The outlines of paradigmatic foundations in municipal economics

Abstract

Addressing specific aspects of municipalities’ functioning as basic cells of territorial organisation of production and living activities is a marked research trend. The paper consid ers the issues of genesis and development of theoretical and methodological preconditions for municipal economics growing into an independent branch of economics. The methodology of the research is the paradigmatic approach to the reconstruction of theoretical knowledge devel oped by Thomas Kuhn. The subject of the study is conceptual and empirical facts, factors and conditions, which favoured the formation of municipal economics. The methods include taxo nomic approach and instrumental analysis that allow describing and explaining the transfor mation of the essential characteristics of municipal economy as a chorological concept, which means it focuses on the uniqueness of each territory, targets endogenous development based on the active involvement of local assets and exploiting local potential with the attraction of external factors. The research proves that municipal economics is currently at the periphery of the hard core of regional economics and just starts to move out of the pre-paradigm period. Obtained theoretical, methodological, empirical results create a possibility to systematise scien tific findings in the field of municipal economics and identify directions for further research to thicken its paradigmatic foundations and turning into a mature discipline.