Smuggling and small-scale trade
as part of informal
economic practices
Empirical findings from the Eastern external
EU border
Bettina Bruns and Judith Miggelbrink
Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig, Germany, and
Kristine Mu
¨
ller
Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning,
Erkner, Germany
Abstract
Purpose – Using small-scale cross-border trade and smuggling as an example of an informal practice
carried out in many post-socialist countries, the purpose of this paper is to explore which different
meanings this activity possesses for the people being involved in it and in how far small-scale
cross-border trade is being accepted and looked at by society. The authors hope to show the different
connections between informal and formal activities and specificities of localities which people in the
mentioned countries deploy when trying to secure their livelihood.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a qualitative empirical research including
group discussions with small-scale traders and small entrepreneurs, expert interviews with
representatives of the border authorities and systematic observations at border crossing points
and open-air markets at the Finnish-Russian, Polish-Ukrainian, Polish-Belarusian and
Ukrainina-Romanian borders.
Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about why people carry out smuggling and
small-scale trade and how these informal activities are perceived in the local environment. It suggests
that informal economic cross-border activities are often highly legitimized despite their illegal
character. The border creates certain extra opportunities as it enables arbitrage dealings. Rather as a
side effect though, the Schengen visa regime has evoked a decreasing profit margin of transborder
economic activities. Therefore, it remains unclear whether the Eastern external EU border will serve as
an informal economic resource in the future.
Originality/value – Thanks to a multisited qualitative approach to a very sensitive research topic,
the paper allows empirical insights into meanings and uses of smuggling and cross-border small-scale
trade.
Keywords East-central Europe, Economic conditions, Informal economy, Arbitrage
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Several authors point out that the informal sector is an important part of the economic
functioning of post-socialist countries (Egbert, 2006; Neef, 2002; Ledeneva, 2006;
Wallace and Haerpfer, 2002). Whether we speak for example of the Blat’ culture in
Russia (Ledeneva), the Polish small-scale trade tradition (Bruns, 2010; Wagner, 2010) or
the big effects of little bribes in practically every post-socialist country, informal
economic practices form an important part of daily life for many people. In this article,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0144-333X.htm
IJSSP
31,11/12
664
International Journal of Sociology and
Social Policy
Vol. 31 No. 11/12, 2011
pp. 664-680
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0144-333X
DOI 10.1108/01443331111177869