ABSTRACT

Substantial numbers of people in post-Soviet societies exited formal employment and became self-employed in informal work arrangements ( Clarke 2002b ; Busse Spencer 2001; Burawoy et al. 2000; Crowley 2000; Tchernina 2000; Vorobyov and Zhukov 2000). Informal economic activity includes income-earning activities that are unregistered and off-the-books, that do not involve legal protections, contracts, or government regulation, and that are not reflected in official employment statistics. Examples include activities like petty reselling, repair work, small-scale manufacturing, gardening and selling produce, day labor, teaching and tutoring, and shuttle trading with goods imported into Russia from the near abroad.