The market of social services in Ukraine and factors of competitiveness of non-profit non-governmental organizations producing social services

Abstract

Introduction. The liberalization of the social services market creates the possibility of organizing competitive interaction between business entities of all organizational and legal forms and forms of ownership in the process of meeting the basic needs of modern society, and also initiates a dynamic expansion of the range of social services offered to consumers. Over the last decade, non-profit non-governmental organizations (hereinafter referred to as NGOs) have demonstrated steady growth and high efficiency in the social services market. In the current economic environment, the success of NGOs in the social services market is largely determined by the level of their competitiveness. The formation of conditions for a competitive environment and the development of mechanisms for managing competitiveness in the social sphere of Ukraine are extremely important for economic entities in the context of the evolutionary transition to new economic relations in the production and consumption of social protection services, educational, medical and cultural services. Creating the preconditions for increasing the competitiveness of Ukrainian NGOs providing social services in the context of competition in the relevant markets is a key factor in the formation of human capital, and thus the competitiveness of the country's economy as a whole. The purpose of the article is to study the social services market in Ukraine and the factors of competitiveness of non-profit non-governmental organizations participating in this market. Methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is based on the works of foreign and Ukrainian scholars, theories of competitiveness, socio-economic statistics, as well as applied research on this issue, publications in the periodicals, and materials of scientific and practical conferences. The research was conducted using general scientific methods of abstraction, analysis, synthesis, comparison and analogy, systematization and modeling. System, factor and functional analysis were used as research tools. Results. The analysis made it possible to conclude that the market for social services has certain specifics, which are largely due to the peculiarities of the services traded in this market, which determine the boundaries of the market, its subject composition and the qualitative content of economic relations. The market for social services is characterized by a more pronounced segmentation compared to the market for all other services, depending on income, prices, subjective assessment of the importance of the service by the consumer, and lifestyle. It is proved that NGOs are subjects of competition, and their competitiveness is influenced by certain facts.