Barter in Russia : Liquidity Shortage Versus Lack of Restructuring.

Barter in Russia can be explained by firms liquidity constraint : it is strongly correlated with financial tightness. However a micro-economic analysis reveals that the rationale behind this liquidity constraint is different according to the firm situation. For firms in a good economic situation, but faced with adverse selection problem and having no access to bank credit, barter acts a substitute for short term credit. While for indebted firms, barter, in the same ways as external finance, is a way of avoiding costly restructuring.