Difference between revisions of "Chernaya kassa (Kyrgyzstan)"

|style="font-size:1.1em;"| ''Chernaya kassa'' in Kyrgyzstan is a method of voluntarily issuing informal credit (Neuhauser, 1993), similar to the rotating savings and credit associations ([[:Category:ROSCA|ROSCAs]]). The command economy of the Soviet Union was an ‘economy of shortage’ (Kornai 1980). It produced constraints on the role of money and did not offer any form of consumer credit, which led to the increase of non-cash transactions and informal rotating credit system of chernaya kassa (Gaddy and Ickes 1998). In Kyrgyzstan, chernaya kassa was especially important credit-issuing institution during the transition period followed after the collapse of the Soviet Union when most labour-active people, especially women, were involved in informal economy of ''bazaars'' to supplement family income (see Őzcan 2006, Cieślewska 2013). Similar to household exchanges of gifts and hospitality, at the time aimed at economic survival, ''chernaya kassa'' can be considered a ‘household [survival] strategy’ (Werner 1998: 598). During the post-Soviet period, savings supported travel expenses of family members for labour migration. ''Kassa'' members stayed behind to back up the costs of migration for children or close relatives. ''Chernaya kassa'' is a widely spread practice in post-Soviet Central Asia beyond Kyrgyzstan (Wolters 2014), as it became a reliable, manageable and widespread informal mechanism of obtaining credit.

|style="font-size:1.1em;"| ''Chernaya kassa'' in Kyrgyzstan is a method of voluntarily issuing informal credit (Neuhauser, 1993), similar to the rotating savings and credit associations ([[:Category:ROSCA|ROSCAs]]). The command economy of the Soviet Union was an ‘economy of shortage’ (Kornai 1980). It produced constraints on the role of money and did not offer any form of consumer credit, which led to the increase of non-cash transactions and informal rotating credit system of chernaya kassa (Gaddy and Ickes 1998). In Kyrgyzstan, chernaya kassa was especially important credit-issuing institution during the transition period followed after the collapse of the Soviet Union when most labour-active people, especially women, were involved in informal economy of ''bazaars'' to supplement family income (see Őzcan 2006, Cieślewska 2013). Similar to household exchanges of gifts and hospitality, at the time aimed at economic survival, ''chernaya kassa'' can be considered a ‘household [survival] strategy’ (Werner 1998: 598). During the post-Soviet period, savings supported travel expenses of family members for labour migration. ''Kassa'' members stayed behind to back up the costs of migration for children or close relatives. ''Chernaya kassa'' is a widely spread practice in post-Soviet Central Asia beyond Kyrgyzstan (Wolters 2014), as it became a reliable, manageable and widespread informal mechanism of obtaining credit.

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The success of ROSCAs relies on the code of honor, reputation and shame: “since all members know each other well, the cost of monitoring the use of the funds is low, and the members are in a good position to evaluate a recipient's ability to repay the loan” (Neuhauser 1993: 51). ROSCA-like mechanisms similar to ''chernaya kassa'' are common in developing countries of Latin America, African countries and in Asia (see similar [[:Category:Credit|informal credit practices]]). An analogous practice in the former Soviet Union was informal credit in the Soviet penal system, called [[obshchak]].  

The success of ROSCAs relies on the code of honor, reputation and shame: “since all members know each other well, the cost of monitoring the use of the funds is low, and the members are in a good position to evaluate a recipient's ability to repay the loan” (Neuhauser 1993: 51). ROSCA-like mechanisms similar to ''chernaya kassa'' are common in developing countries of Latin America, African countries and in Asia (see similar [[:Category:Credit|informal credit practices]]). An analogous practice in the former Soviet Union was informal credit in the Soviet penal system, called [[obshchak]].