This article analyzes gender inequality in Russia’s rural informal economy. Continuation of unequal gendered roles in Russia’s rural informal economy suggests that tradition and custom remain strong. Gender differentials in time spent tending the household garden remain significant, as is the distribution of household tasks into gendered roles in ways that effect professional advancement for women. Land ownership is the domain of men, and women are not owners in Russia’s new economy. Moreover, men earn more from entrepreneurial activity, a function of how male and female services are valued and priced in society. Responsibility that is shared includes the marketing of household food. The conclusion is that institutional change is less impactful on gender inequality than persistence of culture and tradition.

Functioning wholesale markets are crucial if market reforms are to succeed in Russia. In the agricultural sector, wholesale markets are needed to provide private farmers an outlet for their production. This article traces the development of commodity exchanges in the last years of the Soviet Union and into the post-Soviet period in Russia. Based upon interviews, published, and unpublished information, the article also examines in detail how agricultural commodity exchanges operate, and how cultural and logistical problems complicate commodity exchange trade. However, the article concludes that the state's agricultural pricing policy represents the greatest obstacle to the further development of trade.