“sustainability of social structures and civilizational characteristics of Russia” S.Yu. Malkov

UDC 338.46

development of the theory of stability of socio-economic systems

Sulpovar L.B.,

Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor,

Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Russian State University of Tourism and Service", Moscow

The author discusses the theoretical, scientific and practical challenges of sustainable development in the socio-economic systems. The article establishes principles for the sustainable development, describes local sustainability indicators, which should define the stability integral indicator.

The article discusses theoretical and scientific-practical problems of ensuring sustainable development of socio-economic systems. The principles of sustainable development of systems are substantiated, local indicators of sustainability are proposed, on the basis of which the integral indicator of sustainability should be determined.

Key words: sustainability, socio-economic systems, sustainability indicators.

The global financial crisis had a negative impact on all the main institutions of a market economy: the manufacturing sector, the banking system, foreign economic activity, and the social sphere. In these conditions, the problem of ensuring sustainable development of all market entities has acquired particular relevance.

The theory of stability of socio-economic systems initially arose as a branch of other branches of knowledge (mathematics, systems theory, cybernetics, etc.) and incorporated a number of interdisciplinary categories. In economic theory, until recently, problems of sustainability of economic systems were considered mainly from the point of view of the result, the outcome of their functioning, as well as from the standpoint of principles formulated by mathematics.

The sustainability of a socio-economic system is significantly different from technical and physical sustainability. It is characteristic of economic theory to consider problems of sustainability simultaneously with problems of reproduction and market equilibrium. K. Marx, for example,

considered disequilibrium between the main divisions of social production to be natural. If this natural phenomenon occurs, there is no equilibrium; this is the sustainable nature of the reproduction of an industrial-type economic system. If the law is violated and the system is in a state of equilibrium, therefore, the stability of expanded reproduction is absent.

Steadily reproducing instability is the law of a market economy. Loss of system stability is observed during a period of crisis, a transition of the system from one state to another. Developing this idea in Capital, K. Marx emphasizes that formal metamorphosis creates the general possibility of crisis: “But it cannot be said that the abstract form of crisis is the cause of the crisis. If they ask about its cause, they want to know exactly why its abstract form, the form of its possibility, turns from possibility into reality."

The first mathematical model of general economic equilibrium was proposed at the end of the 19th century. L. Walras and A. Marshall

THEORY questions

considered instability in the context of multiple equilibrium points: an unstable position invariably lies between two stable ones. The problem of equilibrium stability, starting from the 30s of the 20th century, was studied by J. Hicks, P. Samuelson, K. Arrow, F. Khan, T. Negishi, L. Mackenzie, X. Uzawa and others.

J. Hicks proposed a stability criterion, according to which an increase in the price of a given product should cause a decrease in excess demand for it, and this effect is stronger than the possible secondary effect associated with the indirect influence of the prices of other goods, the change in which was generated by a change in demand for them as a result of a change prices of the original goods.

P. Samuelson proposed his own approach to the analysis of stability; he proceeded from the idea of ​​stability as “attraction” to a certain point, i.e. understood it as the property of a system to return to an equilibrium trajectory after a change in initial conditions. He turned to the dynamic characteristics of the process of “finding the price”, namely to the relationship connecting the rate of change in the price of a product and the amount of excess demand for it.

One of the directions that explores the problems of sustainability is institutionalism. Representatives of this direction believe that the stability of the system is violated when internal and external factors undermine the compatibility and mutual “cohesion” of institutions. After this comes a period of radical changes in society and the economy.

The stability of the entire economic system, according to the views of institutionalists, depends on a combination of measures of homogeneity and heterogeneity of institutional units. Complete homogeneity leads to inhibition of development and destruction of the system, and complete heterogeneity leads to an increase in entropy and chaos. Based on this, excessive internal diversification is no less dangerous than complete homogeneity.

“Institutional traps,” which are understood as ineffective sustainable norms and ineffective institutions, have a special impact on the stability of the system. The term “institutional trap” is also applied to ineffective equal-

weights generated by the corresponding norm. Stability in this context has the usual meaning. It means that with small disturbances the system remains in an institutional trap, perhaps only slightly changing its parameters, and returns to its previous state as soon as the source of the disturbance is eliminated.

In the case under consideration, there is a negative, unfavorable stability for the economic system. This state is unfavorable for participants in the system, but the refusal of an individual subject to the established rules leads to a deterioration in his condition. The main reason for the persistence of institutional traps is a lack of coordination.

At the present stage of research into the sustainability of socio-economic systems, scientists are increasingly expressing ideas about the need to synthesize orthodox and evolutionary economics for a more complete study of the problems of sustainability and “equilibrium-disequilibrium” of economic systems.

The focus of research over the past two decades is no longer on stability or instability per se, but on the question of the relationship between these categories, which is transformed into the problem of the relationship between stability and instability, certainty and uncertainty. The concept of “instability,” according to I. Prigozhin, “...is now freed from a negative connotation. Instability can act as a condition for a stable dynamic world."

Phenomena that were perceived by science as secondary (chaos, randomness, inertia) acquire leading and positive significance, especially since in the end instability is nothing more than a dialectical definition that arises on the basis of stability as its opposite. Development in general and sustainable development in particular is possible only due to the emergence of instability.

Movement from an unstable state caused by external influences to a new stable state that meets the changed conditions is, in essence, development. The challenge is to learn to perceive stability in relation to instability, because they are interconnected. In this regard, the study of problems of transition and transformation is being updated.

Scientists studying the problems of stability of socio-economic systems are increasingly turning to the apparatus of the theory of disasters, nonequilibrium dynamics and synergetics and rely on studies of nonlinear processes in the natural sciences and on the idea of ​​​​the presence of a certain universal algorithm for self-organization and development of complex systems (E. Erokhina, E. .Knyazeva, I.Prigozhin, I.Shurgalina). However, drawing a parallel between the level of development of natural sciences and social sciences raises criticism.

Considerable attention in the study of stability is paid to the problems of chaos. The phenomena of “chaos” and “uncertainty” apparently turn out to be new “framework factors”, which at the beginning of the 21st century become extremely significant, if not decisive, for the development trends of the world economy and politics. Scientists are making attempts to study sustainability in conditions of uncertainty and chaos, as well as the process of economic transition from one economic order to another through a chaotic state.

Modern analysis of the sustainability of socio-economic systems often uses the concept of “structural stability”. The peculiarity of this approach is the analysis of a family of trajectories that are “close” to the standard scheme, because structural stability characterizes the qualitative similarity of different systems when different parameters change. At the stage of transition of structural stability of one type into structural stability of a higher type through a state of structural instability, a new law of irreversible changes comes into force: the higher the level of decomposition of the previous structure, the deeper the alternativeness of the development process and the more real the unpredictability of the final result of the events taking place: their completion in accordance with pre-planned scenario.

There is a special relationship between the rate of death of “old” elements and the rate of growth of new elements. If the growth of new elements does not outpace the rate of death of “old” elements, the system will maintain its structural stability, but with the outpacing growth of nascent elements between new and old elements

functional connections do not have time to develop, and the system enters a phase of intensive decomposition of its previous structure. With the avalanche-like onset of a state of structural instability, the system becomes extremely sensitive to external influences.

A promising direction is the study of “quasi-stability”, which is possessed by any trajectory that starts near the equilibrium position and remains within the boundaries close to equilibrium without necessarily achieving it. In modern literature there are options for considering economic systems as “active disequilibrium”.

Of great practical importance is not only the study of the sustainability of the economic system as a whole, but also its individual elements, for example, financial sustainability, sustainability of social and labor relations, sustainability of foreign economic activity, etc. In the 70s of the last century, a separate direction of economic thought appeared, exploring economic stability of the state. It is called “ecosestate” (“economic security of state”). Representatives of this direction believe that it is possible to ensure the economic stability of the state only with the economic stability of its structural elements (territories, industries, enterprises).

There has been a growing interest in the problems of social sustainability, incl. from international organizations. The World Bank's 2003 World Development Report focuses specifically on social sustainability. This is because societies are transforming and will continue to transform over time.

However, it is clear that significant social stress (in its extreme form, social conflict) leads to disruption of the accumulation or conservation of all resources, thereby threatening the well-being of all generations and sustainability. The success of this kind of work in the field of sustainability research is explained by its empirical focus (both in research methods and in purpose). However, discovering and understanding the real patterns of stability of systems can

be implemented only at the next level of generalization - systemic.

Attempts continue to develop quantitative criteria for the sustainability of socio-economic systems. In this case, two main directions are distinguished: the development of indicators, the use of which is possible only for socio-economic systems (for example, the Altman model), and the adaptation of sustainability indicators used in mathematics and physics.

There are often attempts to adapt the theories of stability according to Lyapunov and Langrange to economic processes. However, researchers note that assessing the stability of socio-economic systems according to Lyapunov at the present stage is practically impossible due to the difficulty of describing restrictions on certain disturbances and the difficulty of taking into account all possible disturbances.

Considerable attention is paid to the problems of not only the sustainability of socio-economic systems, but also their sustainable development. The transition to sustainable development means creating a balanced system that combines social justice, environmental (and other) safety and economic efficiency. Its main objective is to achieve optimal development results with minimal damage to the environment.

At the international level, problems of sustainability of economic systems that have entered the post-industrial phase of development are studied. As is known, post-industrial society is formed on a foundation, the strength of which is due to the close relationship between the progress of technology and personal development. This is what ensures the stability of the emerging system and makes it invulnerable to external destabilizing factors. The economic and political practice of the 90s indicates that at present there are no serious threats to the stability of the Western world. This is largely facilitated by the growing isolation of the post-industrial community within its main centers - the United States, the European Union and partly Japan, which since the early 90s have quickly acquired the name “the triad”.

Scientists are closely approaching the development of models for the formation of sustainability of socio-economic systems. Particular attention is paid to the problems of sustainability of the world and national economies in the context of globalization. There is a recognition of the need to develop socio-economic systems of a special kind of dissipative structures that can remain stable in a turbulent external environment. This is due to the fact that social design is entering an era of rapidly replacing creative models of “disposable use”, which have a short life span, significantly reducing the role of generalizations, individualized in relation to a particular situation outside the spaces of standard designs and habitual methods of social design. The fundamental advantage in this case is in the hands of subjects who control the very process of establishing certain rules of the game in relation to certain changing circumstances. Such an unstable dynamic state of a chaotic environment that is losing its usual structure, in which traditional socio-constructions are deprived of support and continue to exist in their previous forms only by inertia, allows the successful development of only one, special class (“new class”) of dissipative social structures, for which such the state of affairs is natural. These structures are characterized by adaptation to a dynamic environment and carry within them the infrastructure for coexistence with chaos and its management.

Thus, modern approaches to the study of the sustainability of socio-economic systems are characterized by methodological pluralism, a deepening relationship with the natural sciences, attempts to substantiate the leading role of instability and chaos in economic development, the development of a theory of sustainability of the constituent elements of the system and a global theory of sustainability.

The term “sustainability” in relation to socio-economic systems that are subjects of market relations can be formulated as follows: the sustainability of the development of such systems is a state that, under dynamic conditions

changes in the internal and external environment has a positive tendency to generate income and ensures the retention for a long period, and subsequently the expansion of the controlled part of the target market on the basis of constantly developed and implemented investments in production activities.

Methodological principles of sustainable development of socio-economic systems can be divided into general and specific. The general principles include the following:

The principle of responsibility to the future - certain restrictions in the field of exploitation of natural resources;

The principle of partnership is the joining of efforts of various parties to achieve a set goal;

The principle of observing the hierarchy of levels - levels of the sustainable development mechanism: state and regional;

The principle of unity of goals - the activities of all levels of the hierarchy are united by unity of goals;

The principle of comprehensiveness - to achieve sustainable development, it is necessary to implement the following support systems: legislative and regulatory, economic, scientific, educational, material and technical, personnel, organizational;

The principle of unity in the organization of legislation is the stability and adequacy of the legislative framework for all types of activities.

In turn, private principles include:

The principle of regularity is the provision of information about innovations in all related industries;

The principle of efficiency is informing organizations about the most significant innovative achievements in a short time;

The principle of accessibility is the free communication of innovations to interested organizations;

The principle of reliability is the avoidance of distortions or errors in the dissemination of information;

The principle of completeness - information about innovations must be complete and sufficient;

The principle of equality - ensuring equal rights and opportunities in obtaining and accessing information for all organizations;

The principle of security is the use of methods and means of protecting information constituting state, official and commercial secrets permitted by law.

The sustainability of the activities of a socio-economic system is a complex and comprehensive category, which includes a number of private (local) indicators that characterize individual aspects of its condition and development. The most important of them are the following:

Marketing sustainability - the presence of an unmet need of the target market for products, works and services produced (performed or provided) by a given organization at a certain level of price and quality;

Production sustainability - the organization’s potential ability to produce a volume of production of products, works and services that exceeds the break-even one;

Technological sustainability - the ability to consistently ensure a competitive level of quality of products, work performed and services provided and based on the use of advanced technology;

Sustainability of technical potential - the ability of fixed assets to produce products, works and services of a competitive level;

Environmental sustainability is the ability of an organization to ensure long-term compliance with rules, regulations and standards for the protection of the natural environment (MPL, MPE, MPC, etc.);

Personnel stability is the degree of adaptation of the organization’s workforce to production conditions;

Organizational sustainability - compliance of the organizational structure of the organization's management with the conditions of the external and internal environment;

Financial stability - the ability of an organization in the foreseeable future not to have overdue payments on its obligations;

Economic sustainability is the ability of an organization to ensure the most efficient use of all uses

our resources (factors of production) in the long term.

All these types of sustainability characterize the state and development of the organization from different sides, while they are all closely interconnected and influence each other and the main indicator - economic sustainability. Only individual types of sustainability taken in a complex make it possible to judge the integral sustainability of an organization’s activities and the possibilities for its further development.

Calculated local indicators of the sustainability of an organization's development, the main one of which is the indicator of economic sustainability, considered separately from other indicators, make it possible to determine the integral indicator of sustainability and, based on its value, to develop the necessary organizational, technical and economic measures to further improve sustainability.

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In the context of this work, the region is considered as a socio-economic system and its defining characteristic is sustainability. A systematic approach was used during the study. The theoretical foundations of sustainability are analyzed. A critical analysis of existing definitions of the concept of “sustainability of a socio-economic system” was carried out, and a classification of the sustainability of socio-economic systems was developed. Discrepancies in the conceptual apparatus were identified and eliminated, which made it possible to form a scientific basis for research work, and will also create the prerequisites for the further development of the theoretical foundations of sustainable development of socio-economic systems. As a result of the study, the following conclusions were made: the problem of sustainability of socio-economic systems is interdisciplinary in nature, sustainability is the main and only criterion for the constant development of a system, system development is a process characterized by the presence of a complex relationship between the phenomena of variability and sustainability, the theory of sustainable development is focused on finding opportunities restructuring the system to a model of sustainable development.

sustainability

socio-economic system

systems approach

development

sustainable development

1. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 3, 1996 No. 803 “On the main provisions of regional policy in the Russian Federation.”

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4. Chasovnikov S.N. Prospects for greening the economic development of the Kemerovo region: monograph / S.N. Chasovnikov, E.N. Starchenko. – Saarbrücken, 2013. – 161 p.

5. Perfilov V.A. The essence and types of sustainability of the development of regional socio-economic systems // Problems of modern economics. – 2012. – No. 2 (42). – pp. 264–266.

Currently, the theory of sustainable development of socio-economic systems is in its infancy. There are still many unresolved and controversial issues. The scientific community, first of all, is concerned with the question of whether it is even possible to talk about the stability of a dynamic socio-economic system, if in the philosophical understanding sustainability is represented as immutability, being in a state of constancy.

Most scientific works do not clearly indicate the interdependence of the concepts of “sustainable development” and “sustainability”. Scientists have not come to a consensus on the concept of sustainability of a socio-economic system; modern science has not developed a generally accepted definition of this category, and the specifics of sustainability of regional-level systems have not been identified. Without creating a solid methodological and methodological foundation, without scientific substantiation of actions at all hierarchical levels of management, it is not possible to solve the problem of the stability of the socio-economic system.

To solve these questions, it is necessary to analyze the theoretical foundations of sustainability. Identification and elimination of discrepancies in the conceptual apparatus will create a scientific basis for research work, which will ensure the further development of the theoretical foundations of sustainable development of socio-economic systems.

A socio-economic system should be understood as “an integral set of interconnected and interacting social and economic institutions and relations regarding the distribution and consumption of resources, production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services.” Socio-economic systems can include: groups of people, individual enterprises, economic sectors, administrative units within states, unions of states, states, and the world community.

In the context of this work, the region will be considered as a socio-economic system and one of its characteristics is sustainability.

A region is a multi-level structure with internal dynamics and is an essential element of the national economy. In accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 803 of July 3, 1996 “Basic provisions of regional policy in the Russian Federation,” a region should be understood as “a part of the territory of the Russian Federation that has common natural, socio-economic, national-cultural and other conditions.”

So, the object of study is the socio-economic system. If we take into account that the subject of research is a system, the research methodology should be based on the application of a systems approach. From the perspective of a systems approach, a system (translated from Greek as “a whole made up of parts; a connection”) is elements interconnected with each other, representing a holistic formation opposed to the environment.

A system cannot be formed without possessing such a property as stability. Only thanks to sustainability can systems exist and maintain their structural integrity under constant influence from the external environment. In addition, stability allows us to ensure the integrity of the system during its operation, from which we can conclude that integrity and stability are interdependent and equivalent properties. It follows that system stability is a property that a socio-economic system (region) possesses, along with such typical system properties as hierarchy, emergence, structural integrity, etc.

Currently, scientists have developed many definitions of the concept of “sustainability of a socio-economic system,” which indicates the complexity of the object of research, and most importantly, the lack of consensus. Subsystems of the economy of different levels are taken as the object of research: the economy of business entities, regional economy, national economy.

A critical analysis of the developed definitions of the concept of “sustainability of a socio-economic system” revealed the absence of a definition generally accepted by modern science. An analysis of the definitions showed that there are four different approaches (Table 1).

Table 1

Approaches to the interpretation of the definition of sustainability of socio-economic systems

Based on the presented approaches, by the stability of a socio-economic system (region) we understand the ability of the system to maintain balance, function stably in the long term and develop in a changing external and internal environment.

The most important property of the system is dynamic stability, which ensures its ability to self-regulate when exposed to external and internal negative factors. By dynamic stability we mean an adequate response of elements in the system in particular and the system as a whole to any changes in internal and external factors, which implies the ability of the system and its elements to self-heal.

Taking into account the complexity of the socio-economic system, the presence of a large number of elements in its composition, which are lower-order systems, the following classification of the stability of socio-economic systems has been developed (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Types of sustainability of socio-economic systems

A socio-economic system is capable of evolving, moving into a different form, in which consumed resources are replaced with others, reproduced or restored; if further development is not possible without non-renewable resources, their consumption is reduced or minimized. In the process of development, a system undergoes changes in the relationships between its elements, some connections weaken and others strengthen. It follows that development can be both sustainable and unsustainable. The sustainable development of a socio-economic system is characterized by such characteristics as dynamism and the relative immutability of its properties. Therefore, during the sustainable development of the system, the properties remain constant, but at the same time qualitative changes occur in the system.

Unsustainable development is characterized by qualitative changes in the system, accompanied by a deterioration in its properties, which can contribute to the elimination of the entire system.

From the point of view of a systems approach, sustainable development is a certain type of progressively directed changes that have a predetermined nature. Development becomes unstable when it is destroyed or transitions to a new qualitative state, that is, when a state of crisis occurs in the system.

From the above, conclusions follow: firstly, sustainable development is a consequence of the sustainability of the system itself; secondly, the loss of stability leads to the destruction of the system, that is, stability is the only condition for its survival.

In the context of the globalization process, which determines social development, the problem of creating and maintaining sustainable development is one of the most pressing at present. The concept of sustainable development has recently become widespread on a national scale. The government is developing programs for the sustainable development of the country, individual regions and individual industries.

There are principles of sustainable development on which the creation of a sustainable socio-economic system is based. We propose to use the following basic principles: meeting the basic needs of society, combating poverty; improving the quality of life, balancing production and consumption patterns, ensuring and maintaining human health, rational use of natural resources, ensuring environmental safety, preserving ecosystems, intersectoral cooperation, forming and developing civil society, global partnership, developing environmental consciousness and ethics, eliminating violence against nature and man (elimination of terrorism, ecocide, wars).

However, there is no generally accepted interpretation of sustainable development (Table 2).

table 2

Interpretations of the concept of “sustainable development”

The most justified, in our opinion, is the point of view that defines sustainable development as a continuous process of meeting the needs of society. It should be noted that by continuity of the process we mean a constant or increasing rate of growth in opportunities to meet needs in the long term, which is possible if a balance of interests is achieved and harmonious interaction between all subsystems of the socio-economic system.

Sustainable development should be considered in two perspectives: preservation, development of needs and opportunities, and the restrictions imposed on the ability to meet needs, determined by the state of technology and the organization of society (Fig. 2).

Sustainable development characterizes the limits of permissible changes in the basic properties of the system, the boundaries of dimensional certainty, beyond which the integrity of the system is destroyed. Sustainable development is a balanced, harmonious interaction of opposites: change and stability, renewal and conservation, diversity and unity.

The defining purpose of the sustainable development of the system is to satisfy the aspirations and needs of society. For sustainable development, economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition, since high system productivity does not guarantee, for example, a high quality of life for the population and the preservation of environmental safety. In our opinion, the sustainable development of a system is inherently a steady process of change, in which the activities of such subsystems as the use of resources, the direction of technological and production development, and the basic principles of forming the sustainability of the system are fulfilled. Only if this circumstance is observed does the value of current and future potential increase.

Rice. 2. Changes occurring in the conditions of sustainable development with the socio-economic system

This interpretation of the definition of sustainable development implies the solution of strategic problems identified by the International Commission on Environment and Development (ICED): accelerating growth processes, changing the quality of growth, meeting the basic needs of people, ensuring a sustainable level of population growth, preserving and strengthening the resource base, reorienting technologies and risk control, integrating environmental and economic aspects into decision-making.

As a result of the study of approaches to determining the sustainability of socio-economic systems, the following fundamental conclusions were formulated.

Sustainability is the most important and only criterion for the continuous development of the system, ensuring its integrity and further development. The impact of internal and external factors acting on the equilibrium state of the system is neutralized by the agility and flexibility that stability provides to the system.

System development is a process characterized by the presence of a complex relationship between the phenomena of variability and stability. Since the development of the system occurs spasmodically, discretely after overcoming crisis situations characterized by a state of instability, the dynamic stability of the socio-economic system is relative: the system either responds to ongoing changes by restructuring its structure, using its existing adaptive capabilities, while its integrity remains original, or the existing capabilities are not enough to adapt to new conditions, then the system, having emerged from the crisis situation, moves on to a completely different path of development. In the case of maintaining the original integrity of the system after a critical situation has passed, there is an evolutionary path of development of the system, which is the most optimal; in the case of a change in the integrity and structure of the system, a revolutionary path takes place. The stability of the system is the only criterion for the sustainable development of the system in the long term.

The theory of sustainable development is focused on finding opportunities to reorient the system towards a sustainable development trajectory that promotes a constant and increasing rate of growth in opportunities to meet the needs of society.

According to the overwhelming majority of scientists, it is the regions that should become the main direction for implementing the theory of sustainable development in practice, since they are the most stable territorial entities, are the most manageable structure, have experience in stimulating market transformations in their area, combined with the policy of state regulation of these processes, are commensurate in size with some countries, being the most optimal structure for positioning at the global level. The transformations that took place in the recent past led to the formation of industrial regional specialization of regions as economic complexes of regions. In this regard, the urgency of ensuring the sustainability of socio-economic systems and, as a consequence, the need for regional research has arisen.

Stepanov I.G., Doctor of Economics, Professor, Novokuznetsk Institute (branch), Kemerovo State University, Novokuznetsk;

Novikov N.I., Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head. Department of Economics, Novokuznetsk Institute (branch), Kemerovo State University, Novokuznetsk.

The work was received by the editor on December 16, 2014.

Bibliographic link

Shovgenov Tembot Muratovich
Adyghe State University
[email protected]

annotation

The formation of a sustainable socio-economic system should be based on the principles of sustainable development. It should be noted that the current economic situation in Russia, the current mechanisms for forming the financial and economic base of regions and municipalities - all this counteracts the implementation of sustainable development strategies. The article discusses different approaches to assessing the sustainability of socio-economic systems.