Small business in Russia: everyday issues and development constraints

The article is based on the data of “Russian longitudinal monitoring survey of economic situation and public health NRU HSE” (RLMS-HSE) and considers current issues and specifics of social well-being of entrepreneurs engaged in small business - managers of micro-enterprises and individual entrepreneurs as one of the least protected professional groups who face great difficulties in organizing their business. The analysis confirms that numerous lingering problems impeding their work cause a reduction in the level of entrepreneurial activity, significantly worsen the social well-being of entrepreneurs and force many of them to change professional and life plans. The study reveals that social well-being of entrepreneurs engaged in small business is complex and uncertain; it is a consequence of an inconsistency between conditions of life and work, and the heterogeneity of this category of employees. They feel happy more often than wage workers. However, possessing a relatively high level of job satisfaction and life satisfaction in general, and having higher self-assessment of professional skills, small-scale entrepreneurs are less concerned with the low prestige of their work and their lack of wide power and authority in comparison to other categories of employed persons; they are cautious in establishing relationships with other people and they have a comparatively low level of law-abidance...