This book investigates how post-Soviet Russian enterprises transitioned from inefficient state-run entities into functional, large-scale corporate organizations during the volatile economic landscape of the 1990s. Author Yuko Adachi utilizes a framework of informal corporate governance to explain the survival and restructuring strategies employed by these firms. By analyzing the intersection of political influence, ownership structures, and market adaptation, the text provides a rigorous examination of the unique institutional environment that shaped the Russian business sector.

Experts in the field of Russian economic history identify this work as a significant contribution to understanding the institutional evolution of post-Soviet corporations. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the depth of the firm-level analysis provided by the author.