Although General Secretary Gorbachev's policy of openness has received much attention and analysis, this is among the first books to evaluate the practical meaning of perestroika for U.S. corporations. Written for executives and managers responsible for international business operations, U.S. Commercial Opportunities in the Soviet Union is a timely and highly readable examination of trade and direct investment prospects in the USSR under the present regime. The authors discuss the major critical variables--such as Soviet systemic barriers and the narrow character of planned Soviet import demand--that should influence any company's decision to do business in the Soviet Union. They explain the mechanics of dealing with the USSR, and offer the information necessary for the reader to decide the potential significance of outward-looking Soviet Union for his or her own firm. Following an introductory overview, the book begins by addressing the micro- and macroeconomic aspects of exporting to Russia. Here the authors identify specific sectors in which American firms can greatly increase their sales to Russia, while warning that certain areas remain essentially closed to U.S. manufacturers. In subsequent chapters the authors explore opportunities for direct investment via joint enterprises with Soviet partners, demonstrating that this form of activity presents greater risks but also greater potential rewards to U.S. firms than trade. The final chapter explores the prospects for U.S. commercial interests in Russia. The authors examine the growth of Soviet external debt in terms of its possible effects on Russia as a competitor of and collaborator with American firms in third country economies. They conclude that should Gorbachev's vision of Russia as a global economic power become a reality, American firms may well face a new, potent source of low-cost competition overseas.

This book examines entrepreneurship and small business in Russia and key countries of Eastern Europe, showing how far small businesses have developed, and discusses how far 'market reforms' and a market mentality have been taken up by ordinary people in the real everyday economy. For each of the countries examined - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland

While attention has been focused on high-level struggles over control of giant enterprises in China and the former Soviet bloc, a remarkable but underreported revolution has been occurring at the grass-roots level. This volume examines the profiles of entrepreneurs and the patterns of business development in the post-socialist countries Bringing together the perspectives of all the social science disciplines, from anthropology through economics and political science to sociology, the contributors identify the criteria for survival and success of independent businesses in different environments. Their findings shed light not only on the "transition from socialism" at the micro-level, but also on the conditioning effects of different economic, historical, legal, and social conditions on the conduct of independent economic initiatives.