Hybrid model for the social services sphere: Organisational and economic aspects

Abstract

The hybrid model of the social services sphere, which has formed during the transition of the planned economies to the market, suffers from certain limitations. Specifically, the main criterion to select services providers is cost reduction, while the services output and the population sufficiency with the provision of services are not taken into account, which contradicts the principles of the social state. The article aims to substantiate a methodological approach that allows forming a hybrid model for the social services sphere based on the principle of allocative efficiency, which provides for the comparison of the output by social services providers from the public, private and non-profit sectors of the economy. The methodological basis of the study includes the club theory, theories of public goods, competition, and efficiency. The major research method is comparative analysis. The paper proposes a method for building the said model for the social services sphere, where the criterion of hybridization is allocative efficiency. The papers forecasts the volume of social services industries’ output given the introduction of principle of allocative efficiency. Comparison of this data with the output of the existing hybrid model reveals that significant resources can be released to be potentially redirected to satisfy other social needs. This confirms the reliability of the formulated methodological provisions.