Barter in Russia: a matter of liquidity or a matter of solvency? Barter in Russia can be explained by firms liquidity constraint: it is strongly correlated with financial tightness. However a micro-economic analysis reveals that the rationale behind this liquidity constraint is different according to the firm situation. For firms in a good economic situation, but faced with adverse selection problem and having no access to bank credit, barter acts as a substitute for short term credit. While for indebted firms, barter, in the same way as external finance, is a way of avoiding costly restructuring.Le troc en Russie est engendré par une contrainte de liquidité qui diffère selon la situation économique des entreprises. Pour celles dont la sit...