Social efficiency and the system of criteria to be introduced in research, analysis and implementation of various programs and projects with a social focus:
Speaking of efficiency, as a key concept for any socio-economic activity, traditionally the emphasis is placed on economic efficiency, the manifestation of which is in the dependence “costs-effects (benefits)”. And as any public activity is carried out with increasingly limited resources, the approach should be like an economic activity. Moreover, it is considered “any targeted activity in which limited resources are allocated and combined between alternatives, while maximizing the effect or minimizing costs”. The relationship between the costs and benefits of a resource or combination of resources to achieve a given, predefined goal and on this basis the rationalization of management decisions comes to the fore. In this sense, the cost-effectiveness relationship can be used as a planning method; decision-making tool and environment for historical documentation of decisions taken ‘.
This fundamental principle, which characterizes economic efficiency, is one side of studying the efficiency of activity. But each activity is social in nature and determines the need for measurability of social effects. On this basis, in recent years there has been increasing talk of so-called social efficiency. Unlike economic efficiency, social efficiency is not so direct, it is a more complex category and it is difficult to express it one-dimensionally.
How will we measure social efficiency?
In foreign research practice, some experience has been gained in measuring social efficiency within the forecast assessment of the social consequences of scientific and technical projects, economic and social programs. Thus, in the United States, in the early seventies, an independent line of research was established in the field of social impact assessment (SIA-Social Impact Assessment), or more precisely the integral social consequences of various projects and development programs. Business and political circles in the United States realize that any technological breakthrough brings “unplanned” losses of an environmental, social, psychological nature, which eventually turn into an indirect economic loss. In the field of scientific and technical development – both at the level of companies and at the level of national programs, the whole methodology for planning and management is being restructured. And if earlier it was oriented only towards the purely economic criteria for efficiency, now the social, psychological and other consequences of the implementation of scientific and technical projects are already being taken into account at the stage of decision-making for their development and implementation. Thus, there is a need for a comprehensive assessment of the various categories of impact of technology on society.
The assessment of the social impact of scientific and technical projects and programs in the United States has become a separate direction, after the Environmental Policy Act of 1969 established a mandatory procedure for assessing their environmental impacts.
All state projects that can have a significant impact on the environment are subject to environmental expertise, as well as the projects of private companies and companies requiring a special state sanction.
An impressive example of the use of increased environmental requirements in the implementation of economic development programs in the United States is the organization of the development and implementation of the project for the oil pipeline through Alaska in the mid-seventies.
The planning of the project was carried out during the whole period of construction, operation and dismantling of the oil pipeline after the depletion of the field.
It should be noted that the whole complex multi-level mechanism for managing the program is formed and operates on the basis of US business law and special legislative decrees and agreements.
This determines the specifics of the form of this management mechanism, in which its individual parts and elements, represented by government agencies, owner companies, specialized companies, are interconnected in a single organizational system of bilateral and multilateral agreements and contracts. From the standpoint of the long-term interests of the nation, the project is recognized as highly effective and correct.
For a long time, the very formulation of the problem of social efficiency has been considered debatable in sociology and economics. So far, there is no unambiguous and generally accepted definition of the term “social efficiency”. There are enough monographic works in which the authors try to study the social effectiveness of different types of activities, including management. First of all, most authors develop the concept of social efficiency, the criteria and methods for its evaluation in relation to the goals of social production – on the problem of social efficiency effective is what leads to a result, to an effect (in Latin effectus – action, performance, and afficio – act, perform) – effective, means effective.
