While attention has been focused on high-level struggles over control of giant enterprises in China and the former Soviet bloc, a remarkable but underreported revolution has been occurring at the grass-roots level. This volume examines the profiles of entrepreneurs and the patterns of business development in the post-socialist countries Bringing together the perspectives of all the social science disciplines, from anthropology through economics and political science to sociology, the contributors identify the criteria for survival and success of independent businesses in different environments. Their findings shed light not only on the transition from socialism at the micro-level, but also on the conditioning effects of different economic, historical, legal, and social conditions on the conduct of independent economic initiatives.