Normative Basis for Regional Economy of Social Service Provision

The article states the growing interest in social services that aim to satisfy individual preferences of a consumer. According to many social studies, the interest in higher quality commercial services is also steadily increasing. The commercial services are demanded by the representatives of the middle class that take care of their elderly relatives and disabled children or support the dependents; and by the other categories of disadvantaged citizens. As the reform of pension provision develops, the share of population that demand social servicing and are able to pay for preferred social services will also rise.

The authors have defined the key elements of the organizational economic mechanism of adaptation of regional system of social servicing of the population to the market conditions of functioning: regional standards of social servicing of the population that determine the typology of social services, standard cost of a service, standards of targeted funding of non-commercial organizations that create the supply chain as an alternative to governmental organizations of social protection. The results of statistical study of the scope and structure of social services, assessed cost of social services with regard to their various types, forms of provision, and categories of consumers are shown by the example of the operational analysis of organizations of social protection of the population in the Ural region. The authors have brought forward arguments to apply standard methods to the formation process of basic economic standards in social economy. It has been proved that while formation of consolidated standard cost of social services, classified according to the categories of consumers, forms of provision, and types of social services, their resource intensity averages out with the coefficient of variation at a standard error rate (of 33%).