Introduction

Chapter 1 describes the aim of the book, explains the terminology, and presents a methodology of the research. Based on recent statistical data, the chapter argues that entrepreneurs became particularly vulnerable to administrative corruption in contemporary Russia. As a result, the country irrevocably loses many economic opportunities each year. The importance of this research relates to the fact that administrative corruption, overregulation, and discretionary abuses by regulatory agencies, together with recent economic crises, have transformed the lives of many entrepreneurs into a struggle for economic survival. In Russia, the decline of an entrepreneurial spirit is also compounded by threats of unlawful property seizures and the danger of unjust imprisonment by the public authorities. These negative trends keep the national economy on an unproductive trajectory of a resource-dependent country that lacks modern technology and diversified production.