Capitalists of All Russia, Unite! Business Mobilization under Debilitated Dirigisme.

Political mobilization of business forces in the post-communist world has crucialimplications for economic development and civil society. The emergence of strongcross-sectoral business associations during Putin's presidency challenges theprevailing view of Russia's political economy as an informal, particularistic state-business exchange. At the theoretical level, collective action by socio-economicgroups is linked to severe principal-agent dilemmas common to many ex-socialistbureaucracies. Given institutionally incoherent state structures, the state as principalfacilitates collective action by business actors to create a parallel, non-state platformfor policy formation and implementation. Such a dynamic of ''debilitated dirigisme''should be understood in the comparative contexts of business mobilization in LatinAmerica, Asia, and the advanced industrialized world. The argument developedhere stands in contrast to two conventional approaches to business mobilization,''threat theory,'' in which firms organize to resist various anti-capitalist forces, and''political entrepreneurship theory,'' which holds that business is the passive objectof mobilization by the state. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]