Communications between Government, Business and NGOs in Russia in the Process of Social Projects Implementation

The research work analyzes the interaction between state, business and NGOs in social projects. The work is expected to test the hypothesis that today in cooperation between sectors in Russia informal communication practices (deinstitutionalized type of interaction) prevails as more effective than formal one (institutionalized type of interaction). The stated hypothesis will be tested using theoretical and methodological apparatus of institutional rational choice theory. The main research method used in this work is semi-formalized in-depth interviewing. During the empirical study there were conducted seventeen interviews with respondents of four groups: representatives of business, NGOs and the state as well as industry experts. Empirical study allowed us to identify the following results. So, in the sphere of cooperation of business and the public sector with the state in Russia, we empirically fixed the predominance of informal way of communication that demonstrates a lack of existing regulatory mechanisms of this interaction on an institutional basis. Further, the dominant nature of communication which the participants of the study tend to choose as more rational than the other one due to the fact the chosen one allows the respondents to achieve their goals pursued in these interactions («to maximize their utility function» using the discourse of institutional rational choice theory). Thus, the empirical study has allowed us to confirm the put forward hypothesis and achieve the key objectives of the study – to determine the extent of institutionalization of the communication between business, government and NGOs in the process of social projects implementation.