Balancing between Legality and Illegality: Russian Import of Japanese Used Cars and Unauthorized Export of Russian Marine Bioresources to Japan

This article focuses on two main issues: the capability of informal cross-border entrepreneurs to resist penalization of their activities by a government, and governmental capability to win competition with informal entrepreneurs in the long-term. Two kinds of informal trade activities between Russia and Japan—import of used cars and trafficking of marine bioresources—are taken as case studies. I argue that in both considered cases informal cross-border traders have tried to exploit cross-border differences to their benefit, balancing between legal, low-punishable, and heavily punishable practices. Both kinds of informal trade proved to be highly resistant to suppressive government policies and highly capable of exploiting legal and law enforcement loopholes. Still, suppressive government policies proved to be at least partially successful in the long-term perspective.