The totality of all economic processes taking place in a society on the basis of the property relations and organizational and legal forms that have developed in it, is the economic system of this society. In the last one and a half to two centuries, the following systems have operated in the world:
Each system has its own national models of economic organization, since countries differ in the originality of history, level of economic development, social and national conditions.
The transition from one economic system to another gives rise to a special, transitional state of the economy. In an economy of a transitional type, there is an intensive development of the institutions of the new system and more or less rapid elimination (or withering away) of the institutions of the old system. Transitional economic forms are also possible, for example, privatized enterprises that have not undergone market restructuring.
In any economic system, the primary role is played by the production of goods and services, coupled with their subsequent distribution, exchange, consumption and redistribution.
In each economic system, the main socio-economic problems are solved in its own way: what and how to produce and on what basis to distribute the created national product.
At the same time, economic systems differ from each other in their fundamentals. First, they have different forms of ownership. Secondly, they have a different economic mechanism, thirdly, the methods of motivation to work are economic to varying degrees, and fourthly, the way of organizing decision-making in the market and administrative-planned economic systems have significant differences.
The economic system can be viewed as a way of organizing the joint activities of people to achieve the maximum possible result. The way of such an organization is determined by a number of main constituent elements. Let's consider the existing differences, comparing the constituent features of the two economic systems.
Table 1.3.1 Fundamentals of economic theory. Ed. Doctor of Economics, Professor S. I. Ivanov. M., p. 47
Type of ownership |
Information and coordination mechanism |
Methods of motivating people to work |
Method of organizing decision making |
|
Administrative planning system |
State-naya |
Transfer vertically from the administrative center to the periphery |
Economic to a lesser extent, more - non-economic coercion (punishment for parasitism, the possibility of obtaining housing, etc. |
through direct directives, the decision is made by the center |
Market system |
Price, through the market |
Economic |
decisions are made by independent manufacturers based on profitability motive and information from the market |
Within the framework of a particular economic system, there are diverse models of economic development of individual countries and regions. Consider the characteristic features of economic systems.
Market economy... The distinctive features of this economic system were private ownership of economic resources (including the main resource for this system - capital); a market mechanism for regulating macroeconomic activity based on free competition and the presence of many independently acting sellers and buyers of each product.
One of the main prerequisites for this system is the personal freedom of all participants in economic activity, i.e. not only a capitalist entrepreneur, but also an employee. The decisive condition for economic progress was the freedom of entrepreneurial activity of those who had capital, and the freedom of the employee to sell his labor.
The economic mechanism in the economic system under consideration is guided by the market situation, determined, first of all, by the level and dynamics of prices; commodity producers independently solve the problem of distributing all resources, producing those goods that are in demand in the market. Thus, the market, primarily through prices, coordinates the activities of millions of people.
Entrepreneurs strive to receive more and more income (profit), to use natural resources, labor resources, capital, knowledge as economically as possible and to realize their entrepreneurial abilities as widely as possible in their chosen field of activity. This serves as a powerful stimulus for the development and improvement of the economy, reveals the creative possibilities of private property.
In the course of a long evolution in the XX century. the market economy of free competition has evolved into a modern market economy. Its main features are:
Administratively planned economy. This system prevailed earlier in the USSR, the countries of Eastern Europe and a number of Asian states. The command and control system in most countries arose as a result of the interrupted evolution of the market economy.
Its distinctive feature is that it is based on public, but in reality - on state property. It was created through the expropriation of private ownership of land, nationalization in one form or another of all industrial, commercial and other types of enterprises.
The economic mechanism of the administrative command system has a number of features. It presupposes, firstly, the direct management of all enterprises from a single center - the highest echelons of state power, which negates the independence of economic entities. Moreover, this management is based on the state plan, which is mandatory (directive) in nature for all enterprises and industries. Secondly, the state completely controls not only production, but also the distribution of products, as a result of which free market relationships between individual enterprises are excluded. Third, the state pursues a policy of very low differentiation in wages, which undermines the material interest in its results.
The volume, assortment of products, price level and all other aspects of economic activity were determined based on the political and economic guidelines of the party bureaucratic elite, the so-called nomenclature. A significant part of the resources was directed to the development of the military-industrial complex. The system of rigid centralized planning did not allow taking into account real economic needs, which gave rise to a total permanent deficit of the economy. The orientation of planning mainly towards quantitative natural indicators made the economy immune to the achievements of scientific and technological revolution.
Numerous attempts in the 1950s-1980s. in the USSR and other socialist countries, reforming and improving the planned economy was incompatible with the command-administrative system and was rejected by it. The inability of the command-administrative system to ensure the transition to an intensive type of economic development made radical socio-economic transformations inevitable in almost all socialist (communist) countries. The strategy of economic reforms in these countries is determined by the main trends in the development of world civilization, as a result of which a modern market economy is being built there. Economic theory / Ed. V. A. Smirnova. M .: Finance and statistics, p. 58.
Traditional economic system based on joint (collective) communal ownership of the main resource for this system - land. The distinctive features of the traditional economic system are as follows: an extremely primitive technology associated with the primary processing of natural resources, the predominance of manual labor. All key economic problems are tackled according to time-honored customs, religious, tribal and even caste traditions. The organization and management of economic life is carried out on the basis of decisions of the council of elders, orders of chiefs or feudal lords.
The traditional economic system in its development went through several stages, the system dominated the world up to the market system, but now it has survived in some of the most backward countries of Asia and Africa, although its elements can be traced in the countries of the middle level of development.
Mixed economy - it is an economic system in which both the state and the private sector (enterprises and households) play an important role in the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of all resources and material goods in the country; government intervention in the market economy does not prevail over the regulatory role of the market.
A mixed economy is characteristic of many developed democracies in the West. In real life, it is impossible to find a state with a pronounced economic system. Elements of one economic system often coexist with elements of another. The advanced countries (Germany, USA, France, etc.) strive to flexibly combine market efficiency with government regulation of the economy.
Most of the economic resources in a mixed economy are in private hands, numerous small businesses are combined with large corporations, incentives and free market principles are effective.
At the same time, some important spheres of the economy (for example, railways, fuel and energy and space complexes, general education and healthcare, social protection, etc.) belong to the state and the government actively influences economic and social processes. In some states, the concern for the development of the social sphere is so significant (for example, in Germany or Sweden) that the economy of such countries is often characterized as a social market economy. Economic theory / Ed. V. A. Smirnova. M .: Finance and statistics, p. 59.
However, none of the existing economic systems can be perfect. Ideal societies exist only in theoretical constructions, but in reality it is important which of the systems is effective and viable.
Thus, it is customary to distinguish the following main types of economic systems: traditional, administrative-command, market and mixed.
Economic systems arose when solving economic problems associated with the distribution of limited resources and the presence of opportunity costs. In other words, the economic system is the way in which the economic life in the country and society is formed; the way in which decisions are made about what, how, and for whom to produce.
To better understand how modern how mankind has learned to find answers to its main questions, it is necessary to analyze the thousand-year history of the development of the economic systems of civilization.
Depending on the method of solving the main economic problems and the type of ownership of economic resources, four main types of economic systems: 1) traditional; 2) market (capitalism);3) command (socialism);4) mixed.
The oldest of these is the traditional economic system.
Traditional economic system - a way of organizing economic life, in which land and capital are shared by the tribe, and limited resources are allocated according to long-standing traditions.
As for the ownership of economic resources, in the traditional system it was most often collective, that is, hunting grounds, arable land and meadows belonged to a tribe or community.
Over time, the main elements of the traditional economic system ceased to suit humanity. Life has shown that factors of production are used more efficiently if they are owned by individuals or families, rather than collectively. In none of the richest countries in the world collective property is the basis of society. But in many of the world's poorest countries, remnants of such property have survived.
For instance, the rapid development of agriculture in Russia occurred only at the beginning of the 20th century, when the reforms of P.A.Stolypin destroyed the collective (communal) ownership of land, which was replaced by the ownership of land by individual families. Then, the communists who came to power in 1917 actually restored communal land ownership, declaring the land "public property."
Having built its agriculture on collective property, the USSR was unable for 70 years of the XX century. achieve food abundance. Moreover, by the beginning of the 1980s, the food situation had become so bad that the CPSU was forced to adopt a special "Food Program", which, however, was also not implemented, although huge money was spent on the development of the agricultural sector.
On the contrary, the agriculture of the European countries, the USA and Canada, based on private ownership of land and capital, managed to solve the problem of creating food abundance. And so successfully that the farmers of these countries were able to export a considerable share of their products to other regions of the world.
Practice has shown that markets and firms are better at solving the problem of allocating limited resources and increasing the production of goods of life than councils of elders - the bodies that made fundamental economic decisions in the traditional system.
This is why the traditional economic system over time has ceased to be the basis for organizing people's lives in most countries of the world. Its elements have faded into the background and remained only in fragments in the form of various customs and traditions that are of secondary importance. In most countries of the world, other ways of organizing economic cooperation between people play a leading role.
Has replaced the traditional market system(capitalism) . This system is based on:
1) the right to private property;
2) private business initiative;
3) market organization of the distribution of limited resources of society.
Private property right there is the recognized and legally protected right of an individual to own, use and dispose of a certain type and amount of limited resources (for example, a piece of land, a coal deposit or a factory), which means that and receive income from this. It is the ability to own such a type of productive resources as capital and receive income on this basis that has determined the second, often used name of this economic system - capitalism.
Private property - recognized by society the right of individual citizens and their associations to own, use and dispose of a certain amount (part) of any types of economic resources.
For your information. At first, the right to private property was protected only by force of arms, and only kings and feudal lords were the owners. But then, having traveled a long path of wars and revolutions, mankind created a civilization in which every citizen could become a private owner, if his income allowed him to acquire property.
The right to private property enables the owners of economic resources to independently make decisions on how to use them (as long as this does not harm the interests of society). At the same time, this almost unlimited freedom to manage economic resources has a downside: the owners of private property bear full economic responsibility for their chosen options for its use.
Private business initiative there is the right of each owner of production resources to independently decide how and to what extent to use them to generate income. At the same time, the well-being of each is determined by how successfully he can sell on the market the resource that he owns: his labor force, skills, products of his own hands, his own land plot, the products of his factory or the ability to organize commercial operations.
And finally, actually markets - a certain way organized activities for the exchange of goods.
It is the markets:
1) determine the degree of success of this or that economic initiative;
2) form the amount of income that property brings to its owners;
3) dictate the proportions of distribution of limited resources between alternative spheres of their use.
The dignity of the market mechanism consists in the fact that he makes each seller think about the interests of buyers in order to achieve benefits for himself. If he does not do this, then his goods may turn out to be unnecessary or too expensive and instead of gaining he will receive only losses. But the buyer is forced to reckon with the interests of the seller - he can receive the goods only by paying the price prevailing in the market for it.
Market system (capitalism) - a way of organizing economic life in which capital and land are owned by individuals and limited resources are allocated through markets.
Competitive markets have become the most successful way known to mankind to allocate limited productive resources and the benefits created with their help.
Of course, and the market system has its drawbacks... In particular, it gives rise to huge differences in income and wealth levels , when some are bathed in luxury, while others vegetate in poverty.
Such differences in income have long prompted people to interpret capitalism as an "unjust" economic system and to dream of a better organization of their lives. These dreams led to the emergence of XIX century. social movement named marxism in honor of its main ideologist - a German journalist and economist Karl Marx... He and his followers argued that the market system has exhausted the possibilities of its development and has become a brake on the further growth of the well-being of mankind. Therefore, it was proposed to replace it with a new economic system - command, or socialism (from Latin societas - "society").
Command economic system (socialism) - a method of organizing economic life in which capital and land are owned by the state, and the distribution of limited resources is carried out according to the instructions of the central government and in accordance with plans.
The birth of the command economic system was a consequence of a series of socialist revolutions , whose ideological banner was Marxism. The specific model of the command system was developed by the leaders of the Russian Communist Party V. I. Lenin and I. V. Stalin.
According to Marxist theory mankind could sharply accelerate its path to improving welfare and eliminate differences in the individual well-being of citizens by eliminating private property, eliminating competition and conducting all economic activities of the country on the basis of a single obligatory (directive) plan, which is developed by the state leadership on a scientific basis. The roots of this theory go back to the Middle Ages, in the so-called social utopias, but its practical implementation took place precisely in the 20th century, when the socialist camp arose.
If all resources (factors of production) are declared the property of the whole people, but in reality they are fully disposed by state and party officials, then this entails very dangerous economic consequences. The income of people and firms ceases to depend on how well they use limited resourceshow much the result of their work is really needed by society. Other criteria are becoming more important:
a) for enterprises - the degree of fulfillment and overfulfillment of planned targets for the production of goods. It was for this that the heads of enterprises were awarded orders and appointed ministers. It does not matter that these goods could be completely uninteresting to buyers who, if they had the freedom to choose, would prefer other goods;
b) for people - the nature of the relationship with the authorities, which distributed the most scarce goods (cars, apartments, furniture, trips abroad, etc.), or occupation of a position that opens access to "closed distributors" where such scarce goods can be bought free.
As a result, in the countries of the command system:
1) even the simplest goods necessary for people turned out to be “in short supply”. “Paratroopers,” that is, residents of small towns and villages, who came with large backpacks to buy food, as there was simply nothing in their grocery stores, became a familiar picture in the largest cities;
2) the mass of enterprises constantly suffered losses, and even there was such an amazing category of them as planned-loss-making enterprises. At the same time, employees of such enterprises still regularly received wages and bonuses;
3) the greatest success for citizens and enterprises was to "get" some imported goods or equipment. In the queue for the Yugoslav women's boots were recorded in the evening.
As a result, the end of the XX century. became an era of deep disappointment in the possibilities of the planned-command system, and the former socialist countries took up the difficult task of reviving private property and the system of markets.
Speaking about a planned-command or market economic system, it should be remembered that in their pure form they can only be found on the pages of scientific papers. Real economic life, on the contrary, is always a mixture of elements of different economic systems.
The modern economic system of most developed countries of the world is precisely mixed. Many national and regional economic problems are solved here by the state.
As a rule, today the state participates in the economic life of society for two reasons:
1) some needs of society, due to their specificity (maintenance of the army, the development of laws, the organization of traffic, the fight against epidemics, etc.), it can satisfy better than possible on the basis of only market mechanisms;
2) it can mitigate the negative consequences of the activities of market mechanisms (too large differences in the wealth of citizens, damage to the environment from the activities of commercial firms, etc.).
Therefore, for the civilization of the late XX century. the mixed economic system became predominant.
Mixed economic system - a way of organizing economic life in which land and capital are in private ownership, and the distribution of limited resources is carried out both by markets and with significant participation of the state.
In such an economic system the basis is private ownership of economic resources, although in some countries (France, Germany, Great Britain, etc.) there is a fairly large public sector. It includes enterprises whose capital is fully or partially owned by the state (for example, the German airline Lufthansa), but which: a) do not receive plans from the state; b) work according to market laws; c) forced to compete on equal terms with private firms.
In these countries the main economic issues are mainly decided by the markets. They also distribute the majority of economic resources. At the same time part of the resources are centralized and distributed by the state using command mechanisms in order to compensate for some of the weaknesses of the market mechanisms (Fig. 1).
Figure: 1. The main elements of a mixed economic system (I - the sphere of action of market mechanisms, II - the sphere of action of command mechanisms, that is, control by the state)
In fig. 2 shows a scale that conventionally represents which economic systems different states belong to today.
Figure: 2. Types of economic systems: 1 - USA; 2 - Japan; 3 - India; 4 - Sweden, England; 5 - Cuba, North Korea; 6 - some countries of Latin America and Africa; 7— Russia
Here, the arrangement of the numbers symbolizes the degree of proximity of the economic systems of different countries to one type or another. The purely market system is most fully implemented in some countriesLatin America and Africa... The factors of production there are already predominantly in private ownership, and the state's interference in solving economic issues is minimal.
In countries like USA and Japan, private ownership of the factors of production dominates, but the role of the state in economic life is so great that one can speak of a mixed economic system. At the same time, the Japanese economy retained more elements of the traditional economic system than the United States. This is why number 2 (Japan's economy) is slightly closer to the apex of the traditional triangle than 1 (US economy).
In economies Sweden and UK the role of the state in the distribution of limited resources is even greater than in the United States and Japan, and therefore the number 4 that symbolizes them is to the left of the numbers 1 and 2.
In the most complete form, the command system is now preserved in Cuba and North Korea... Here private property is eliminated, and the state distributes all limited resources.
The existence of significant elements of the traditional economic system in the economy India and others like her countries in Asia and Africa (although the market system prevails here too) determines the placement of the corresponding figure 3.
Location Of Russia (number 7) is determined by the fact that:
1) the foundations of the command system in our country have already been destroyed, but the role of the state in the economy is still very large;
2) the mechanisms of the market system are still being formed (and are still less developed than even in India);
3) the factors of production have not yet been completely transferred to private ownership, and such an important factor of production as land is in fact collectively owned by members of former collective and state farms, only formally transformed into joint stock companies.
To what economic system does the further path of Russia lie?
in country A. the state determines by planning methods which goods and services should be produced, by what means who will receive them and how much.what type of economic system exists in country A.? 1.mixed 2.market 3.centralized 4.traditional
Thank!
1. In what phrase is the word "society" used in a broad sense?1) The joint stock company held an annual meeting of shareholders.
2) The Book Society organized a charity auction.
3) Society unites the past, present and future of humanity.
4) The city society protests against the construction of the expressway
highways.
2. Vera found out that Nadezhda had told her classmates her secret. She did not begin to find out the reasons for this act, but simply stopped talking.
with hope. What is the way of behavior in interpersonal conflict
illustrates this example?
1) mediation
2) leaving
3) arbitration
4) cooperation
3. During a special campaign, funds were raised for the orphanage.
The interrelation of which spheres of public life, first of all, is illustrated
this fact?
1) social and economic
2) political and spiritual
3) economic and political
4) spiritual and economic
4. Are the following judgments about global problems correct?
A. Global problems are a consequence of economic
activities of mankind.
B. To solve global problems, the joint efforts of all
humanity.
1) only A is true
2) only B is true
3) both statements are true
4) both judgments are wrong
5. Purposeful human activity to acquire new knowledge and
skills are called
1) art
2) education
3) creativity
4) morality
6. Are the following judgments about patriotism true?
A. Patriotism presupposes love and respect for historical traditions
their country.
B. Patriotism presupposes a good knowledge of Russian history and
culture.
1) only A is true
2) only B is true
3) both statements are true
4) both judgments are wrong
7. The factors (resources) of production include (are)
1) profit
2) needs
3) labor
4) taxes
8.A certain amount of money that citizens and businesses owe
pay to the state is called
1) tax
2) percentage
3) costs
4) dividends
9.During New Year's Eve sales in different cities around the world, consumers
actively purchase clothes and shoes at discounted prices. Buyers
often come to the doors of stores long before opening, line up
in long lines. What economic phenomenon is manifested in this
fact?
1) cooperation
2) inflation
3) offer
4) demand
10. Are the following judgments about money correct?
A. Money is a measure of the value of goods and services produced.
B. In the modern world, the only form of payment is
use of cash.
1) only A is true
2) only B is true
3) both statements are true
4) both judgments are wrong
11. The expected behavior of a person related to his position in society and
typical for a given social group, called
1) social status
2) social mobility
3) social prestige
4) social role
12.The S. family has a good tradition: every Sunday parents with their
children visit a museum or theater. The role of the family is illustrated by this
example?
1) joint housekeeping
2) distribution of household responsibilities
3) ensuring material wealth
4) spiritual development of children
13. Are the following judgments about social groups correct?
A. Each individual can belong to several social groups.
B. In large social groups, personal contacts are possible between all
members.
1) only A is true
2) only B is true
3) both statements are true
4) both judgments are wrong
“The modern scientific and technological revolution (STR) is characterized by deep integration of science and production, which is expressed in the replacement of traditional technologies, techniques with fundamentally new ones, accompanied by a radical restructuring of the organization of labor and production.<...>
The beginning of the modern scientific and technological revolution dates back to the 50s. XX century. Since that time, scientific activity has become an integral and most important part of social production. Science separates into an independent sphere with a specific material and technical base, highly qualified workers and a special type of final product and takes a leading place in production as a direct productive force.<...>
The beginning of a new stage of scientific and technological revolution in the development of productive forces is characterized by: peculiarities of the dynamics of labor productivity; the volume of production using fundamentally new scientific achievements; the scale of resource conservation of the most important types of raw materials, materials, energy; the transition of most sectors of the economy to a labor-saving type of economic development; an increase in the growth rate of funding and the economic performance of scientific research and development.<...>
Scientific and technological revolution decisively changes the position of a person ... in the production system: he is taken out of the process of creating a finished product, becomes next to him and acts in relation to him in the role of a controller. Previously, a person transferred to the machine first the executive function (the impact with the tool on the object of labor), and then the motor, energy; now, along with the reduction of direct human participation in production, there is an expansion of types of labor associated with the implementation of control and management ... functions of an ever higher level, with the adoption of responsible decisions. " (The text is taken from the book: Social Studies: A Tutor's Guide / Edited by O.S. Belokrylova, V.I. Filonenko. - Rostov n / D: Phoenix, 2008. - P. 426, 427, 431 - and adapted.)
C1
Make an outline of the text. To do this, highlight the main semantic fragments of the text and title each of them.
To what time, according to the text, does the beginning of modern scientific and technological revolution refer? Why? Find two explanations in the text.
C4
Using the content of the text and social science knowledge, list any three areas of modern scientific and technological revolution.
C5
Talking in the lesson about the features of modern scientific and technological revolution, the student noted that its development in the XXI century. makes it possible to provide the technical and technological side of solving the global problems of mankind. Not all of the students in the class agreed with this opinion. Which of these two points of view is reflected in the text? Provide a piece of text that helps answer the question.
C6
Do you agree that scientific and technological revolution is characterized by positive social consequences, thanks to which the omnipotence of man, his superiority over nature, was formed? Based on the text and social science knowledge, give two arguments (explanations) in defense of your position.
family members, as well as the following methods:
Instilling various rules and requirements for young children with the help of lullabies, fun, fairy tales, songs filled with parental love;
Inclusion of children from the earliest years in economic and labor activities, communication with elders and peers;
Organization of advice to parents and senior family members when children make responsible decisions in life;
Encouraging children in order to foster self-esteem and such moral qualities as kindness, hard work, diligence, obedience, respect for older family members and other people;
Hint (direct or indirect) - a way of showing children their shortcomings and miscalculations in behavior and activities in an ethical and correct tone;
Reproach is the expression by parents both in word and in a look, gesture, facial expressions of dissatisfaction with the actions and behavior of children;
Test as a way to test the readiness of children for independent work and family life, for the implementation of the moral rules and norms of the life of their people;
A blessing is a complex of parental instructions, teachings, warnings, orders and requests to children in the most crucial periods of their life (transition to independent labor activity, military service, marriage or marriage).
Describe these methods in terms of their effectiveness, importance for the future life of children, humanity. Which of these methods are used in your family?
1) What role does political knowledge play in political activity? 2) What does the use of incorrect information lead to? 3) As a person who knowsturns into a powerful man? 4) What is the significance of correct ideas about reality for making power decisions? YOU ARE WELCOME
· Economy as a system. Centralized and Decentralized Economy. Some features of decision making in microeconomic systems.
· A systematic description of the decision-making problem (DM).
· Mathematical model of the problem of decision making. Implementation and evaluation structure of the decision-making problem. Features of mathematical models of decision-making in economics.
· Research methodology of decision making based on mathematical modeling.
1. The economy of any state (or region) can be viewed as a large system, the elements of which are producers and consumers of various goods and services. According to the method of coordinating economic activity, economic systems are divided into centralized (administrative-command) and decentralized (market).
A characteristic feature of the administrative-command system is that in it economic decisions are made by the governing body (state) and transferred to economic entities in the form of orders that are binding. In the administrative management of the economy, the governing body must have an extremely large amount of information regarding the needs of the population, the available production capacity, stocks of goods and raw materials, the distribution of labor, etc. Therefore, a large (expensive) army of officials is needed - a state bureaucracy that collects information , its processing, drawing up on this basis of economic plans, their coordination, adjustment, as well as control over their implementation.
Decentralized economy is based on the sovereignty of economic entities. So in relation to producers (firms), this means, first of all, the freedom in making economic decisions: what, in what quantities and what quality to produce from the available resources, as well as to whom and at what prices to sell the manufactured products.
Consumer sovereignty is the right to make decisions related to the disposal of resources belonging to him. At the same time, the mutual coordination of the plans of producers and consumers is carried out through the exchange of manufactured goods on the market, which takes place at prices set freely depending on the ratio of supply and demand.
The economic activity of individual subjects of the economy (individuals, households, firms, owners of primary resources, etc.) is studied in the section of economic theory, which is commonly called microeconomics. At the same time, the activity of economic entities, considered within the framework of the microeconomic system, is characterized by a great dependence on the actions of other entities. For example, if a firm makes a certain decision related to the production of a particular product or the sale of a certain product, then the final result (for example, the firm's profit) depends not only on its decision, but on many other factors: decisions made by other firms, behavior of indicators , the action of the legislature, the exchange rate, etc. Therefore, the decision that the firm makes will be a decision in the face of uncertainty. This uncertainty is created both due to the actions of other economic actors pursuing their own interests, and due to the incompleteness of the information available to the company about the current economic situation.
The main method of following that economic theory uses is the modeling of economic processes and phenomena. The subject of this course is mathematical models of the behavior of economic entities within the microeconomic system. In this case, the direction of the analysis of the considered mathematical models has a normative character and consists in giving an answer to the question - what actions should be taken. to achieve the best (in a sense) results? Thus, the content of the course can be characterized as the construction of mathematical models of microeconomics and their study in the normative aspect.
2. The most general approach to the description of decision-making problems (DM) is formulated in the "language of systems". Let us give a systematic description of decision-making problems.
Let there be some system in which the control subsystem (control object) and the environment are distinguished. The control subsystem can affect the control object using alternative control actions. The state of the control object is determined by two factors: the selected control action from the control subsystem and the state of the environment. The following circumstance is fundamental: the control subsystem cannot influence the environment and, moreover, it, as a rule, does not have complete information about the current state of the environment.
The control subsystem is purposeful, and the purpose of the control subsystem is to transfer the control object to its most preferred state (or to some subset of preferred states). To achieve this goal, the control subsystem can use any control action at its disposal.
The choice of a specific control action by the control subsystem (choice of an admissible alternative) is called decision making. Decision making is central to all governance.
When making a decision, the main task is to find the optimal solution. At the substantive level, the optimal solution can be defined as the best in the following sense: it best suits the purpose of the control subsystem within the framework of the information it has about the state of the environment.
3. The mathematical model of decision-making is a formalization of the scheme, which is given in the system description of the CRP. To build a mathematical decision-making model, it is necessary to specify the following three sets:
X is a set of feasible alternatives (alternatives, strategies, options, actions, decisions, plans, etc.);
Y is the set of possible states of the environment;
A - many possible outcomes.
It is always assumed that the set X contains at least two alternatives; otherwise, there is no need to make a decision.
In the systemic description of the CRA, alternatives are interpreted as control actions, and outcomes - as states of a controlled subsystem.
Since the state of the controlled subsystem is completely determined by the choice of the control action and the state of the environment, then each pair (x, y), where and, corresponds to a certain outcome. In other words, there is a function F: called the implementation function.
The function of realization for each pair of the form (alternative, state of the environment) associates the outcome determined by it.
The set of objects (X, Y, A, F) constitutes the implementation structure of the decision making problem. The implementation framework reflects the relationship between the chosen alternatives and outcomes; In general, this relationship is not deterministic (unambiguous): the appearance of this or that particular outcome depends not only on the chosen alternative, but also on the existing state of the environment. Thus, there is, as they say, strategic uncertainty; this uncertainty is created due to the impact of the environment on the control object.
Depending on the information that the control subsystem has when making a decision regarding the state of the environment, there are several main types of decision-making problem.
1. Decision making in conditions of certainty is characterized by the fact that the state of the environment is fixed (unchanged), and the control system "knows" in what state the environment is.
2. Making a decision under risk conditions means that the control subsystem has information of a stochastic nature about the behavior of the environment, for example, it knows the probability distribution over the set of states of the environment).
3. Decision-making under conditions of uncertainty occurs if the control subsystem does not have any additional information (except for the knowledge of the very set of possible states of the environment).
4. Decision making in game-theoretic conditions takes place when the environment can be interpreted as one or more purposeful control subsystems. In this case, the mathematical model of decision-making is called a game-theoretic model (game).
The implementation structure of the decision making problem is its first component. The second component of the CRP is called its value structure. If the implementation framework determines the emerging result, then the evaluation framework indicates the assessment of this result in terms of the decision.
In the mathematical model of the ZPR, the evaluation structure can be specified in various ways. For example, if a decision maker can evaluate the effectiveness (equivalent in meaning, the term "utility", "value") of each outcome by a certain number, then the evaluation structure is set in the form of a pair, where; in this case it is called the evaluation function.
Another way to define the scoring structure is to indicate the outcome preference ratio, which boils down to listing pairs of outcomes for which is better than (which is written as and reads “preferred than”.
Comment. Sometimes a loose preference relationship is used; the entry reads: "the outcome is no less preferable than the outcome."
Another way to define the evaluation structure is to divide the set of outcomes A into two classes: A0 - the class of “bad” outcomes and A1 - the class of “good” outcomes. There are other ways to define an evaluation structure. We note again that the estimated structure of the CRP is subjective: the outcomes are assessed from the point of view of the decision maker.
The most common is the assignment of an evaluation structure in the form of an evaluation function.
The objective function f is the composition of the implementation function F and the evaluation function, i.e. Thus . The objective function has the following meaningful meaning: a number is an estimate of the utility (from the point of view of the decision maker) of the outcome that arises in a situation when he chooses an alternative x, and the environment takes the state y.
Comment. In some decision-making problems, the evaluation of outcomes characterizes it in a negative sense, being an expression of costs, losses, etc. In this case, the objective function f is called the loss function.
So, the construction of a mathematical model of the decision-making problem is reduced to the assignment of two structures: the implementation structure and the evaluative structure. The implementation framework reflects the relationship between the alternatives chosen and the outcomes that arise. With the help of the evaluation framework, a subjective assessment of the emerging outcomes from the point of view of the decision maker is made.
In conclusion, let us point out some features of mathematical models of decision-making problems in economics. As already noted, in microeconomic situations of decision-making, the firm most often acts as a decision-maker (i.e., as a control subsystem). The environment here can be the natural environment (or its analogue), and a competing firm, buyers, and the legislature, etc. Although in the construction of a decision-making model it is generally impossible to clearly indicate what the environment is, it is useful to be guided by the following principle: the environment is what determines the appearance of one or another outcome for each fixed alternative. In other words, the environment is a system (structure, organization, individual), the fixation of the state of which leads, when the control subsystem chooses any specific alternative, to a result that is uniquely evaluated by it.
Finally, the value of profit (or the amount of costs) is most often used as an evaluation function in economic decision-making problems. However, in a number of tasks, other quantities can also be considered as a natural assessment of outcomes, for example, the amount of products produced, the time of project implementation, the market share that is controlled by this company, etc.
4. The methodology for researching decision-making problems based on mathematical modeling consists in the implementation of the following three stages.
Stage 1. Construction of a mathematical model of the ZPR.
Stage 2. Formulation of the principle of optimality and finding the optimal solution.
Stage 3. Analysis of the results obtained.