This book challenges the conventional wisdom that informal institutions—networks, clientelism, and connections—have to disappear in modern societies due to liberalization of the economy, rapid urbanization, and industrialization. The case of Kazakhstan shows that informal reciprocal institutions continue to play an important role in people’s everyday lives. Liberalization of the economy and state retrenchment from the social sphere decreased the provision of public goods and social support to the population in the post-independence period. Limited access to state benefits has, in turn, stimulated people’s engagement in informal reciprocal relations. The author investigates informal channels and mechanisms people use to gain access to quality public goods—education, housing, and healthcare. Comparing the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, the author shows that people are more likely to rely on family networks and clientelist relations rather than on help from the state to obtain scarce resources. The book provides an important contribution to the literature on informal institutions and explains the relationship between a formal welfare state and informal reciprocity.

This is a fascinating book that provides compelling insights into the changing nature and dynamics of informal exchanges in Kazakhstan—a society with strong norms of reciprocity—since the demise of the Soviet welfare state. Dina Sharipova convincingly illustrates the importance of informal institutions for ordinary people in order to gain access to public goods under market and state failure. Based on both quantitative and qualitative research techniques, this book offers a valuable theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature on informality. -- Natsuko Oka, Institute of Developing Economies
Dina Sharipova's timely study offers both qualitative and quantitative insights into informal institutions and exchange in contemporary Kazakhstan. The data-rich material of the book is well-presented and well-structured, and follows well the argument of the book. This work is an important contribution not only for Central Asian studies but also for studies of informality and informal institutions. -- Rano Turaeva-Hoehne, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

Dina Sharipova is assistant professor of political science at KIMEP University.