Abstract
Russia after communism is a hotbed of crime. “Russian Robber Barons” addresses villainy in market construction and draws on U.S. experience for comparisons. Crime will not be eradicated in Russia, nor has it been eliminated elsewhere, but a carefully crafted legal system can reduce damage wrought by unproductive criminal activity and guide entrepreneurs into legal operations beneficial to themselves and society. Robber baron activities match Joseph Schumpeter's creative destruction, but Mafia-style crime is merely destructive. Economic success demands that Russia join Western market societies in the search for laws to throttle destructive crime and encourage entrepreneurship.
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Whitten, D.O. Russian Robber Barons: Moscow Business, American Style. European Journal of Law and Economics 13, 193–201 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014766315708
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014766315708