Аннотация:From the analysis of the temperature dependence of resistivity in the Pb1-xSnxTe1-ySey quaternary solid solution in the whole region of its existence, the compositional dependence of the temperature of phase transition in it was determined. It was shown that the phase transition is caused by the presence of off-center Sn atoms, the ordering of whose dipole moments at small x is impossible because of the high rate of inter-well tunneling. In the conditions of statistical disorder caused by atomic substitution in the anion sublattice, the rate of tunneling decreases and the phase transition becomes possible. With increasing x, the phase transition in the samples acquires the properties of a displacive phase transition; this is consistent with theoretical predictions about the properties of a system of interacting particles which move in a multi-minimum potential with shallow wells.