Value orientations of modern entrepreneurship in Russia

Introduction. In recent years political and strategic demand for research in the Russian entrepreneurship has increased significantly. This is caused by the weakening public sector amid declining resource revenues and turbulent economic situation in the country. Russia still suffers from the distorted economic structure which is dominated by the resources sector. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring, resource economies are characterized by a higher level of entrepreneurial activity as the establishment of own business is a necessity due to lack of alternative employment options [26]. The growing demand for entrepreneurship is evidenced by the experience of the Russian history: in the 1990-s severe economic conditions, on the one hand, caused a slow yet consistent decline in performance; on the other hand, they created the fundamentals for self-employment. The new category of entrepreneurs played an important role in the survival of the nation through creation of enterprises and generation of a certain share of GDP. But the process of formation of this category in the emerging market economy was not smooth: it became a serious challenge for the country. Events which changed all spheres of public life pulled the rug from under their feet, dashed the accumulated social experience and forced to try a new, yet not formed social and economic reality, turned Russia into a country of “gangster”, or “oligarch”, “feudal”, “barbaric”, “speculative” capitalism without a state” [19].

According to Polish political scientist A. Przeworski, reformation of the economy “is like jumping into a deep pool: it is stimulated by desparation and hope, rather than actual calculation...The reform strategy often... does not fully take into account the social cost that must be paid for it... And even if such reforms are initially universally supported, as they are put forward and the quality of life is declining, their support is markedly decreased...” [12].

An entrepreneur of the 90-s was an uncivilized person. They often chose destructive strategies of economic behavior demonstrating different motives: from greed and mere lack of moral values to principal rigid attitudes such as “kill the Chechens”, “steal what is stolen”.

The unregulated market entry of independent entrepreneurs in fishery in Primorsky Krai often bordered on creation of criminal groups and hard struggle for redistribution of property and spheres of influence. This resulted in the emergence of shadow economy, criminalization, poaching, currency leak abroad, tax evasion and customs control, which greatly hindered the economic growth. According to various estimates, the level of illegal exports reached excessive limits.

For example, according to the Japanese statistics, during 1994–2002 Japan imported 643.7 thousand tons of crustaceans worth 52.5 billion dollars from Russia, only 44 thousand tons (worth 387.2 million dollars) of them went through Russian customs [7]. Russia’s losses from the exports of disguised goods amounted to more than 1 billion dollars a year. Entrepreneurship was manifested in the increase in the number of enterprises which do not perform critical business functions: meeting the population’s needs effectively and fully for all quality parameters; optimal combination and integration of production factors and thereby the most efficient use of economic resources; development of innovative reproduction.

The reluctance to appeal to morality in business is often explained by the fact that in the 1990-s we were dealing with a special kind of entrepreneurship driven by the necessity, rather than the opportunity, paired with fear of social exclusion, legitimization of new degraded values and standards [16; 19]. This position is consistent with the principles of historical materialism: “It is not the human consciousness that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being determines consciousness” [8].

In the framework of P. Sztompka’s theory of cultural trauma during the transition period, transformation processes, as well as in Marx’s and Engels’s works, are considered from the point of view of social actors. P. Sztompka introduces the concept of cultural trauma, i.e. hostile destructive interference of familiar social reality in the sphere of perception [17; 31].

Thinking in line with this theory, we understand that the disintegration of social and cultural foundations of an entrepreneur as a personality is caused by the cultural trauma as a result of changes in the country.

Based on the foregoing, the following questions arise:

– how has the personality of a modern entrepreneur changed;

– who is today’s Russian entrepreneur: a civilized, socially responsible person focused on long-term strategy of building their image, motivated by the internal system of life values, responsible for their actions; or a victim of circumstances and momentary temptations, barely regulated from the outside by various regulations (ethics, law), a person the regulator and the society is responsible for, but not the entrepreneur themselves;

– what values will the entrepreneur appeal to when solving the problems of different nature and scale in a changing economy.

The answers to these questions will affect the efficiency of entrepreneurship in the economic system of our country. The values are central, in other words, they are the op echelon in the chain of our culture, the result of performance of socio-cultural practices, and hence the criterion for determining human’s individual existence [11]. The values of entrepreneur’s economic behavior (or labor values) are commons judgments of a human reflecting the relative importance of various aspects of their work/activity including its purpose, content, and results. For example, in the framework of this research we try to determine the values of entrepreneurs based on their judgments about external and internal factors determining the success and efficiency of business activities. Individual labor values are one of the key concepts in the present paper as they underlie the role identification and motivate the entrepreneur’s actions. Values are ordered by their relative importance, organizing the individual’s value system. Group elements of this system are called value orientations. In empirical studies, a set of 10–15 labor values is generally reviewed; they are combined in groups of 2 to 7 orientations. Value classification is rather diverse in scientific literature. The most common is the conceptual distinction between internal and external (instrumental) values [14]. Internal values are related to self-realization directly in the labor process (for example, interest in the work, full use of abilities, ability to take the initiative), while external values are focused on the result of the working life; they become the means to achieve other life goals (e.g., high income, autonomy, independence). Other value classifications distinguish between individualistic and social orientations, entrepreneurial (risk tolerance, pursuit of high income) and bureaucratic (risk minimization, employment stability, career growth). For the purposes of the study, we highlight the term “core values”, i.e. those related to universal human virtues, as well as endorsement of rather tough unwritten laws, principles, regulations, prohibitions and standards (integrity, responsibility, honesty, trust, good will, love for one’s neighbor, wisdom, modesty, justice). “Core” values are an important factor in social and moral regulation of people’s behavior and relations.

According to Schwartz, values are correlated with goals motivating to perform activities [32]. People who consider social order, justice, and mutual aid important are motivated to achieve them. Therefore, analysis of “business class” values will help clarify strategic factors of the economic activities of modern Russian entrepreneurship, and forecast the effectiveness of expanding its scope in the Russian economy. The system of values and behavior of a separate “class” ultimately affect the possibility of progress and humanization of the society. Thus, the timeliness and urgency of the issue about by whom and where Russia is to be led is beyond doubt.

The purpose for the study is to identify the hierarchy of values and their structure in the form of broader orientations in the economic behavior of Russian entrepreneurs in the case of fishery enterprises in Primorsky Krai.