Formal and Informal Employment : A Paradoxical Similarity Against the Background of Obvious Differences

Survey of formal and informal labour relations in contemporary Russian businesses

“…In Russia, the informal relationships and shadow processes both in the economic and non-economic spheres of society, their causes, characteristics of development and their essential features are represented in the scientific works of famous Russian sociologists, economists, political scientists, lawyers and psychologists. The conceptual basis of research procedure in labour relations was laid down in the works of the Russian researchers Yadov and Zdravomyslov (2003), Romanov (2000Romanov ( , 2005, Gimpelson (2002Gimpelson ( , 2014, Zaslavskaya and Shabanova (2002), Sinyavskaya (2008), Alasheev (1995), Kubishin (2007), Barsukova (2003), Bordacheva (2004), Radaev (2003 and, Davydenko and Tarasova (2008), etc. The rise in research into such informality was nourished by an interest in the structure of the real management of the economy of socialist countries. A point of view which has gained particular recognition is that the centrally planned economy is largely viable due to the unplanned regulators and the ability of businesses to soften up the rigidity of central directives by arranging informal agreements among themselves and with the government authorities.…”

“…In the 2000s, the focus of interest of sociologists was on the conflicting processes of legalisation of Russian business, the interdependence of the expansion of shadow IJOA 24,2 economy and political development of the administrative markets (Radaev, 2003;Barsukova, 2003Barsukova, , 2004. Zaslavskaya and Shabanova (2002) examined in their studies the non-legal practices in the employment sphere; the extent of informal employment in post-Soviet Russia was researched by Kubishin (2007) and Sinyavskaya (2008).…”

“…The mere fact that of informal markets in the economies of post-socialist countries proliferated and prohibitive measures for informal trade were not satisfactory (Romanov, 2000) acknowledges the effect of this phenomenon and its positive perception by the population. In the area of informal labour relations, the situation also, seemingly, suits everyone: employers avoid extra expenses related to taxes and social benefits for their employees; workers who are employed informally are paid higher "black" salaries and get moral justification for not always working at maximum performance, not taking care of respecting labour discipline (Barsukova, 2003). International research teams have also been formed to investigate problems of formal and informal rules of labour relations; one example is the study undertaken by the Russian scientists from the Institute of Sociology and Canadian researchers from Carleton University to investigate the formation of labour relations in post-Soviet Russia (DeBardeleben et al, 2004).…”

Social Capital, Rules and Their Influence on Agreement Implementation

“…Accordingly, they try to take into account each other"s interests, observing the initial agreements. Moreover, as S. Barsukova notes, "the probability of observing the fulfillment of initial contract terms practically does not depend on the degree of formalization of the labor transaction: when verbally agreements are made, the terms of the contract are observed no less than with formal labor contracts" [4]. Willingness or unwillingness to comply with all conditions of a labor contract (formalized and verbally agreed upon) depends on the balance of trust-distrust formed in the relationship between the employee and the employer.…”