MOBILIZING SOCIAL SUPPORT TO FIGHT CORRUPTION:
CIVIC ACTIVISM IN BUSINESS SPHERE OF RUSSIA

Joint projects with the Foundation for Market Economy (FME, Budapest) and the Transitional Crime and Corruption Center in the American University (TraCCC, Washington).

The duration of the study: August 1, 2004 - November 30, 2004.
Coordinator of the project: Dr. Irina Olimpieva.
Participants from CISR: Oleg Pachenkov, Elena Nikiforova, Lubov Ejova.
Supported by the American University (Washington).

This research examined the role of business associations in fighting corruption in Russia. It was considered as continuation of the project "Mobilizing social support for fighting corruption: the cases of Russia and Hungary" with particular focus on business associations in Russia as institutions of civil society. The study addressed the following questions: what is the role that business associations play as actors on anti-corruption field; how business associations help businessmen to cope with bureaucratic extortion; and why business associations do not play a serious role in anti-corruption policy development?

One of the working hypothesis (based on the findings of the first stage of the project) is that intermediary firms (we mean here corruption mediating, the main resource for which is informal access to a bureaucratic structure) are reducing the demand for anti-corruption policies among businesses by cutting the costs of corruption.

We started the project with the international seminar in Irkutsk (July 8-12, 2004) aimed to disseminate the results of previous research and to help stimulate an anti-corruption movement in this under-served region of Russia. Another purpose of the Irkutsk seminar was to develop the frame of the study based on outcomes of the previous research stage. The field study included:

• 1) a number of interviews with the representatives of different kinds of business associations and with experts (10-12 interviews);
• 2) participant observation while attending different kinds of business associations meetings;
• 3) desk-top research including analysis of the available statistical data and press.

The research findings will be presented in a form of article on the role of civic activism in business sphere for fighting corruption in Russia.