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The purpose of this paper is to suggest that informal practices and institutions of post-Soviet countries differ from informality in other post-socialist regions and, therefore, proposes categorizing it as “post-Soviet informality” – a composite definition that extends beyond the concept of “informal economy” and encompasses, along with economic activities, social and political spheres.

The arguments of the paper are based on a comprehensive analysis of secondary sources.

This paper shows that, owing to the effects of antecedent regime’s legacies and the problems of post-communist transition, for the proper analysis of informality in post-Soviet countries it needs to be based on an own concept.

This study, in contrast to the existing literature on informality in post-communist spaces, specifically focuses on the informal sphere of post-Soviet countries, suggesting that the informal institutions and practices thriving across the vast post-Soviet space not only differ from the informal spheres elsewhere in the world, but also from informality in other post-communist regions.

Over the past decades, Islamic finance has expanded its presence to many countries including Muslim-majority post-Soviet Central Asian and Transcaucasian region. Undoubtedly, this expansion has aroused keen interest among the representatives of a range of areas such as science, politics and business. The purpose of this paper is to describe the scope, the key players and the main investment strategies of the Islamic finance market based on the evidence obtained from Kyrgyzstan.

The main empirical corpus was formed from Bureau van Dijk’s databases (Zephyr and Orbis) and includes approximately 80 deals involving Shariah-compliant investments in Kyrgyzstan from 1991 to 2020. The initial corpus was then significantly expanded by means of content analysis of open media sources. Being still insufficient for deeper generalization, these data were further complemented by the analysis of an array of corporate information (press releases, presentations and financial reports) related to the identified deals. To ensure the credibility of the conclusions to be made on the nature of Islamic finance in Kyrgyzstan, the desk analysis was also complemented with field research using qualitative method of in-depth expert interviews.

This paper has shown that despite the yet modest market volumes represented by Islamic bank, Islamic windows, Islamic leasing company and microfinance companies, Islamic finance in Kyrgyz Republic has further growth prospects, which are associated with the arrival of large foreign Islamic banks that bring innovative financial products, the issuance of Islamic securities (sukuk) and launch of Islamic insurance (takaful). Being more open and consistent in the development of Islamic finance industry, the authorities of Kyrgyzstan understand the need for the initial development of the market by their own forces.

This paper is original and up-to-date, as it contains new and significant information. Suggesting a new approach to studying Islamic finance in post-Soviet area, this paper identifies the most active Islamic investors in Kyrgyzstan, classifies them, reveals their investment strategies and assesses the financial performance of Islamic investors as well as the total volume of Shariah-compliant capital in Kyrgyzstan. The findings of this paper can contribute to shaping policies toward Islamic finance in the post-Soviet region and, therefore, may be beneficial to the development of Islamic finance industry.

This paper aims to investigate the role of corruption and income inequality in three-dimensional sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries.

The methodology is based on dynamic panel regression with the fixed effects approach.

The authors' findings depict that increasing corruption and income inequality undermine sustainable development. Specifically, increasing corruption and income inequality negatively affect sustainable development. Moreover, unemployment and trade liberalization negatively impact sustainable development, whereas foreign direct investments (FDIs) positively affect sustainable development.

Policy implications enclose galvanizing strong institutions and redistributive policy mechanisms that the bottom income groups enjoy in promoting sustainable development to keep away the distressful phase of corruption and income inequality.

This is the first paper on corruption, income inequality and sustainable development in the post-Soviet countries employing a sustainable development index (SDI), which is calculated by considering three factors including economic, social and environmental development.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0065

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of e-government in post-Soviet countries using Kazakhstan as a case study. Extant research on e-government in developing countries highlights significant benefits including improved public services, reduced corruption, and more open and inclusive government. The paper asserts the presence of an e-government paradox which limits its potential to improve public services.

Primary data were collected from a number of sources: 6 focus groups with central government agencies, local authorities and civil society organisations; 25 structured and semi-structured interviews; and participant observation.

The research finds evidence of an e-government paradox in five forms: an emphasis on technological development; transactional services are faster but have displaced attention from core public services; petty corruption has been reduced but grand corruption remains; isomorphic mimicry; and greater participation by citizens has been limited.

The focus of the research is Kazakhstan. Applying the lessons learned to other post-Soviet countries has limitations given their different stages of development since independence.

The key practical implication of this research is that countries can become absorbed by e-government technology without questioning the fundamental business model which underpins how public services are delivered. Ultimately, this impacts on the social value of e-government.

While existing research has examined how e-government has been implemented in developing countries, this paper focusses on Kazakhstan as an authoritarian state with wider implications for post-Soviet countries.

Economic liberalization in the countries of the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s provoked a spontaneous explosion of entrepreneurial activities and small trade that lead to an expansion of local marketplaces – the bazaars. This study locates the bazaar within the transition to a market economy. The discussion is guided by questions addressed in social theory and ethnographic studies of the marketplace. How “bizarre” is the post-Soviet bazaar? Does it resist the transition to a market economy or is it a conduit of emerging markets? Ethnographic data for this study stems from the bazaar in Zarya Vostoka situated at the outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. This bazaar is a remarkable example of post-Soviet transformation from a small site of market exchange (the barakholka) to a profitable commercial enterprise. Contrary to the scholarly arguments that insist on a conceptual difference between the marketplace and true markets, this study argues that this bazaar is a dynamic enterprise and an integral part of emerging markets in post-Soviet Kazakhstan.

This paper aims to evaluate the use of personal connections to circumvent formal procedures, known as blat in the Soviet era, in post-Soviet societies by studying its role in graduate employment recruitment.

To do this, the extent to which and how blat is used by graduates to find a job in the city of Mykolayiv in Ukraine is analysed through 85 face-to-face structured interviews with those who in the past seven years have sought employment after graduating from university.

The finding is that blat is widely used by graduates to find a job. However, contrary to the existing literature which suggests that blat has become commodified in post-Soviet market societies with monetary payment being requested by and given to personal connections “pulling strings”, no evidence is found that this is the case. Instead, this remains a non-monetised form of friendly help by and for close social relations, akin to the Soviet era, and is viewed in a positive or neutral manner by participants even though its consequences can be to circumvent meritocratic formal recruitment procedures and foster nepotism and cronyism.

This study of blat is limited to analysing graduate recruitment in one city in Ukraine. Broader empirical research on the contemporary role of blat in this and other spheres in post-Soviet societies and beyond is now required so as to develop a more nuanced context-bound understanding of both the positive and negative facets of this social practice in contemporary societies.

This study reveals that blat is commonly used to find graduate jobs and is widely viewed as a socially acceptable practice, despite hindering meritocratic recruitment procedures.

The purpose of this paper is to explore urban mobilisation patterns in two post-Soviet cities: Vilnius and Moscow. Both cities were subject to similar housing and urban policy during Soviet times, and they have implemented urban development using neoliberal market principles, provoking grassroots opposition from citizens to privatisation and marketisation of their housing environment and local public space. However, the differing conditions of democratic Lithuanian and authoritarian Russian public governance offer different opportunities and set different constraints for neighbourhood mobilisation. The purpose is to contrast local community mobilisations under the two regimes and highlight the differences between and similarities in the activists’ repertoires of actions in two distinct political and economic urban settings.

The paper employs qualitative methodology using data from semi-structured interviews conducted with community activists and state officials, presented using a comparative case study design.

Although, citizens’ mobilisations in the two cities are reactions to the neoliberalisation of housing and local public space, they take different forms. In Vilnius they are institutionalised and receive formal support from national and local authorities. Moreover, support from the EU encourages organisational development and provides material and cognitive resources for grassroots urban mobilisations. In contrast, residents’ mobilisations in Moscow are informal and face fierce opposition from local authorities. However, even in an authoritarian setting, grassroots mobilisations evolve using creative strategies to circumvent institutional constraints.

Little attention has been paid to grassroots urban mobilisations in post-Soviet cities. There is also a lack of comparative attempts to show variation in post-Soviet urban activism related to housing and local public space.

Over the past decades, Islamic finance has expanded its presence to many countries including post-Soviet region. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate this phenomenon in Kazakhstan by adopting qualitative sociological approach. The study also aims to provide vital information and propose recommendations for market participants to contribute to the development of Islamic finance industry in Kazakhstan.

Primary data were gathered using the qualitative method of in-depth expert interviews with nine Islamic finance professionals representing Islamic banks, ijarah companies, funds and development institutions in Kazakhstan who occupy senior positions (directors, managers, heads of departments, etc.). Furthermore, the primary data of interviews were analyzed and processed using another qualitative method of cognitive mapping, the essence of which is to graphically display the concepts that are most often used by informants.

The study has shown that first there is a demand for Islamic finance among Kazakh business and population. At the same time, Muslims are not the only consumers of Islamic financial services; therefore, it is affordability rather than religiosity that is an important criterion for choosing Islamic finance. Second, murabaha and ijarah are the two most popular Islamic financial products in Kazakhstan, while equity-based instruments are hardly ever used. Third, Kazakhstan government policy toward Islamic finance received controversial assessments of experts: the state support is declared, but specific actions required by the market participants are not taken. Fourth, key factors that significantly limit the development of the Islamic finance market in Kazakhstan include a shortage of supply, which, in turn, is strongly associated with the second factor – limited funding of local Islamic finance institutions, the absence of insurance (or guaranteeing) system of investment accounts of the local Islamic banks, insufficient economy of scale, lack of convenient service and weak marketing policy of the existing Islamic banks and, finally, lack of educational programs.

The study reveals the potential development of Islamic finance in Kazakhstan which is a rarely studied topic. The findings and recommendations of this study can be used by the regulators, market players and policymakers of Islamic finance industry in Kazakhstan, post-Soviet and other Islamic finance-oriented countries.

This study offers new insights on the future of Islamic finance in Kazakhstan: in long term, the development will be determined by new financial technologies – Islamic FinTech, but in short term – by Islamic windows (currently not allowed by Central Bank) that will help to significantly expand the audience, increase awareness and demand for Islamic finance among local businesses and public. The current study is original, important and up-to-date, as it uses an approach that sources primary data in the form of experts’ point of view instead of relying on literature or document analysis. It is not a mere theoretical study of the literature but an empirical investigation of the problem. Moreover, it seeks to contribute to the Islamic finance literature in the post-Soviet region, particularly from the experts’ perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to explore relatively neglected side of corruption – citizen-initiated bribe offers – to identify the degree to which citizens on the grassroots level are ready to support top-down government anti-corruption policies.

Drawing on Avessalom Podvodny’s framework of modalities, this research analyzes the results of the nationally representative survey of 1,002 respondents, and ten in-depth interviews – both held in Azerbaijan. The author uses both logistic regression and qualitative description to highlight research inferences.

Modalities provide a new way of making sense of the factors affecting corruption, and informality. Bribe offers are associated with imbalance within Local-Global, Symbol-Content, Active-Passive pairs of modalities. All of the relevant independent variables (except for one), drawn from relevant theories and organized around modalities, are statistically significant in predicting bribe offers.

The paper is able to pose and answer fundamental policy questions: why villagers in Azerbaijan prefer to invest in building mosques and cemeteries rather than schools and kindergartens? Why insurance is not perceived as a sphere of business by the Azerbaijani population? On a practical level, the paper shows that governments’ selective focus on bureaucratic graft neglects formidable argument that the problem of corruption is tightly woven into political culture of a post-Soviet society. Simple administrative measures cannot overcome fundamental value orientations within a society.

The paper adds to corruption researchers’ toolkit, by expanding research to factors affecting citizen voluntary choices to bribe. The research shows what specific variables should be considered and which of them are statistically significant in explaining citizen choices.