Classification of models and description of trends in assessing the causality of relationships in socio-economic processes

Abstract

Scientific research of any socio-economic and managerial process can be represented as a chain of reflections on the causes and consequences of this or that phenomenon's occurrence. At the same time, the authors can try not only to answer the question “why?” but also to study and understand the nature of cause-and-effect relationships, to find out the mechanisms of their occurrence, and also to get the answer to the question posed as accurately and reasonably as possible. Each author, using the accumulated experience, offers both qualitative and quantitative methods that allow him to obtain one or another assessment of causality. However, there are not enough articles devoted to a comprehensive review of the methods and technologies of cause-and-effect relationships in socio-economic processes. This article discusses three well-known conceptual approaches to the assessment of causation in socio-economic sciences: successionist causation, configurational causation and generative causation. The author gives his own interpretation of these approaches, builds graphic interpretations, and also offers such concepts as a linear sequence of factors, the causal field, and the causal space of factors in socio-economic processes. Within the framework of these approaches, a classification of mathematical and instrumental models for assessing the causality of relationships in socio-economic processes is given, and trends in the development of these and new models are formulated, taking into account the global transition to a digital format. All of these trends are based on the use of digital technologies in different formats and include descriptions of such formats. The article contains specific author’s examples of causality model implementation in scientific research related to economics and management.