Economic system and types of economic systems: characteristics and table

At all historical stages of human developmentbefore the society there is one and the same question: what, for whom and in what quantities to produce taking into account the limited resources. The economic system and types of economic systems are precisely called upon to solve this problem. And each of these systems does it in its own way, each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The concept of an economic system

The economic system is the system of alleconomic processes and production relations, which has developed in a specific society. This term is understood as an algorithm, a way of organizing the productive life of a society, which presupposes the existence of stable links between producers on the one hand and consumers on the other.

The content of the terms "economic system" and"types of economic systems" strongly depends on a particular scientific school. So, in some schools they are considered and described with the help of macroeconomic concepts, in others - through the behavior of people, thirdly, attention is paid to their systemic nature, and so on.

The main processes in any economic system are the following processes:

• production;
• distribution;
• exchange;
• consumption (benefits).

Production in any of the existingEconomic systems are implemented on the basis of appropriate resources. Nevertheless, some elements still differ in different systems. We are talking about the nature of socio-economic relations, mechanisms of management, motivation of producers, and so on.

Economic system and types of economic systems

An important point in the analysis of any phenomenon or concept is its typology.

The characteristics of types of economic systems, in general, is reduced to an analysis of the five basic parameters for comparison. It:

• technical and economic parameters;
• the ratio of the share of state planning and market regulation of the system;
• relations in the sphere of property;
• social parameters (real income, amount of free time, labor protection, etc.);
• mechanisms of the functioning of the system.

Proceeding from this, modern economists distinguish four main types of economic systems:

1. Traditional
2. Command-plan
3. Market (capitalism)
4. Mixed

Let's consider in more detail, than differ all these types from each other.

Traditional economic system

In the era of primitive society in the world was bornthe very first economic system, which was based on subsistence farming. Today, the traditional type of economic system practically does not occur anywhere (except for certain regions of Latin America, Asia and Africa, as well as some third world countries).

For this system of economy is characteristicgathering, hunting and low-productive farming, based on extensive methods, manual labor and primitive technologies. Trade is poorly developed or not developed at all.

Perhaps, the only advantage of such an economic system can be called a weak (almost zero) pollution of the environment and minimal anthropogenic pressures on nature.

Command-planned economic system

Planned (or centralized) economyis a historical type of management. Nowadays, it does not occur anywhere in its pure form. Previously, it was typical for the Soviet Union, as well as some countries in Europe and Asia.

Today, more often speak about the shortcomings of this economic system, among which is worth mentioning:

• lack of freedom for producers (the commands "what and in what quantities" to be sent from above);
• dissatisfaction with a large number of economic needs of consumers;
• chronic shortage of some goods;
• the emergence of the black market (as a logical response to the previous paragraph);
• impossibility to quickly and efficiently introduce the latest achievements of scientific and technological progress (thanks to which the planned economy always remains one step behind the other competitors of the global market).

Nevertheless, this economic system also had its advantages. One of them was the possibility of ensuring social stability for everyone.

Market Economic System

The market is a complex and multifaceted economica system that is characteristic of most countries of the modern world. Also known under a different name: "capitalism". The fundamental principles of this system is the principle of individualism, free enterprise and healthy market competition, based on the relationship between supply and demand. This is dominated by private property, and the main incentive to productive activity is the thirst for profit.

Nevertheless, such an economy is far from ideal. The market type of the economic system also has its drawbacks:

• uneven distribution of income;
• social inequality and social insecurity of certain categories of citizens;
• instability of the system, which manifests itself in the form of periodic acute crises in the economy;
• predatory, barbarous use of natural resources;
• poor financing of education, science and other non-profitable programs.

In addition to these, economists also singled out the fourth -a mixed type of economic system in which both the state and the private sector have an equivalent weight. In such systems, the functions of the state in the economy of the country are reduced to supporting important (but unprofitable) enterprises, financing science and culture, controlling unemployment, and so on.

Economic system and types of economic systems: examples of countries

It remains to consider examples of modern countries,for which one or another economic system is characteristic. For this purpose, a special table is presented below. Types of economic systems in it are submitted taking into account the geography of their distribution. It is worth noting that this table is very subjective, as it is difficult for many modern states to unequivocally assess which of the systems they relate to.

Table: Types of economic systems and their examples

Type of economic system	Country examples
Traditional	Vanuatu, Barbados, Zimbabwe, Chad, Ethiopia and others.
Command-plan	The USSR, India until the early 90s, Hitler's Germany
Market	USA, Canada, Japan, France, Switzerland, South Africa, etc.
Mixed	China, Russia

What is the type of economic system in Russia? In particular, the professor of Moscow State University A. Buzgalin characterized the modern economy of Russia as a "mutation of late capitalism." In general, the country's economic system is now considered to be a transitional one, with an actively developing market.

Finally

Each economic system responds differentlyon the three main issues of the economy: "what, how and for whom to produce?" Modern economists distinguish four of their main types: a traditional, command-planned, market, and a mixed system.

Speaking of Russia, we can say that in this state a specific type of economic system has not yet settled. The country is in a transitional phase between the command and modern market economies.