'Grease' Payments in the Relations between Individual Entrepreneurs and Regulatory Agencies: The Case of Russi

This doctoral dissertation is aimed at defining attitudes of Russia's entrepreneurs toward "grease" payments used to facilitate routine governmental actions and analyze external and internal factors that motivate their decisions regarding informal transactions with regulatory agencies. This research explores why the frequency of "grease" payments remains high in the relations between regulatory agencies and individual entrepreneurs despite the recent deregulation reforms in Russia. Based on the current literature on gender-specific attitudes toward corruption, this project pays particular attention to exploring perceptions of women entrepreneurs regarding "grease" payments. The research is designed to develop practical mechanisms to counteract "grease" payments in Russia and other developing countries, with a special focus on the role of self-regulatory organizations and collective action by individual entrepreneurs in anti-corruption efforts.