This article focuses on two main issues: the ability of informal cross-border entrepreneurs to avoid restrictions imposed by a government, and governmental capacity to make these restrictions work efficiently 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 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.

中文翻译：

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合法与非法的平衡：俄罗斯进口日本二手车和未经授权向日本出口俄罗斯海洋生物资源

本文重点关注两个主要问题：非正式跨境企业家避免政府施加限制的能力，以及政府使这些限制长期有效运作的能力。以俄罗斯和日本之间的两种非正式贸易活动——二手车进口和海洋生物资源贩运——作为案例研究。我认为，在这两种情况下，非正式的跨境贸易商都试图利用跨境差异来谋取利益，在合法、低惩罚和重惩罚的做法之间取得平衡。事实证明，这两种非正规贸易都对政府的压制性政策具有很强的抵抗力，并且极有可能利用法律和执法漏洞。尽管如此，从长远来看，抑制性政府政策被证明至少是部分成功的。