Vìsnik Žitomirsʹkogo Deržavnogo Tehnologìčnogo Unìversitetu: Ekonomìčnì Nauki (Sep 2015)
Socio-economic institutions in classical political economy of Ukraine
Abstract
Fragmentary researches of socio-economic institutions by classical political economy are caused by the absence of social components in its methodological «core». The article concentrates on the ideas of institutionalism in the context of classical political economy formation. The author underlines the necessity to adapt the analysis of socio-economic institutions in the heritage of classical political economy in Ukraine of the 19-th century to the creation of an integral conception of genesis and evolution of institutionalism in Ukrainian economic thought. Following the traditions of European economic science, Ukrainian scientists tried to take into account social contradictions, the needs in democratic transformations of social relations in their works. In spite of absence of the category of «standard (rule)» among Adam Smith’s followers, and Ukrainian economists paid attention to a social problematic in the context of traditional researches of classical political economy, there is the necessity to examine socio-economic institutions in their heritage and the possibility of its application to the formation of the paradigm of modern institutionalism. Michail Baludyanskiy considered that a state could limit the freedom of an economic activity only on the base of generally accepted standards, but in this case contributing to safety and freedom of an economic activity. National system of economy, its legislative and management systems must conceptually obey economic policy, Anthropocentrism defined the philosophical conception of Tihon Stepanov’s political economy. He followed methodological holism as he concluded the characteristics of an individual on the base of characteristics of institutions (society). Ivan Vernadskiy’s researches concerning behavior of an individual and his trials to characterize value from a consumer’s point of view don’t fully correspond to traditional classical political economy. To improve Adam Smith’s study the scientist created the theory of needs on the base of a consumer’s behavior analysis. Ivan Vernadskiy’s methodological holism (wholeness) and evolutionism unite him with the methodology of classical institutionalism. Possession as one of the attributes of an ownership the scientist analyzes as specific informal limitation. The author draws the conclusion that in the first half of the 19-th century Ukrainian economists uttered the ideas similar to the ideas of institutionalism. The peculiarity of Ukrainian economic thought is its anthropocentrism. The most important institution for Ukrainian economists is freedom in its widest understanding, but not only in understanding of economic activities. They tried to explain the subject of political economy widely involving mental and ethical, spiritual, legal and other factors to the scientific analysis; they attempted to research the motivation of economic behavior of a person and its limitations.
