Success is always unsustainable, but failure can last forever (On the book by I. N. Filippova, I. P. Shabalov, A. E. Shastitko “Institutions of unsustainable success”)

The article reviews the book “Institutions of unsustainable success” by Irina Filippova, Ivan Shabalov and Andrei Shastitko. It is devoted to the explanation of the emergence and development of transaction governance in the production of large-diameter pipe (LDP) production in Russia in early 2000s. The specific feature of the sector is the dependence of the return on investments by independent selfish agents on the coordination of individual decision-making along the value chain, from the producers of raw materials and intermediate output to the manufacturing of finished product, construction, transportation, and the industrial customer. Compliance with the quality standards requires explicit coordination as well. One should think about proper transaction governance in complex investment projects of import substitution under sanction pressure. We also return to the debates about the content of university curricula for economists, especially for those who will make decisions on strategic development projects in the future.