Parasitism and Corporate Predation

Abstract

During Joseph Stalin era, the Soviet people were the objects of predation, the prey of the totalitarian regime. In addition to this major predator, there were parasites, most of which were petty and multiplied in millions, practicing embezzlement of socialist property, nepotism, cronyism, and gift-giving as a camouflaged bribery. It argues that despite the partial disintegration of the Soviet Union, the modern Russian state retains the role of the major predator. This one overwhelming predator helps predatory raiders to overpower—both legally and financially—a strong and successful business. This chapter argues that a profitable business can fall prey to a predatory raider only through the involvement or direct interference of an external force, an exogenous factor, or an overwhelming aggressive power such as that of the predatory state. Corrupt bureaucrats collude with predatory raiders, forming an unlawful symbiosis in order to expropriate profitable businesses and other valuable assets to their personal benefit.