A set of institutions related to the functioning of political power. Social institutions Basic social institutions

The financial system, as a rule, is a set of financial markets and the state financial system (tax system, state budget, monetary policy, system of state financial transfers, etc.).

It is generally accepted that, in turn, financial markets are a combination of the money market, as well as securities and capital markets. A clear separation of these institutions is practically impossible. However, the dominant view is that “money markets” are those financial markets in which short-term liabilities are exchanged for external money,
and the term “capital market” covers both financial markets and markets in which “real” property is transacted.

All components (parts) of the financial system have a certain similarity: in financial transactions there is an increased risk, compared to non-financial business agents, which, naturally, is compensated by an additional premium (additional bonus). In economic theory, this phenomenon has been described by capital asset pricing models in space (CAPM, average variance), intertemporal models and arbitrage pricing theory.

As we see it, the financial system is a subsystem of the economy and is designed to ensure (1) the monetary circulation of the movement of goods and services, (2) the redistribution of funds and (3) the transformation of financial
assets. Our research is aimed at identifying the essence of the last, third component of the financial system - financial intermediation for the transformation of assets.

In its most general form, financial intermediaries are enterprises involved in the purchase and sale of financial assets. Thus, financial intermediaries are the main participants in organized financial markets. The financial business, in contrast to the ordinary one, and the financial market, in contrast to the organized (material, non-financial) market, are branches of non-price competition, where the quality and nature of the services offered are important (very often they are differentiated and specified by consumers), traditions of interaction with clients. Historical experience has shown that non-price factors quickly become monopolized or oligopolized. Economic theory comes from the assumption that financial transactions are epiphenomena that form a “veil” that hides the internal content of real processes from a superficial observer. The Modigliani-Miller theorem implied that the cost
financial assets are exactly equal to the value of those external assets for which the owners of the financial assets have claims. However, modern economics has completely refuted these assumptions: the financial economy not only serves the real economy, but also has the properties of self-expansion and self-generation. Upon further analysis, we will be convinced that in terms of scale and profits, the financial economy has become significantly ahead of non-financial corporations.

Financial intermediation is the field of activity of agents of the financial system. According to some economists, through the financial system, purchasing power is transferred from economic units with a surplus budget (or with surplus finance - A.B.) to economic units with a deficit budget. At the same time, financial intermediaries transform financial requirements into such
in such a way that they become more attractive to the end investor. The process of purchasing direct claims of economic units with a shortage of funds, and their transformation (transformation) into indirect claims, is financial intermediation. At the same time, the transfer of funds from enterprises with a positive budget to enterprises with a negative budget is carried out through (1) direct or (2) indirect financing.

This is an overly classic and honest definition. Things are changing rapidly these days. The development of the financial system in the world over the past decade and a half has largely refuted the above point of view. First, by the beginning of the 20th century and during its first 15 years, financial intermediation was associated not only with the transformation of claims. Secondly, in order to lend money it is not necessary to have a surplus in the balance of financial flows (budget). And in order to borrow them, there is not necessarily a shortage of funds. A clear example is the United States and American companies that have the largest deficits
among OECD countries, but they are the ones who are engaged in large-scale mediation projects.

D. Blackwell, D. Kidwell, R. Peterson understand financial intermediation as the activity of firms in which the EEDB buys the financial claims of the EEDB. One could completely agree with this approach, if not for one very important circumstance: who determines a company with a surplus and a company with a deficit budget? Some states themselves artificially create a deficit or surplus of financial resources (for example, the budget). Soon the results of such decisions affect the activities of financial intermediaries, increasing their deficits or surpluses.

R. Levin identifies financial intermediation as the ability of this subsystem of economic relations to reduce risks, mobilize savings, increase the awareness of business entities, stimulate exchange processes, etc. According to A. Darbinyan and E. Sandoyan, financial intermediation is work in the following four areas: possession of information, consumption smoothing, delegation of investment monitoring and positioning in

as a “liquidity pool” or “coalition of investors”

According to other scientists (Pomogaeva E.A.), financial intermediation is a joint activity of a set of financial institutions to ensure the continuity of capital flows between economic entities, implemented through a double exchange of debt claims and obligations. We see no problem with this definition, except that it is overly general.

In our opinion, the system of financial intermediation in the sense of professional subjects should be recognized as a set of institutions of non-price competition designed to transform some types of claims into others, some types of assets into others (for example, external assets into internal ones), potential future income into actual expenses of the present, relative time financial surpluses of some
receivers into real money of others. The time for financial intermediation has come: it fell to the share of the second half of the 20th century and beginning of XXI. The development of the financial system has exceeded all expectations. Therefore, statements that were “fresh” just yesterday about the essence of the modern system of financial intermediation turn out to be outdated or insufficient.

Typically, among the instruments of financial intermediation, the following should be considered: deposit, loan, seigniorage (seigniorage), currency exchange, shares, bonds, options, mortgage, markets for derivative financial instruments (futures, forwards, options), provision of guarantees and guarantees, insurance contracts (policies, premiums, payments), shares, financial leasing and factoring, pawnshops. And the institutions of financial intermediation are banks, treasuries, international financial institutions, insurance companies, mutual and investment funds, stock markets, hedge funds, other derivative funds, etc. Recently, financial services have been seriously analyzed as a separate type of financial services.

remittances from labor migrants (MTM), reached

534 billion dollars in 2012 Not always, but more often

27 Gaidutsky A.P. Banks and migration capital. K.: Information Systems LLC, 2013. P. 39. According to the World Bank, these transfers to

After the transfer, these funds are also transformed from one type of asset to another. According to the World Bank, remittances almost reach the level of 50%

of FDI in the world and account for about 0.5% of global

GDP, and the number of migrants over the past 5 years is already 213 million people. Therefore, in our opinion, DTMs have also become a tool of financial intermediation in our time.

Until recently, it was customary to represent the essence of financial intermediation through a system of services provided by financial intermediaries (splitting the loan amount; transferring one national currency to another; establishing a flexible system of repayment terms; diversifying the risk of non-payment; ensuring illiquidity). At the same time, the following types of financial intermediaries were noted: (1) deposit-type institutions (commercial banks, savings institutions, credit unions); (2) savings institutions operating on
contractual basis (life insurance companies; accident insurance companies; pension funds); (3) investment funds (mutual funds; money market mutual funds) and (4) a number of other types of financial intermediaries (financial companies for consumer, business and trade loans; government financial institutions and agencies, derivatives institutions or derivatives). To this list, without a doubt, one should add insurance brokers and agents, currency dealers, pawnshops and exchange offices, and payment and settlement organizations. The list of types of services has changed greatly over the past 20 years (new products include hedge funds, wealth management, natural resource insurance, etc.). In this regard, some confusion is obvious in the systematization of types and types of services.

For example, in F. Fabozzi we find the following system for structuring financial intermediation institutions: he divides the entire range of financial institutions into 2 camps. He calls the first camp “financial
mi institutions,” and also divides them into (1) insurance companies, (2) depository organizations (banks, savings institutions, etc.) and (3) investment companies. In the second camp, he notes non-financial institutions: savings funds, savings of non-financial

owl corporations, etc.

Of course, each researcher has the right to decide for himself regarding the research methodology. But in the case of financial intermediation institutions, there is one important circumstance: one cannot help but notice that part of these institutions is associated with the processes of accumulation of funds, the second part is more due to the transformation of these accumulated funds into savings, the third transforms savings into investments, and, finally, the very last part transforms investments into income. There are also institutions of financial intermediation that simply transform some types of assets into other types and, the most “fashionable” of them, convert future income into present expenses. At the same time, in our opinion, it is very important to avoid cross (double, triple, etc.) accounting when structuring and assessing the financial system. Very often, sometimes at the level of reputable international financial organizations, when assessing total assets or financial
new markets, a mechanical summation of the corresponding assets takes place. For example, the IMF in 2011 assessed capital markets by summing up the capitalization of stock markets, public and private bonds, and bank assets. In principle, you can do this. But a significant part of banks’ assets is tied to bonds, and about half of purchases of shares

tions are therefore carried out through the capitalization of stock markets through bank loans.

The main structural units of the financial intermediation market are presented schematically in Figure 1.1.

The scheme is constructed taking into account the fact that the following requirements are imposed on money (as well as financial) market instruments: (1) low risk of non-payment; (2) low risk of fluctuation in their value (or short payment period); (3) high marketability and (4) low transaction costs. At the same time, the process of withdrawal of newly issued financial claims by the EEDB is called “primary placement”.

In this regard, we propose to divide the entire set of financial intermediation institutions into 4
groups: structures that transform income into savings and savings; structures that transform savings into investment and income; structures that transform future income into present expenses, and structures that transform one type of asset into another (Fig. 1.2.). This model approach to the problem brings a certain clarity and logical consistency to the presentation.

According to the sources of origin, methods of functioning and purposes of lending, the financial system, it seems to us, can be presented as follows:

Corporate securities market;

Derivatives market (including hedging);

Payment systems;

Pension funds;

Mutual Funds and Asset Management Industry;

Rice. 1.1. Financial intermediation market and its elements.

Government securities market;

Banking system;

Consumer lending (including credit cards, loans and pawnshops).

Some other institutions of the financial system should also be mentioned here. For example, it would be appropriate to remind about the monetary system under the control of the government (budget, guarantees, guarantees), etc. However, as noted above, in our work we will study only institutions of financial intermediation and only professional subjects. In this regard, for example, public finances are not the object of our study. Along with this, hedging institutions have recently begun to be considered an important institution of financial intermediation. All
The hedging system is built on the theories of efficient market, opportunity costs, efficient markets hypothesis (EMH), dual concepts of profitability and risk, pricing of close substitutes in the absence of arbitrage, etc. All this is becoming increasingly important. In our work, however, hedging institutions are not specifically considered. Their development is associated with the presence of a mature system of financial intermediation.

Rice. 1.2. Structure of financial intermediation institutions.

As for currency exchange operations, sales and purchases of bonds, investment dealerships, etc., we do not consider them either. Foreign exchange transactions and partly bond transactions are institutions of external (formal in relation to the financial system) transformation of assets and, as it were, instruments of financial intermediation - no less interesting.

Thus, our attention will be fully paid to such structural elements of financial intermediation as: banks and credit institutions, pension funds and Insurance companies, mutual and investment funds (banks), bridge borrowers and stock markets.

The presence in the country of a specialized system of financial intermediaries allows us, it seems to us, to have a transformation of assets, money, and funds that are carried out more efficiently and quickly. Indeed, in this case, the following are triggered: (1) economies of scale, (2) cost savings on transactions, (3) increased speed of action and reduced likelihood of errors for clients, (4) the ability to systematize events and predict the actions of transaction participants. Research by J. Tobin showed that the velocity of money circulation, calculated according to

GNP in the US economy is 6–7 times its growth per year. But if not only final, but also intermediate transactions with goods and services are considered, the number of turnovers per year can be 20 or 30, and in the case of bank deposits - even 500. And here the main accelerator is the financial system.

The question arises: what determines the volume and scale of the modern financial system? According to R. Goldsmith, the modern financial system is a “superstructure” in the economic system. N. Hakansson believes that the essence of financial intermediation institutions is the financial market, which consists of instruments such as shares, bonds, options and insurance contracts. As we can see, this author does not have a loan or deposit as financial market instruments.

Representative of the Paris School of Economics T. Piketty, whose work caused big interest at the beginning of 2014, believes that the influence of finance on the economic

growth is cyclical. So, in his opinion, for 1700–1820. return on capital (profit) was 5.1%, although global growth was then at 0.5%. For 1820–1913 the numbers have changed: 5 and 1.5%, respectively, for 1913–1950. – 5.2% and 1.9%, for 1950–2012. 5.3% and 3.8%. But, in his opinion, for 2013–2100. there will be a decrease in these indicators, respectively, to 4.3% and 1.5%. The author believes that thus the times have come when the marginal efficiency of investments and financial intermediation will fall, as happened in the late Middle Ages.

The development of the financial system is also influenced by taxation requirements: the higher the development of the state’s financial institutions, the greater the chances for relative

very low taxes.

R. Goldsmith's approach may have previously been relevant - 28-30 years ago, when, for example, in the USA, the cost of transactions on the stock market was 1/3 of GNP. Today (2014) the capitalization of the stock market of this country is 151.2% of GDP, and in the world in
on average - 94.6% (peak value - 114.7% in 2007). Many are already beginning to doubt whether it is right to consider the financial sector as a “superstructure”? In 2011 The US produced only 9% of goods and services traded in the world, 22% of global GDP ($15.09 trillion from $66.99) and 65% of all financial services. The country's losses in global exports and in global GDP production were offset by a sharp increase in its share of financial services. The United States is the only country in the world for which a decrease in its share in world exports does not threaten to weaken the economic influence of this country. Due to the effectively organized financial sector, dollars that have “gone away” due to a negative balance of payments have been returning to this country for 30 years now. The opinion of T. Piketty is of serious scientific interest, but for now we are witnessing the unbridled growth of the sphere of financial intermediation throughout the world.

Now let’s answer this question: what determines the amount of total assets of financial institutions?
mediation? How to decide in order to more or less correctly diagnose: what level of financial services is sufficient for a given (discussed, considered) period of time? Starting with, to what extent could further growth in financial services harm the development of the real economy? Only for 2007–2013. Fed assets to US GDP increased from 5.5% to 21%, the Bank of England - from 6 to 26% and the Bank of Japan - from 21 to 45%. All this gives rise to the need to reassess the activities of financial intermediation institutions (for example, banks). After all, the growth of any industry means increased resource consumption. Therefore, growth in one sector of the economy is always a loss of growth in another sector. Hence, in our opinion, excessive swelling of the financial intermediation system always, to one degree or another, means a pause or slowdown in growth in the real sector of the economy. For example, the construction of a residential building, of course, needs to be insured and, possibly, reinsured. But "reinsurance of reinsurance" means from
excess flow of resources into the financial sector. Rather, it generates GDP growth, but is in no way related to the needs of economic growth.

According to some authors, the limit to the growth of the financial intermediation system is the substitution of external assets, namely: the flow of resources from one sphere of the economy to another will continue until equal opportunities appear in all spheres economic growth. One way or another, the behavior of financial intermediation institutions has always been unpredictable. A good illustration of what has been said can be a comparison of the fact and analysts’ forecasts for the S&P composite index for 1985–2009. Only in 1998 analysts managed to predict the

the identity of the index.

The process of replacing external assets (assets located outside the functioning of a particular business) or money with internal ones (money “arrives” in the industry for direct use) occurs through depository instruments. J. Tobin thinks so
It is also true that financial intermediation makes it possible to reduce inventories, redistributes risks towards those savings owners who are more ready for this and, finally, reduces the need for money by pooling risks. But Tobin, being a representative of the Keynesian school, is looking for a certain deterministic explanation. Monetarists may not like this approach. In their opinion, there is no need to look for artificial differences between the various sectors of the economy (real and financial), each of them plays its irreplaceable role in expanding consumption. Some authors went further: in their opinion, instead of the system of national accounts, it is necessary to use the system of international accounts, and therefore they propose the use of an indicator of aggregate financial and economic results within individual countries, and in international comparison they propose to take into account only the exported added value of financial companies

So, where should we look for the boundaries of development of the overall system of financial intermediation? Are these boundaries constant or do they evolve?

In our opinion, there cannot be a single and constant opinion on the issue of the boundaries of the financial intermediation system. Historically, over a certain period of time, the essence of the financial system has changed. For example, if a few decades ago banks (the main financial intermediaries at that time) created a certain value of financial services by accumulating savings, now the ratio of deposits to loans is constantly decreasing. The mobilization of “savings” also occurs through bond institutions, the issue of banknotes, collateral of real estate (the so-called “wealth management”), demonetization of foreign exchange reserves, sterilization of “surpluses” of the balance of payments (sterilization of foreign exchange earnings from the sale of oil, gas, raw materials, transfers of labor migrants , excess of exports over imports). Thus, in general, the development of financial intermediation, multiple financial services (lending, refinancing, credit insurance, credit reinsurance, refinancing insurance, refinancing reinsurance, etc.) are normal phenomena. It is also normal that a certain volume of GDP and a share of financial
intermediation in the economy is constantly growing. To achieve a certain economic growth, it is completely unimportant that at the same time there is a strong growth in financial services and a decrease in the share of the real economy. Such a financial economy is needed and must be taken into account. However, there are and should be certain boundaries for the distribution of financial services. First, it must be clearly determined whether these services result in the current use of resources for future generations? In particular, doesn’t every development of the institutions of debt and bonds cause absolute and comparative poverty for future generations, and doesn’t it narrow the field of their economic activity? And doesn’t this explain the salaries of the heads of financial organizations, unprecedented compared to other sectors of the economy? Secondly, doesn’t the system of financial intermediation lead to an artificial transfer of resources from one industry to another, and doesn’t this stop the growth of certain sectors of the economy? Thirdly, does not the flexibility of financial instruments in the modern global world allow us to minimize economic risks in this system and does not increase them in other sectors of the economy?

Table 1.1.

Volume of financial markets, trillion. dollars (2011).

Table 1.1 data. show what impressive dimensions financial markets have reached these days. It is characteristic that in Asia, which still lags behind America and Europe in terms of economic development, and in other developing regions, the indicators for the development of financial markets ($57.7 trillion) are no less (USA - $60.9 trillion, Europe - 89.2). Thus, according to the indicators, loans (issued by the banking sector) / GDP (Table 1.2.) some Asian countries or countries with economies in transition, despite the repeated lag in terms of GDP per capita, in 2012. were at a completely comparable level with developed countries. For example, China is ahead of Germany and France in this indicator, and Ukraine, where economic development (GDP per capita) is on average 11 57 The Economist. May 14th-20th, 2011. R. 4.

times lower than in developed countries and 3.5 times lower than the world average; according to the indicator under consideration, it is at the level of 61% compared to the indicators in Germany. In Armenia, the dynamics of the financial system also significantly outstrips the growth of other sectors of the economy. However, in 2013 the “loans/GDP” indicator in Armenia amounted to 44.8%: its growth rate decreased. In relation to Russia, as E.D. Sorokin rightly notes in his analyses, the share of the economy in the structure of the world economy is insignificant (3.2%). But in the capital and investment markets this share is even smaller: 2.8 and 1.5%, respectively 58 .

Table 1.2.

Ratio of domestic lending volumes to GDP, 2012, %. 59

58 Sorokin D.E. Strategic guidelines for anti-crisis policy (http://shabrov.info/elbrus/sorok.pdf). C. 53.

59 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FS.AST.DOMS.GD.ZS

60 Average for 2011

1870–1960 this figure decreased by 8–10 times. This means that in 1960 banks needed 10 times less funds to lend to the economy than in 1870. After 1960 the cost of banking services is rising sharply, but their cost is growing even faster. At the very end of the 20th century, the cost of banking services was already 3 times higher than in the 60s of the 20th century. After the financial crisis of 2008–2009, when in order to ensure further stability the Basel III system was activated, with a sharp increase in the capital adequacy requirements of banks and credit institutions,
the cost of loans increased by another 1.5–1.7 times and returned to the level late XIX– beginning of the 20th century.

Rice. 1.3. Capital/assets ratio in the banking systems of the USA and Great Britain for 1870–1990. 62

Consequently, the financial system has gone through a 120-year cycle: it is increasingly less effective and worthwhile in driving global economic growth. Below, taking into account the above, we will try to outline a certain model that regulates the “fair” volumes and share of the financial system in the economy at this stage of development of the country’s economy.

A social institution in a sociological interpretation is considered as historically established, stable forms of organizing the joint activities of people; in a narrower sense, it is an organized system of social connections and norms designed to satisfy the basic needs of society, social groups and personality.

Social institutions(insitutum - institution) - value-normative complexes(values, rules, norms, attitudes, patterns, standards of behavior in certain situations), as well as bodies and organizations, ensuring their implementation and approval in the life of society.

All elements of society are interconnected public relations- connections that arise between and within social groups in the process of material (economic) and spiritual (political, legal, cultural).

In the process, some connections may die, others may appear. Connections that have proven their benefits to society are streamlined, become generally significant patterns and are subsequently repeated from generation to generation. The more stable these connections that are useful for society are, the more stable the society itself is.

Social institutions (from the Latin institutum - device) are called elements of society representing stable forms of organization and regulation public life. Such institutions of society as the state, education, family, etc., organize social relations, regulate the activities of people and their behavior in society.

Main target social institutions - achieving stability during the development of society. In accordance with this purpose, there are functions institutes:

• meeting the needs of society;
• regulation of social processes (during which these needs are usually satisfied).

Needs, which are satisfied by social institutions, are diverse. For example, society’s need for security can be supported by the defense institution, spiritual needs by the church, and the need to understand the world around us by science. Each institution can satisfy several needs (the church is able to satisfy religious, moral, cultural needs), and the same need can be satisfied by different institutions (spiritual needs can be satisfied by art, science, religion, etc.).

The process of satisfying needs (say, the consumption of goods) can be institutionally regulated. For example, there are legal restrictions on the purchase of a number of goods (weapons, alcohol, tobacco). The process of meeting society's needs for education is regulated by institutions of primary, secondary, higher education.

The structure of a social institution form:

• and designed to satisfy the needs of groups and individuals;
• a set of social values ​​and patterns of behavior that ensure satisfaction of needs;
• system of symbols regulating relationships in economic sphere activities (trademark, flag, brand, etc.);
• ideological justifications for the activities of a social institution;
• social resources used in the activities of the institute.

TO signs of a social institution relate:

• a set of institutions, social groups whose purpose is to satisfy certain needs of society;
• a system of cultural patterns, norms, values, symbols;
• a system of behavior in accordance with these norms and patterns;
• material and human resources necessary to solve problems;
• socially recognized mission, goal, ideology.

Let us consider the characteristics of an institute using the example of secondary vocational education. It includes:

• teachers, officials, administration educational institutions etc.;
• standards of student behavior, society's attitude towards the system of professional education;
• the established practice of relations between teachers and students;
• buildings, classrooms, teaching aids;
• mission is to meet society's needs for good specialists with secondary vocational education.

In accordance with the spheres of public life, four main groups of institutions can be distinguished:

• economic institutions - division of labor, stock exchange, etc.;
• political institutions- state, army, militia, police, parliamentarism, presidency, monarchy, court, parties, civil society;
• institutions of stratification and kinship - class, estate, caste, gender discrimination, racial segregation, nobility, social security, family, marriage, paternity, maternity, adoption, twinning;
• cultural institutions- school, high school, secondary professional education, theaters, museums, clubs, libraries, church, monasticism, confession.

The number of social institutions is not limited to the given list. Institutions are numerous and varied in their forms and manifestations. Large institutions may include lower level institutions. For example, the institute of education includes institutes of primary, vocational and high school; court - institutions of the legal profession, prosecutor's office, judging; family - institutions of motherhood, adoption, etc.

Since society is a dynamic system, some institutions may disappear (for example, the institution of slavery), while others may appear (the institution of advertising or the institution of civil society). The formation of a social institution is called the process of institutionalization.

Institutionalization- the process of streamlining social relations, forming stable patterns of social interaction based on clear rules, laws, patterns and rituals. For example, the process of institutionalization of science is the transformation of science from the activity of individuals into an ordered system of relationships, including a system of titles, academic degrees, research institutes, academies, etc.

Basic social institutions

TO main social institutions traditionally include family, state, education, church, science, law. Below is given a brief description of of these institutions and their main functions are presented.

- the most important social institution of kinship, connecting individuals through a commonality of life and mutual moral responsibility. The family performs a number of functions: economic (housekeeping), reproductive (having children), educational (transferring values, norms, models), etc.

- the main political institution that manages society and ensures its security. The state performs internal functions, including economic (regulating the economy), stabilization (maintaining stability in society), coordination (ensuring public harmony), ensuring the protection of the population (protecting rights, legality, social security) and many others. There are also external functions: defense (in case of war) and international cooperation (to protect the interests of the country in the international arena).

- a social cultural institution that ensures the reproduction and development of society through the organized transfer of social experience in the form of knowledge, skills, and abilities. The main functions of education include adaptation (preparation for life and work in society), professional (training of specialists), civic (training of citizens), general cultural (introduction to cultural values), humanistic (discovery of personal potential), etc.

Church - a religious institution formed on the basis of a single religion. Church members share common norms, dogmas, rules of behavior and are divided into clergy and laity. The Church performs the following functions: ideological (determines views on the world), compensatory (offers consolation and reconciliation), integrating (unites believers), general cultural (introduces cultural values), etc.

- a special sociocultural institution for the production of objective knowledge. The functions of science include cognitive (promotes knowledge of the world), explanatory (interprets knowledge), ideological (determines views on the world), prognostic (makes forecasts), social (changes society) and productive (determines the production process).

- a social institution, a system of generally binding norms and relations protected by the state. The state, with the help of law, regulates the behavior of people and social groups, establishing certain relationships as mandatory. The main functions of law: regulatory (regulates social relations) and protective (protects those relations that are useful for society as a whole).

All the elements of social institutions discussed above are illuminated from the point of view of social institutions, but other approaches to them are also possible. For example, science can be considered not only as a social institution, but also as a special form of cognitive activity or as a system of knowledge; family is not only an institution, but also a small social group.

Types of social institutions

Activity social institution is determined:

• firstly, a set of specific norms and regulations governing relevant types of behavior;
• secondly, the integration of a social institution into the socio-political, ideological and value structures of society;
• thirdly, the availability of material resources and conditions that ensure the successful implementation of regulatory requirements and implementation.

The most important social institutions are:

• state and family;
• economics and politics;
• Media and ;
• law and education.

Social institutions contribute to the consolidation and reproduction those or other especially important for society social relations, and system stability in all main spheres of its life - economic, political, spiritual and social.

Types of social institutions depending on their field of activity:

• relational;
• regulatory.

Relational institutions (for example, insurance, labor, production) determine the role structure of society based on a certain set of characteristics. The objects of these social institutions are role groups (policyholders and insurers, producers and employees, etc.).

Regulatory institutions determine the boundaries of individual independence (separate independent actions) to achieve their own goals. This group includes institutions of the state, government, social protection, business, and healthcare.

In the process of development, the social institution of the economy changes its form and can belong to the group of either endogenous or exogenous institutions.

Endogenous(or internal) social institutions characterize the state of obsolescence of an institution, requiring its reorganization or in-depth specialization of activities, for example, institutions of credit, money, which become obsolete over time and require the introduction of new forms of development.

Exogenous institutions reflect the effect on a social institution of external factors, elements of culture or the personality of the head (leader) of an organization, for example, changes occurring in the social institution of taxes under the influence of the level of tax culture of taxpayers, the level of business and professional culture leaders of this social institution.

Functions of social institutions

The purpose of social institutions is to to satisfy the most important needs and interests of society.

Economic needs in society are simultaneously satisfied by several social institutions, and each institution, through its activities, satisfies a variety of needs, among which stand out: vital(physiological, material) and social(personal needs for work, self-realization, creative activity and social justice). A special place among social needs is occupied by the individual’s need for achievement - the achievement need. It is based on McLelland's concept, according to which each individual exhibits a desire to express and manifest himself in specific social conditions.

In the course of their activities, social institutions perform both general and individual functions, corresponding to the specifics of the institute.

General features:

• Function of consolidation and reproduction public relations. Any institution consolidates and standardizes the behavior of members of society through its rules and norms of behavior.
• Regulatory function ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior and regulating their actions.
• Integrative function includes the process of interdependence and mutual responsibility of members of social groups.
• Broadcasting function(socialization). Its content is the transfer of social experience, familiarization with the values, norms, and roles of a given society.

Selected functions:

• The social institution of marriage and family implements the function of reproduction of members of society together with the relevant departments of the state and private enterprises (antenatal clinics, maternity hospitals, a network of children's medical institutions, bodies for supporting and strengthening the family, etc.).
• The Social Institute of Health is responsible for maintaining the health of the population (clinics, hospitals and other medical institutions, as well as state bodies organizing the process of maintaining and promoting health).
• A social institution for the production of means of subsistence, performing the most important creative function.
• Political institutions that are in charge of organizing political life.
• A social institution of law that performs the function of developing legal documents and is in charge of compliance with laws and legal norms.
• A social institution of education and norms with the corresponding function of education, socialization of members of society, familiarization with its values, norms, laws.
• A social institute of religion that helps people solve spiritual problems.

Social institutions realize all their positive qualities only if their legitimacy, i.e. recognition of the expediency of their actions by the majority of the population. Sharp shifts in class consciousness and a revaluation of fundamental values ​​can seriously undermine the population's trust in existing governing and governing bodies and disrupt the mechanism of regulatory influence on people.

In this case, instability in society, the threat of chaos, entropy, the consequences of which can become catastrophic, sharply increases. Thus, it intensified in the second half of the 80s. XX century in the USSR, the erosion of socialist ideals and the reorientation of mass consciousness towards the ideology of individualism seriously undermined the trust of the Soviet people in the old social institutions. The latter were unable to fulfill their stabilizing role and collapsed.

The inability of the leadership of Soviet society to bring the main structures into line with the updated system of values ​​predetermined the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent instability of Russian society, i.e., the stability of society is ensured only by those structures that enjoy the trust and support of its members.

In the course of development, the main social institutions may new ones separate institutional formations. Thus, at a certain stage, the institution of higher education is separated from the social institution of education. The Constitutional Court was created from the public legal system as an independent institution. Such differentiation is one of the most important signs of the development of society.

Social institutions can be called central components of the structure of society, integrating and coordinating many individual actions of people. The system of social institutions and relations between them is the framework that serves as the basis for the formation of society, with all the ensuing consequences. What are the foundation, the structure, the supporting components of society, such are its strength, fundamentality, solidity, stability.

The process of streamlining, formalizing, standardizing social relations within the old structure and creating new social institutions is called institutionalization. The higher its level, the better the quality of life in society.

Economy as a social institution

IN group fundamental economic social institutions include: property, market, money, exchange, banks, finance, various types of economic associations, which together form a complex system of production relations, connecting economic life with other areas of social life.

Thanks to the development of social institutions, the entire system of economic relations and society as a whole functions, the individual is socialized in the social and labor sphere, and norms are transferred economic behavior and moral values.

Let us highlight four characteristics common to all social institutions in the sphere of economics and finance:

• interaction between participants in social connections and relationships;
• availability of trained professional personnel, ensuring the activities of institutions;
• determination of the rights, responsibilities and functions of each participant in social interaction in economic life;
• regulation and control of the effectiveness of the interaction process in the economy.

The development of the economy as a social institution is subject not only to economic laws, but also to sociological ones. The functioning of this institution and its integrity as a system are ensured by various social institutions and social organizations that monitor the work of social institutions in the field of economics and finance and control the behavior of their members.

The basic institutions with which the economy interacts are politics, education, family, law, etc.

Activities and functions of the economy as a social institution

The main functions of the economy as a social institution are:

• coordination of social interests of business entities, producers and consumers;
• meeting the needs of the individual, social groups, strata and organizations;
• strengthening social connections within economic system, as well as with external social organizations and institutions;
• maintaining order and preventing uncontrolled competition between business entities in the process of meeting needs.

The main goal of a social institution is achieving stability and maintaining it.

The stability of the economy as a social institution is determined primarily by such objective factors as territorial and climatic conditions, the availability of human resources, the level of development of material production, the state of the real sector of the economy, the social structure of society, legal conditions and the legislative basis for the functioning of the economy.

Economics and politics are most often considered social institutions that have the greatest impact on the development of society and its stability as a social system.

As a social institution, it creates a material basis for the development of social relations, because an unstable and poor society is not able to maintain normal reproduction of the population, the intellectual and educational basis for the development of the system. All social institutions are connected with the institution of economics, are dependent on it, and their condition largely determines the prospects for the development of Russian society, being powerful stimulators of its economic progress and the development of the political system.

As a social institution, it creates laws and implements power functions, which makes it possible to finance the development of priority spheres of society as industries. As Russian social practice has convincingly shown, in the context of the transition to market relations, the influence of such social institutions as culture and education, directly involved in the creation and spiritual capital of the state, increases sharply.

Law Institute - this is a legislatively separate set of legal norms that provides integral regulation of this type of relationship or its aspect.

The legal institute is the basis of the branch of law. This is “the primary independent structural division of the industry, the first and most important step in the formation of the industry, where legal norms are grouped... according to their legal content...”.

Legal norms form a branch of law not directly, but through institutions; Moreover, the legal originality of a particular norm is revealed taking into account the characteristics of the entire complex of norms.

Thus, if the legal system consists of branches, then the branches themselves consist of legal institutions. So, for example, in labor law there are the “institute of labor discipline”, “the institution of material liability of workers and employees”, etc., in civil law - the “institute of limitation of actions”, “the institution of obligations arising from causing harm”, etc. .

A legal institution is characterized by three characteristics:

a) Uniformity of factual content. Everyone's right

This institute is dedicated to the regulation of strictly defined times

novelties of social relations covered by this

industry, or side of a group of relationships. Hence the homogeneity

actual content of the institute.

b) Legal unity (complexity) of norms. This is the heads

a significant sign of the institution. The norms that form the institution are presented

are sold as a single complex, an integral system, or more precisely - related

a separately isolated “block”, “unit”, in combination with others

these institutions that make up the regulatory mechanism of industries

whether. Each institute provides integral (in its area

“completed”) regulation of this type of relationship

or parties to a group of relationships. That is why inside the institute

here there is a specialization of legal norms: complex

a combination of various regulatory, definitional and other

standards are intended to ensure comprehensive regulation of the relevant

mutual relations.

c) Legislative isolation. As the main structural divisions of the industry, institutes receive externally separate recognition in regulatory (legislative) acts in the form of independent chapters, sections, etc.10. This or that arrangement of legal norms, their combination into chapters, sections, parts - this is in most cases the process of differentiation and integration of normative material, leading to the formation of legal institutions.

Legal institutions are very heterogeneous in their place and functions. Thus, general institutions can be distinguished (containing “bracketed” normative provisions related to the industry as a whole or its large division), material-regulatory institutions (the content of the norm that directly regulates the behavior of subjects), protective institutions (containing protective and related they have other norms), procedural institutions, etc. In other words, specialization, the “division of labor,” occurs not only between individual norms, but also between legal institutions.

Relationships of subordination and subordination may exist between institutions within an industry. “Fractional” parts of an institute often form independent divisions, which are called subinstitutes,” etc. In general, in cases where such a “multi-story structure” is observed, there is always, so to speak, a final link - an institution that unites a group of institutions and sub-institutions, which can be called a general institution. These are, for example, the institution of labor discipline, the institution of crimes against property, the institution of contracting, etc.

Within the industry, specific associations of institutions are also emerging. Thus, as legislation develops and the level of normative generalizations increases, general institutions are isolated into a larger unit, which in codified legislative acts is called “general part” or “general provisions.”

Along with this, in developed branches of law, general and other institutions often also develop into enlarged divisions - sub-sectors. The latter are such extensive communities of sectoral institutions (general sub-institutions), in which “their own” common part is isolated. Such are, for example, the law of obligations, inheritance law, copyright law and others - in civil law, administrative and economic law - in administrative law, military criminal law, etc. Some large branches of law, for example civil law, appear in modern conditions in the form of a combination of the “general part” and a group of sub-sectors.

Every legal institute- this is, in principle, a legally homogeneous legal entity, i.e. it is part of a strictly defined industry. But the division of socialist law into sectors does not mean at all that there is a “Chinese wall” between them, which would divide the sectors into spheres completely isolated from each other. Between branches of law there are not only individual points of contact, but also vast areas of contact and close interaction. Mixed institutions are emerging in these border areas.

A mixed institution is an institution in a given industry that includes some elements of a different method of legal regulation. In general, the legal content of a mixed institution is homogeneous; therefore it falls within a specific branch of law. But elements of the method characteristic of another branch of law penetrated into its content.

As an example of a mixed institution, we can name civil law institutions that mediate credit and settlement relations. The State Bank of the USSR, acting in relations with its clientele as a legal entity, at the same time performs the power and control functions of a body t government controlled. Therefore, within the framework of credit and settlement legal relations, some administrative powers of the State Bank of the USSR are also manifested. The institutions regulating relations related to the implementation of the plan for the railway transportation of goods, relations in the field of postal services, relations in compulsory insurance, etc. are also of a mixed nature.

The market is a set of institutions that ensure the organization of joint economic activity of people, economic exchange between them in the form of purchase and sale of goods and services. The functioning of the market is based on such basic principles as:

Private property;

Voluntary and equivalent interaction of independent and independent economic entities;

Competition.

The set of institutions forms an integral system or institutional environment. The “marketability” of institutions is determined by the conformity of their character with the basic principles of a market economy:

Freedom of economic activity;

The universality of market relations;

Pluralism and equality of forms of ownership;

Self-regulation of economic activities;

Free pricing;

Self-financing and economic responsibility;

A harmonious combination of state and market.

In accordance with the most recognized formulation, institutions are understood as formal and informal rules that structure the forms of social relationships in all spheres of public life, as well as the mechanisms for their compliance. From the above it follows that institutions act as restrictions on social actions in the broadest sense or as rules of the game in those other sectors of the general social space.

The most important markets where real market institutions, processes and mechanisms operate are factor markets, financial and commodity.

plays a system-forming function in a market economy factor market(they are divided into four groups: land, labor, capital, entrepreneurial activity). They are also considered as supply factors. Sometimes, depending on the purpose of the analysis, they include technology, information and ecology.

Institutional and organizational basis The functioning of the market for factors of production is the exchange mechanism (commodity and stock exchanges, labor exchanges, etc.).

Financial markets cover the money market, foreign exchange market, gold market, capital market. The latter is often divided into the securities market (stock market) and the loan capital market.

To the main institutions commodity markets(markets for goods and services) include trading enterprises (wholesale and retail), trading houses and commodity exchanges.

Issues of the functioning of markets, including the requirements for its participants, regulated by both government agencies and market mechanisms themselves. IN transitional economies, including Belarus, key market institutions not yet developed enough. Monopolies have remained in the economy, many of them even strengthened their positions. However, as the openness of the Belarusian economy grows and the state masters the methods of antimonopoly policy, it gradually a competitive environment is emerging; almost all have been created basic elements market system non-state financial institutions, including commercial banks, insurance companies, investment funds, stock exchanges, etc.; act market financial mechanisms and market regulators(prices, taxes, interest rates, exchange rates, dividends, etc.).

But for the full functioning of the economy deeper and more comprehensive institutional changes are needed, including increasing capacity and improvement of created institutions (for example, the tax system), as well as formation of new structures (capital, land, labor markets), which are still at the initial stage of their development. All this requires comprehensive and consistent measures to strengthening the institution of private property, conducting effective privatization, improvement bankruptcy mechanisms insolvent enterprises and removing them from economic circulation without causing significant damage to employee groups.

Key element transition to a market economic system is the creation efficient labor markets. As a factor of production, labor is the most significant of all. In industrialized countries, labor accounts for up to 75% of GNP.

Labor market- This multi-level system of market institutions, organizations and institutions of the public sector, the business community and public associations (trade unions, etc.), solving the whole range of problems reproduction of labor power and use of labor.

Efficient labor markets are needed to facilitate transfer of an employee to another place of work where his work is most productive.

For the effective functioning of labor markets in conditions of free enterprise, the characteristics of a developed market economy are required. economic infrastructure, providing for private property, competition, capital markets and labor mobility. And until such an infrastructure is created, the state retains the most important functions in regulating the labor market.

State policy in the social and labor sphere during the transition period is aimed at keeping unemployment at the lowest possible, cost-effective and politically acceptable level.

Leading strategic direction development of the labor market in Belarus remains its transfer to effective market (including exchange) mechanisms with maintaining the key role of the state in creating system-wide conditions for the formation of market institutions, legal protection of workers, establishing social standards and the level of minimum wage, regulating the tax burden on labor, developing social partnership (state, business, trade unions) in the field of employment.

Capital as a factor of production- these are human-created resources used to produce goods and services, or means of production, investment goods that are not directly involved in meeting human needs (equipment, buildings and structures). From these positions capital market is a market for financial capital(primarily the credit market), i.e. financial resources intended for the purchase of equipment, buildings and structures.

Capital flows, including international ones, are classified according to forms. According to their functional purpose, movements are distinguished loan capital (in the form of a loan) and entrepreneurial capital (in the form of investments); distinguished by affiliation private and public capital for the intended purpose - private and public, direct and portfolio investments; according to the timing of movement - short, medium and long term capital.

Short-term loan capital market, or money market, is a market for transactions in short-term securities with a low level of risk. Main money market securities are treasury bills, commercial paper, bankers' acceptances, and negotiable certificates of deposit.

As the development of the world economy shows, dominant place occupy in the financial market system capital markets. The capital market itself is functionally divided into the market valuable papers and market loan capital.

Loan capital market is a market for medium-term (from 1 to 5 years) and long-term (over 5 years) loans, mediating the connection between the supply of cash savings of the non-financial sector and the demand for loans necessary for financing (investments). It is often called the capital market. He covers the bank loan market and the debt securities market(bonds, bills, etc.).

Stocks and bods market- part of the capital market where the issue, purchase and sale of securities and rights to them are carried out. Securities- payment documents (checks, bills, letters of credit, etc.) and stock values ​​(stocks, bonds, etc.) in national and foreign currencies.

The securities market (stock market) performs two functions. The first is to provide flexible intersectoral redistribution of capital and mobilization of money from the population. The second assumes mobilization of temporarily available funds to meet the needs of the state and other organizations.

The securities market, in turn, is divided into primary and secondary, exchange and over-the-counter, futures and spot.

Thus, capital market is a long-term segment of the loan capital market, including primarily the issue of bonds and shares and their secondary markets. It accumulates and circulates long-term capital and debt obligations. In a market economy, it is the main type of financial market through which companies seek sources of financing for their activities.

It is the presence and development of capital markets that distinguish industrialized countries from developing and transition countries, where the possibilities for mobilizing industrial and commercial capital are either absent or very limited.

State and development trends of the capital market in Belarus. The formation of the capital market in the country began in 1990 with the adoption of the Law “On the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus” and proceeded in such directions as the formation of a national financial and credit system, interbank, foreign exchange and stock markets. In 1994, the Interbank Currency Exchange (ICE) was established, and in 1999, the Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange (BCSE).

The capital market in the form of trade in industrial and technical products has been developing in the country since the late 80s. XX century and now operates in the system of financial and commodity markets of the country.

The most important problem of the current stage of development of the capital market is the lag of its potential, volume and dynamics from the growth rate of the Belarusian economy, from the need for the formation of domestic investment resources and their redistribution to the real sector. This hinders the creation of an effective investment and innovation development model in Belarus.

Currency market is a system of economic and organizational relations that arise between households, firms, commercial banks and other financial institutions in transactions of purchase and sale of foreign currencies and payment documents in foreign currencies.

Institutional participants in the foreign exchange market are commercial and central banks, currency exchanges, brokerage agencies, international corporations (subjects are both exporters and importers).

The Republic began forming a foreign exchange market in 1992. The main foreign exchange market is the Interbank Currency Exchange (since 1999 - Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange OJSC). Members of the International Bank are banks or other financial institutions licensed to conduct foreign exchange transactions. The direct conduct of trading and determination of the current exchange rate is entrusted to a special employee of the exchange - the exchange rate broker.

In conditions of limited foreign investment, the situation in the country's foreign exchange market mainly depends on trends in foreign trade and mechanisms for financing export-import flows.

Stock market is part of the capital market where transactions are carried out issue and purchase and sale of securities.Its main purpose is to ensure accumulation of temporarily free funds for investment into promising sectors of the economy. In addition, the stock market, or securities market, solves problems such as servicing public debt, redistribution of property rights, and speculative transactions.

General structure stock market presented investors(strategic and institutional), issuers(organizations interested in raising funds for production development), infrastructure- a link between investors, issuers and regulatory authorities his activities.

The functioning of the stock market (primary and secondary) is ensured by professional participants: operators (brokers, dealers); organizers of exchanges(trading platforms); clearing organizations, banks and depositories; registrar

In a modern market economy, an efficient stock market is seen as a major national asset. The securities market is one of the main sources of financing investments in the real sector of the economy.

From the totality functions of the stock market especially important:

investment, those. education and distribution of investment resources necessary for the development of production;

redistribution of property through the use of packages of securities, primarily shares.

Belarus began to form a national stock market in 1992, when the Law “On Securities and Stock Exchanges” was adopted.

Transparency and control of the stock market by the state is ensured by the Securities Department under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus

Currently, the role of the stock market in the development of the country's economy is insufficient. There are also problems in the development of the stock market itself. One of them is the absence of significant amounts of foreign investment in its instruments. The other is the low level of capitalization of the national stock market, which is explained by low market demand and supply on it.

Thus, currently in the republic there is a situation where, on the one hand, an infrastructure, a regulatory framework for the stock market, systems of state regulation and regulation of interstate circulation of securities have been created that meet the requirements of international standards, and on the other hand - dimensions foreign portfolio investments and national stock market capitalization do not correspond to the level and dynamics of macroeconomic indicators of the Belarusian economy and lag behind other countries with economies in transition.

The formation and development of market institutions in the transition economy of Belarus occurs unevenly.

So, commodity market(market of consumer goods and industrial products) and services market during the transition period differed slightly from similar markets in economically developed Western countries in terms of saturation of goods and services, assortment, organizational and legal forms and other parameters.

State of the art markets of labor, capital, land and others significantly lower due to the weakness of their institutional and organizational basis, including the exchange mechanism. While it remains low mobility of labor resources due to the excessive number of employees in most enterprises and the difficulties associated with moving to a new place of residence when changing jobs. Minor role in mobilizing financial resources plays and sale of corporate securities.

The uneven development of various market segments gives rise to a huge number of very difficult problems, or “difficulties of growth,” in the transformation activities of the state, society, and business entities, which is the subject of further reforms.