The Method of Public Finance Theory and Its Alternatives

Анотація

The method of the public finance theory is understood as a set of the following components: initial positions and worldviews; specific research methods; and the ways to verify the results. The initial assumptions and worldviews of the Western public finance theory, modern Ukrainian public finance theory and its Soviet predecessor are compared. The difference of approaches within these theories concerning worldview is revealed, namely: their conceptual and philosophical basis (materialism / idealism); traditions of using the historical method; the role of the base and superstructure in financial science; focus on value / utility in studies dealing with the nature of fiscal phenomena; differences in interpreting the basic unit of analysis (individual, group, or class); the organic / mechanistic concepts of state used; explanation of the nature of the interaction between the basic units of analysis; attitude to the positive / normative approach. The methodological orientation of the Western financial thought on methodological individualism; that of the Soviet state finance theory on methodological holism, and the lack of precision in these issues of Ukraine’s modern financial science are mentioned. The author refers to the negative trend in assessing fiscal phenomena in Ukraine from the standpoint of state-centrism and the interests and needs of the state, which arises precisely on the basis of the holistic methodological attitudes and the predominance of the organic view of the state. It is shown that modern domestic financial science is still in transition. Due to its worldview, it is a theory of state finance (financial resources of the state), while the Western science is a theory of public finance (public funds, belonging to the society as a whole). The paper outlines the guidelines for further transforming the methodological foundations of financial science in Ukraine.

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