Doctoral Dissertation Research: Out of Chaos? Business Elites and the Rule of Law in Russia

博士论文研究：走出混乱？

• 批准号: 0921635
• 负责人: Steven Fish
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0921635&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Out; Chaos

This dissertation research analyzes the role of Russian business elites in developing the legal framework for a market economy. In recent years a near consensus has emerged among social scientists, legal scholars, and policymakers that secure property rights are essential for economic growth. Debate continues as to how institutions that protect property rights emerge, but many scholars argue that the existence of powerful societal actors with a stake in an effective legal framework is a key determinant of institutional development. Yet if secure property rights are vital for economic prosperity, why is the demand for the rule of law so weak in many societies? The project builds on the argument that business elites' support for legal development depends on their strategies for protecting and acquiring assets. Specifically, it examines the link between these strategies and two related elements of societal demand for institutional development: (1) The extent to which business groups lobby for market-supporting laws, such as legislation for investor protection and effective arbitration procedural codes; and (2) The degree to which private sector actors rely on the legal system. To address these issues, the project includes an original survey of Russian firm owners and managers. This survey complements the other components of the project, including qualitative fieldwork and formal modeling. The qualitative component consists of case studies of Russian legal reforms, semi-structured interviews with Russian business and political elites, and content analysis of business association and government documents. This qualitative research informs the assumptions and structure of the formal model, which analyzes the micro-level logic underlying firms' decisions to support or oppose reforms. The project's findings will contribute to social scientists' and legal scholars' understanding of the politics of building legal institutions, offering insights into which actors are most likely to support legal reforms and which reforms are most likely to succeed. They will thereby contribute to policy debates about secure property rights, an issue that is of central interest to U.S. experts promoting growth in developing countries and to Russian policymakers seeking to diversify their economy.

本文研究分析了俄罗斯商业精英在发展市场经济法律框架中的作用。近年来，社会科学家、法律学者和政策制定者几乎达成了一种共识，即确保产权对经济增长至关重要。关于保护产权的制度是如何产生的争论仍在继续，但许多学者认为，在有效的法律框架中有利益关系的强大社会行动者的存在是制度发展的关键决定因素。然而，如果有保障的产权对经济繁荣至关重要，为什么许多社会对法治的需求如此之弱？该项目基于这样一种观点：商业精英对法律发展的支持取决于他们保护和获取资产的策略。具体而言，它审查了这些战略与机构发展的社会需求的两个相关要素之间的联系：(1)商业团体游说支持市场的法律的程度，例如保护投资者的立法和有效的仲裁程序守则；(2)私营部门行为者对法律制度的依赖程度。为了解决这些问题，该项目包括对俄罗斯公司所有者和管理人员的原始调查。该调查补充了项目的其他组成部分，包括定性实地考察和正式建模。定性部分包括对俄罗斯法律改革的案例研究，对俄罗斯商业和政治精英的半结构化访谈，以及对商业协会和政府文件的内容分析。这一定性研究为正式模型的假设和结构提供了信息，正式模型分析了企业支持或反对改革决策背后的微观逻辑。该项目的研究结果将有助于社会科学家和法律学者对建立法律制度的政治的理解，为哪些行为者最有可能支持法律改革以及哪些改革最有可能成功提供见解。因此，他们将有助于有关安全产权的政策辩论，这是促进发展中国家增长的美国专家和寻求经济多样化的俄罗斯决策者感兴趣的核心问题。