Trade Liberalization and Opening in Post-Soviet Limited Access Orders

How does trade liberalization shape post-Soviet Limited Access Orders (LAOs) where dominant elites restrict access to political and economic resources for the sake of private gains? Some scholars argue that trade liberalization promotes competition. Others argue that market opening simply strengthens rent-seeking elites. By drawing on the case of trade liberalization between the EU and Ukraine, this paper argues that the effect of trade liberalization largely depends on the quality of the pre-existing alliance between the state and business actors in different sectors. The findings have important implications for the governance of transnational markets in the context of European integration and beyond.