...divisions that characterize that research site. 8. See, for example, Ledeneva (1998) on blat networks. "Blat is the use of personal networks and informal...supply and to find a way around formal procedures" (1998, 1). However, she does not consider blat networks to be exactly the same as social networks (1998,...

...could trust; norms of reciprocity existed, even if they were often used not for civic engagement, but 'to obtain goods and services in short supply and to find a way around formal procedures' (Ledeneva, 1998: 1). And it is the economic reform itself that undermined these links and networks...

...(Ledeneva, 1998). 59 In her enlightening book "Russia's Economy of Favors" Alena Ledeneva defines "blat" as "the use of personal networks and informal contacts...supply and to find a way around formal procedures" (Ledeneva, 1998). All authors agree that blat is a typically Soviet (communist) phenomenon. Blat shares...

...quo basis, at times with an implied promise of future reciprocity. In the words of Alena Ledeneva, "Blat is the use of personal networks and informal...services in short supply and to find a way around formal procedures."16 The latter point is significant: for many people the breaking of official rules was...

...(pronounced PEE-leh), a Romanian term adopted by Transylvanian Hungarians as well, and meaning roughly the "use of personal networks and informal contacts...services in short supply and to find a way around formal procedures."13 Pile remains important today. Trebuie sa ai pile — "You've got to have connections"...

...443-452. Moreover, the Russian blat, referred to as "the use of personal networks and informal contact to obtain goods and services in short supply and to find a way around formal procedures", is a legitimate mode to solve business in which all parties are equally served. See Sissener. "Anthropological...