ovaj je rad usredotočen na pitanja koji su glavni motivi vodećih tvrtki za legalizaciju, koliko iznose njihovi relativni troškovi poslovanja, kome će koristiti legalizacija u kratkoročnoj i dugoročnoj perspektivi, koje se prepreke moraju ukloniti i koje institucionalne uvjete treba ostvariti za poticanje procesa legalizacije. Posebna se pozornost pridaje odnosima tvrtki s carinskom upravom. Studija se zasniva na dvije serije opširnih razgovora s vlasnicima i najvišim menedžerima ruskih tvrtki koje se bave uvozom trajnih dobara. Prvo je istraživanje provedeno 2001. godine u 14 tvrtki, a drugo 2002. godine u 24 tvrtke. Sve ispitane tvrtke članice su novoosnovanih poslovnih udruženja RATEC i ACORT

Evaluation of Streptococcus oralis adhesion and biofilm formation on laser-processed titanium

To prevent implant-associated infections, surface modifications need to be developed that prevent bacterial colonisation and biofilm formation. In the present study, titanium surfaces were processed by nanosecond-pulsed laser ablation to generate a variety of different structures (anatase, rutile, Osteon, as well as Osteon additionally coated with silver and clove nanoparticles). Analysis of adhesion and biofilm formation of the oral pioneer bacterium Streptococcus oralis could demonstrate antibacterial properties of anatase surfaces. For clinical translation, the effect should be enhanced by further adaption and combined with the osseointegrative Osteon structur

Laser-Induced µ-Rooms for Osteocytes on Implant Surface: An In Vivo Study

Laser processing of dental implant surfaces is becoming a more widespread replacement for classical techniques due to its undeniable advantages, including control of oxide formation and structure and surface relief at the microscale. Thus, using a laser, we created several biomimetic topographies of various shapes on the surface of titanium screw-shaped implants to research their success and survival rates. A distinctive feature of the topographies is the presence of “µ-rooms”, which are special spaces created by the depressions and elevations and are analogous to the µ-sized room in which the osteocyte will potentially live. We conducted the comparable in vivo study using dental implants with continuous (G-topography with µ-canals), discrete (S-topography with μ-cavities), and irregular (I-topography) laser-induced topographies. A histological analysis performed with the statistical method (with p-value less than 0.05) was conducted, which showed that G-topography had the highest BIC parameter and contained the highest number of mature osteocytes, indicating the best secondary stability and osseointegration

La nuova Russia. Dibattito culturale e modello di società in costruzione

Una radiografia del dibattito culturale della Russia che illustra i tanti problemi con cui si deve confrontare la costruzione di una nuova società. Modernizzazione, tradizionalismo, nuovo corporativismo, privatizzazioni, nazionalismo e religione sono solo alcuni degli elementi che compongono un quadro ricco di conflittualità e foriero di grandi trasformazioni.- Indice #5- Radiografia del dibattito culturale: modernizzazione e tradizionalismo nello scontro tra gli “addetti ai lavori”, Ilja Levin #9- Partiti e società: evoluzione e prospettive della differenziazione politica ed ideologica nella Russia postsovietica, Kirill Kholodkovski #29- Dal “collettivismo” all’individualismo: l’uomo nella società deistituzionalizzata, Guerman Diliguenski #45- Gruppi direttivi regionali: trasformazione dei meccanismi organizzativi e relazionali del potere, Mikhail Afanasjev #63- L’”oligarchia” e la crisi in atto nel postcomunismo russo, Alexeij Zudin #81- Il nuovo corporativismo russo all’interno del contesto globale: il ruolo in via di cambiamento dell’élite settoriale, Sergei Peregudov #107- La formazione di nuovi mercati e lo Stato nella Russia postcomunista, Vadim Radaev #133- Stabilizzazione macroeconomica e mutamenti strutturali nell’economia nazionale russa: deindustrializzazione o sfondamento verso una società postindustriale?, Vladimir Mau e Irina Starodubrovskaja #163- Dopo la privatizzazione: alla ricerca di un modello ottimale di società, Viktor Studentsov #187- Fondamenta e principi dello Stato accentratore in Russia, Igor Pantin #217- Nazionalismo liberale o idea imperiale? La consapevolezza degli interessi e degli orientamenti nazionali in Russia, Vladimir Kolossov #233- Il primo quinquennio della repubblica di dicembre in Russia: come si costruiscono gli istituti e si strutturano gli interessi, Petr Fedossov #257- Lo stato attuale e le prospettive della Chiesa ortodossa in Russia, P. Innokentij Pavlov #272- La nuova influenza dei valori religiosi sull’intellighenzia russa (tendenze attuali), Andrei B. Zubov #295- La religiosità postsovietica: dall’eclettismo religioso alle fedi nazionali, Sergei Filatov #32