ECOSYSTEM APPROACH IN MODERN ECONOMIC RESEARCH

Abstract

Unstable and dynamic environmental conditions, aggravation of global economic, environmental and social problems and increasing degree of interdependence of economic agents significantly complicate the solution of scientific problems. Many traditional scientific approaches to the study of socio-economic systems, such as institutional, evolutionary, cluster, spatial, structural and functional, when applied in isolation from each other, do not allow us to fully take into account the complexity of the conditions of eco- nomic entities functioning and their interrelations. This makes it necessary to create a new theoretical and methodological basis, such as the ecosystem approach proposed by many researchers.

The object of this research is economic ecosystems as a new class of systemic formations and their interactions in the modern economy. The subject of the study is the theoretical basis and methodology of the ecosystem approach. The purpose of the study is to identify the theoretical foundations for the application of the ecosystem approach in modern economic research. The methodological basis of the study is the fundamental provisions of the theory of systems and the concept of sustainable development. To reach the research goals, general scientific methods have been used: system approach, analysis and synthesis, comparison and abstraction, analogy, logical and monographic analysis, etc.

Generalization of the scientific literature data allowed us to characterize economic ecosystems as com- plex, dynamic, self-organizing and self-developing. Interaction of a large number of actors within economic ecosystems on the basis of mutually beneficial cooperation and coordination of interests in the process of sharing resources, production of goods in demand by society and joint competitive behavior ensures satisfaction of public needs and contributes to the long-term sustainable and balanced functioning of the ecosystem as a whole.

The advantages of the ecosystem approach to the study of complex self-developing socio-economic systems are that it allows using the tools of evolutionary and institutional economic theory in a single complex, as well as applying holistic, network, cluster and other approaches. The research of domestic and foreign authors is mainly focused on entrepreneurial, innovative, industrial, digital (platform) and financial eco- nomic ecosystems. Expanding the scope of the ecosystem approach in economic research requires further development of its methodology and the formation of methodological and analytical tools to study the nature and type of relationships and the resulting systemic effects within economic ecosystems and in their environment.