Borshchenko T. Ensuring social welfare in a transformational economy

The thesis for attaining the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in a specialty 051 «Economics» (05 – Social and behavioral sciences). – Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. – Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, 2020. The dissertation is devoted to a comprehensive systematic study of the essence of social welfare, theoretical substantiation of the basis of social welfare in a transformational economy and development of practical recommendations for ensuring the growth of welfare in Ukraine in conditions of increasing economic turbulence. Based on systematization and critical rethinking of the achievements of foreign and domestic economists the evolution of the interpretation of the essence of welfare was revealed in various areas of economic theory: (1) within the classical school of political economy, welfare is considered in terms of its economic component and is practically identified with wealth; (2) within the historical and social directions of economic theory, an understanding is formed that the impact on public welfare, in addition to economic factors, is exercised by social, institutional, environmental, etc.; (3) representatives of the neoclassical school differentiate the consideration of welfare from the point of view of the individual and society as a whole, add an explicit description of «social»; (4) when studying the welfare by Keynesians and representatives of the Swedish school, the role of the state in ensuring public welfare is determined, in particular, with regard to the fair distribution of the social product; (5) german neoliberals and representatives of institutionalism determine the important role of effective institutions in ensuring public welfare; (6) representatives of the economic concepts of social democracy form the theories of «welfare state», «social state».