Losing roots: new aspects of informal employment

The article is devoted to the study of a new manifestation of informal employment - collecting of the roots of the wild-growing saposhnikovia divaricate in the steppes of Transbaikalia. The roots of the plant are widely used in oriental medicine and are exported to China in various ways. Collecting and selling of saposhnikovia divaricata’s roots allows broad segments of the population to improve their financial situation to some extent, despite the state's attempt to regulate this type of informal employment by registering a specially protected status of a valuable weed. Despite the illegal nature, the collection of saposhnikovia divaricata’s roots continues and causes a wide public response: possible environmental consequences fade into the background in the conditions of social disadvantage in the region.