CC BY
2DOI: 10.29141/2658-5081-2023-24-2-6 EDN: BDZEVU JEL classification: I31
Georgiy I. Zhurukhin Association of socially oriented non-profit organisations
of the Sverdlovsk oblast, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Aleksandr G. Mokronosov Ural State University of Economics, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Ilya V. Illarionov Ministry of Social Policy of the Sverdlovsk oblast
Fair cost standards for social services
Abstract. Current regulations in the field of social services do not allow meeting the requirements of the state standard in terms of pooling and allocating necessary resources objectively. The research aims to create a model of regional information system according an algorithm, which assumes developing a five-level classifier of social services, identifying typological groups of services providers, and applying an industry-average cost of homogeneous services. This model serves a basis for automated formation of norms that guarantee the quality of social service required by the standard. The research methodology rests on the theory of public goods and institutional economics. The methods include structural, normative, and comparative analysis. The data comes from statistical, accounting, and analytical reporting of the social welfare institutions of the Sverdlovsk oblast. Creation and practical implementation of the suggested model of digitalisation of the processes related to the development of normative regulatory measures permitted the authors to customise the existing method of formation of normative regulators of the services quality in line with the preferences of individual consumers; to ensure completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of substantiating the expenditures for fulfilling the state task by social welfare institutions and autonomous non-profit organisations of social service. The findings contribute to the research of the systemic effects of the product, spatial, and time customisation of the social welfare system.
Keywords: social service; social services; regional information system; digitalisation; information resources; public goods.
For citation: Zhurukhin G. I., Mokronosov A. G., Illarionov I. V. (2023). Fair cost standards for social services. Journal of New Economy, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 104-125. DOI: 10.29141/2658-5081-2023-24-2-6. EDN: BDZEVU.
Article info: received March 22, 2022; received in revised form February 2, 2023; accepted February 20, 2023
Introduction
The Russian system of social care (SC), which was created in the Soviet era, retained its basic principles during the transition to market relations: the integrity of social measures; guarantee of social welfare and income levels not lower than the subsistence minimum; continuity of social care for citizens; financing of expenditures for the provision of services in the form of subsidies.
At the same time, the social care system has accumulated and keeps on accumulating various internal development limitations due to the increasing role of human capital, changes in the budgetary, structural, technological and institutional components of its reproduction, as well as the society's value orientations in the Russian economy. These limitations are caused by contradictions between the growing demands of the population for the diversity and quality of social services and limited opportunities to accommodate them within the existing organisational economic mechanisms given the standardised quality of these services, as well as contradictions between the equal right of citizens to social protection declared by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the rising economic polarisation of regions manifested in the differentiation of their real fiscal capacity.
As a consequence, the regulatory framework of the SC processes, formed in accordance with the state standard, does not contribute to the fair allocation of financial and material resources. The regulations developed by state institutions on decisionmaking in the management of the social welfare system come into conflict with the requirements outlined in the Strategy for the development of a socially oriented economy of Russia until 20301 to improve the social care in order to suit citizens' preferences for various and high-quality services.
The contradictions mentioned above indicate the insufficient efficiency of existing approaches and methods of managing the social welfare system, as well as the delay in their adaptation to the patterns and conditions of the digital economy. We believe that these contradictions might be eliminated by pushing the digital transformation of social care regulation, including the application and improvement of information and communication technologies in the development and use of normative regulators that guarantee the individual consumer the quality of services according to regional standards.
The purpose of the study is to create a model of a regional information system of social services based on a software module that allows codifying statistical data and automatically process, systematise and store an array of data to determine and use
1 Forecast of socioeconomic development of the Russian Federation for the long-term period up to 2030: Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 11, 2015 no. 1218. (In Russ.)
basic cost standards for social services for various categories of consumers and typological groups of social welfare institutions.
The purpose predetermines the following objectives:
- to systematise the theoretical bases and the existing tools for the study of social services;
- to propose a method for calculating the basic cost standards for social services and to test it on social welfare institutions of the Sverdlovsk oblast.
Theoretical foundations of the research
Building a public sector model for social care is based on the postulates of the public goods and public sector theories, as well as on institutional economics. Within these theories various researchers justify the concepts "socially important good" and "club good", develop conceptual approaches to the state regulation of the need for public goods, investigate the state's behaviour as a specific subject of the economy. The key theoretical and methodological aspects of social orientation of the state economic policy have been reflected in many foreign publications (cf.: [Pigou, 1932; Arrow, 1970; Buchanan, Musgrave, 1998; Buchanan, Tullock 1999; Nordhaus, Samuelson, 2010]. The works of Rubinshteyn and Grinberg [1998], Yakobson [2000], Buzdalov [2010], Khudokormov [2005], Khudokormov and Nevskiy [2017] are devoted to the problems of public economics. Regional aspects of the socially oriented policy of state subjects are presented in the research papers by Animitsa, Balina and Sharygin [2016, 2017], Zhurukhin, Illarionov and Mokronosov [2021], etc. Scholars from economically developed countries have formed concepts of public administration [Walzer, 1995; Madison, 1998; Schmitter, 1999; Baker, 2002; Howard, 2003; Keane, 2003].
We should note two concepts inherent in most theories of socially oriented economy development, which explain the emergence of market and non-market failures in the social sphere. The concept of market failures highlights the need for the state to stop the negative impact of the commercialisation in social care. Such role of the state in the public sector was further strengthened by the implementation of the ideas of institutional economics, including the concepts of social change, the methodology of a socially oriented public sector according to the principles of inclusiveness and social control [Arslanov, 2016; Yakobson, 2000; Akhinov, Zhiltsov, 2008].
The institutional economics as applied to the social sphere largely determines the participation of the state in the allocation of public goods. Much attention is paid to the problem of institutional choice, which is viewed through the prism of
increasing the role of inclusive institutions in economic development. Acemoglu and Robinson [2013] argue that these institutions should provide non-discriminatory access to public goods, open to all economic agents. Khudokormov and Nevskiy [Nevskiy, 2015; Khudokormov, Nevskiy, 2017], Natkhov and Polishchuk [2017] mention a close relationship between the sustainability and importance of institutional regimes for modern economic development.
The very content of the term "state social service" determines the institutional nature of the regulation of its delivery: the state is positioned as an organisational and economic guarantor of high-quality social services. However, over time, experts began to record the facts of the negative consequences of state regulation, which led to the emergence of parallel theories of state failures. In particular, Wolf proposed the theory of non-market failure [Wolf, 1979].
Institutional failures in socially oriented economies of developing countries are increasingly being considered from the standpoint of new public governance in relation to public economics [Hood, 1991; Abramova, Mukhaev, 2017; Zotov, 2021]; hybrid forms of organisational economic mechanisms for the social services delivery [Ogorodnikova, Plakhin, Rostovtsev, 2022]; entropy theory, which studies quantitative indicators of disorder, measures excessive work when achieving a goal and the proportion of non-useful processes or phenomena accompanying any activity [Ko-rolev, Kussyy, Segal, 2013; Dyatlov, 2014].
In social care, entropy manifests itself in various forms, for example, in the extremely unsatisfactory state of the fixed assets of many social welfare institutions, lagging rates of professional development and retraining of social workers, insufficient involvement of new social care technologies that are in line with modern lean and efficient production models.
This entropy is mainly due to the poor development of information systems, which are able to customise the provision of social services and allow for the interests of a particular individual in a difficult life situation to the maximum extent.
Ensuring digital transformation of state regulation processes to give a boost to economic and social spheres is one of the most important tasks [Alkhatri et al., 2016, p. 173]. The analysis and systematisation of the factors affecting digitalisation of the public services provision are reflected in a number of research papers ([Sukhodolov, Slobodnyak, Marenko, 2019, pp. 13, 120; Chernyakov, Chernyakova, 2019, pp. 5-21], and others).
The active use of the term "electronic government" in scholarly discourse is not a tribute to fashion, but a conscious recognition of the need to introduce modern information and communication technologies (ICT) into processing and generating
management decisions in all spheres of state regulation. A number of studies have confirmed a significant relationship between the level of e-government development and the efficiency of public service [Moreno-Enguix, Lorente Bayona, Gras-Gil, 2019, p. 122; Rakhmeeva, 2021, pp. 168-170]. The application of ICT makes it possible to generate a wide range of data that is not available within official or departmental statistics, to process and predict using software and artificial intelligence technologies, to monitor the efficiency of regulatory norms and their timely adjustment taking into account the needs of consumers.
Materials and methods
The state's regulation of expenditure on social care is effected through the organisational economic mechanism of the social care system management in the subjects of the Russian Federation. The key elements of this mechanism are:
- classification lists of public services by industry;
- regional standards for social services with requirements to the quality of the delivery: content, organisational and technical support, skill and qualification occupational structure;
- cost standards ensuring financially equal starting conditions for the social services providers, regardless of their organisational and legal status.
The fundamental element in the planning of the social services delivery is the quality standard of social care. The structure of this standard is built on the principle of detailed requirements for resource allocation for each service included in the exhaustive list of state social services.
The principles of the inclusive economy in the social care outlined in the federal regulations create conditions for the quality provision of services due to a careful consideration of a particular consumer's preferences and formation of an individual package of services. Accordingly, the list of services is differentiated to a maximum extent and takes into account differences in the forms of service, categories of consumers, types of services providers.
The full classification list of social services is very extensive. The content and, therefore, the costs of providing a single-type service (household assistance, social-medical, etc.) can vary significantly depending on its type, category of consumer, form of service, placement of social service facilities (in urban or rural settlements), organisational and technical level of service providers, infrastructure features of territorial entities.
The organisational economic mechanism for managing the social care system in the subjects of the Russian Federation should provide for:
1) planned nature of social care: bilateral agreements between service providers and consumers formed on the basis of individual service packages, as well as the volume of services fixed in the state task for the billing period1 ;
2) control over the fulfillment of the state task by providers using the indicators that allow evaluating the efficiency of the services provided;
3) operational accounting of contracts for the provision of each individual package of social services.
We observe a certain inconsistency in the requirements in the area under consideration. On the one hand, it is necessary to complete the quality standard of social services following the principle of uniformity starting from the technologies for the provision of single-type services and ending with costs for their delivery. On the other hand, we need to pursue the principle of integrity and continuity when forming individual programmes for a unique consumer of services. This inconsistency calls for a differentiated approach to choosing tools for elaborating normative regulators of the SC economy. These tools should allow providers to form standard packages from the entire variety of services already at the stage of setting state tasks, which are transformed into complex standardised social support programmes with adequate financing.
In our opinion, the standards of the new generation should focus on the technology of the 'social elevator', which supposes a certain sequence of building their structure:
1) lists of life situations, composition of services and operational procedures created taking into account the specifics of the forms of service and categories of recepi-ents;
2) individual packages of social services for a unique consumer;
3) standard complex rehabilitation programmes for a citizen in a difficult life situation, taking into account his/her specific characteristics due to belonging to a certain social risk group.
In planning activities, we have an extensive suite of methods for forming standards (balance method, normative method, extrapolation method, factorial method and economic mathematical method) developed and widely used by applied economics.
The normative method develops planned indicators and explains planned decisions based on a system of norms and standards for determining the maximum permissible or average cost values of resources for the provision of services of a given
1 On the procedure for the formation of the state task for the state institutions of the Sverdlovsk oblast and financial support for the implementation of the state task: Resolution of the Government of the Sverdlovsk oblast of December 8, 2011 no. 76-PP. (In Russ.)
quality within the planned period. The method for calculating standard costs forms basic standards of a service cost:
BSi — Cdirect; + Cgen. econ.i, (1)
where BSi is basic costs standard for the provision of the i-th social service; Cdirecti is basic direct costs standard for the provision of the i-th social service; Cgen. econ.i is basic costs standard for general economic needs for the provision of the i-th social service.
To find Cdirecti, we use natural norms per service approved by the relevant regulations, including the labour intensity standards for the provision of services, as well as formulas for calculating each of the direct costs items, taking into account the economic specifics of the components of each expenditure category.
To find Cgen. econ.i we apply natural norms of general economic costs approved by the relevant regulations and formulas for calculating the said costs that take into account the economic specifics of the components of each category of costs (Table 1).
Unlike high-tech industrial processes, where technically sound standards are applied in the conditions of large-scale serial production, in the field of social services for citizens who find themselves in a difficult life situation, an individual approach to the services provision is used. This approach objectively determines the wide application of experimental statistical norms and time standards. Moreover, the actual labour intensity, as shown by selective time-lapse observations, has a fairly large range of values, and, accordingly, direct costs relative to the industry-average level of the indicator in relation to a particular type of service. Overhead costs in various social welfare institutions, even for the same type of services, are also highly variable across the industry. They depend on the category of recipients, the conditions of services provision, organisational and technical equipment of the relevant processes, the state of asset complexes, sectoral and territorial peculiarities of the economy, welfare institutions' infrastructure.
The circumstances mentioned above condition the specifics of social services' cost analysis. In particular, we use mainly methods of determining average values. To test our hypothesis about the feasibility of using these methods in determining the basic standards of direct costs and general economic costs for the provision of social services we held an analytical statistical research. We built a model to form an array of data reflecting the statistical reporting of social welfare institutions on the volume and the costs of services provided to the regional population. The model implies the use of information technologies to structure and systematise the data, and perform analytical procedures.
Big data underlie the development of digital economy technologies that provide a new quality of analysis of socioeconomic indicators. The advancement of computing
Table 1. Structure of the social services cost
Indicator Calculation method Calculation formula
BSj is the cost standard for the provision of the 2-th social service The sum of the values of the direct and general economic costs per service of the industrial list of public services by type of activity "social protection" — C<Jirectj + Cgen. econ(1)
Cdirect, is the standard of costs directly related to the provision of the 2-th service The application of natural norms per service approved by the relevant regulations, including the labour intensity standards for the provision of services in the calculation items of direct costs, taking into account the economic specifics of the components of each category of costs Cdirect; = Qb; + Cst; + C0ther;> (2) Qbj is labour costs with employee remuneration payments directly related to the provision of services; Cstj is costs for the purchase of material stocks and especially valuable movable property used (consumed) in the provision of services; Cotheri is other costs directly related to the provision of the service
Cgen. econ.j is the standard of costs for general economic needs for the provision of the z-th service The application of natural norms per service approved by the relevant regulations, including the labour intensity standards for the provision of services in the formulas for calculating general economic costs, taking into account the economic specifics of the components of each category of costs Cgen. econ.; — + Cre; + Cmp; + Ccom; + Ctni; + C\b2j + Cgen.otherp (3) where Cutj is utility costs for the i-th public service; Cre; is costs of maintaining real estate objects to fulfill a state task (including the costs of rent payments); Cmpj is costs of maintaining objects of particularly valuable movable property to fulfill a state task (including the costs of rent payments); Ccomi is costs for the purchase of communication services for the 2-th public service; Ctrnj is costs for the purchase of transport services for the 2-th public service; Cib2i is labour costs with remuneration payments for employees who do not directly participate in the provision of the 2-th public service; Cgen.other, is costs for other general economic needs for the provision of the 2-th public service
power and the introduction of cloud information processing technologies can significantly improve the quality of the regulatory framework and forecasting of the social services development.
Our concept of regulation of SC standards involves the use of digital technologies to develop normative regulators of the social care economy in the region.
The proposed method includes the following stages of forming an array of data in the information system of social care (INSYSC):
1) preparing initial data on the labour intensity, volumes, cost of services and expenditures of institutions for the reporting year with the involvement of state social welfare institutions and non-profit organisations - public services providers included in the register of social service providers;
2) designing a database on the volume and composition of services as well as the amount of the corresponding costs;
3) ensuring compliance of the format of data presentation and calculations with forms and instructions;
4) correcting, generalising and transforming initial data into an information array.
Statistical data in the INSYSC software module are summarised in a basic information array, where parametric characteristics of social services are systematised by standard groups. Thus, primary data about the expenditures of social welfare institutions are transformed into the cost of specific services and thereby form a database in INSYSC containing the information on the volume and cost of services provided for the billing period.
Method for forming the quality standards of social services
The approaches described above to calculating the components of the social services cost underlie the method for calculating their quality standards required by the social care standard. This toolkit defines the methods and algorithm for calculating the basic standards, including the primary calculations of the standards of costs directly related to the provision of public services, and the costs of general economic needs of social welfare institutions. Taking into account the recommendations of the Ministry of Labour of the Russian Federation, this method combines several calculation methods (normative, analytical, structural methods) to allow for differences in the economic nature of the costs caused by the processes of providing social services. For instance, the level of direct costs and general economic costs is largely determined by the composition and condition of asset complexes of social welfare institutions and a number of other industrial and territorial factors.
We propose a classification of social services using five-level codes, which makes it possible to form distribution series of parameters of these services, combined into typological groups according to the main characteristics (Table 2).
Table 2. Classification of social care services
Type of social service i according to the industrial classification Codification of services according to the typological characteristics
type of service j subtype of service n form of service k category of recipient f
Household assistance - 1 1j 1jn 1jnk 1jnk f
Social-medical - 2 2j 2jn 2jnk 2jnkf
Social-psychological - 3 3j 3jn 3jnk 3jnkf
Social-pedagogical - 4 4j 4jn 4jnk 4jnkf
Social-labour - 5 5j 5jn 5jnk 5jnkf
Social-legal - 6 6j 6jn 6jnk 6jnkf
Social-communicative - 7 7j 7jn 7jnk 7jnkf
Urgent - 8 8j 8jn 8jnk 8jnkf
At the same time, the type of service i is determined according to the industrial classification adopted in the region; the type of service j is the serial number in the group of household assistance, social and medical and other services of the corresponding section of the standard; the subtype (subgroup) of service n specifies its position in functional specialisation and customisation (orientation to individual customers); the form of service k: 1 - centre-based services, 2 - services requiring limited attendance, 3 - home-based service; customer category f 1 - adults, 2 - children, 3 - universal.
Examples of service codification:
1) code 1.03.02.1.2, where 1 - type of service (household assistance); 03 - type (providing food according to approved standards); 02 - subtype (providing hot meals to minors receiving centre-based social services); 1 - form of service (centre-based services); 2 - category of consumers (children);
2) code 1.03.04.2.2, where 1 - type of service (household assistance); 03 - type (providing food according to approved standards); 04 - subtype (providing hot meals to minors receiving social services in centres in the daytime); 2 - form of service (limited attendance); 2 - category of consumers (children).
Thus, our concept of improving the normative regulation of the economy of social care was implemented in the software module of the social services information system - instrumental support for digitalising normative regulators of the social care
sector in the region. The software of this module has been developed to store data generated by social welfare institutions of the Sverdlovsk oblast to perform calculations of standard costs.
The main elements of the developed model for digitalising the calculations of normative regulators of the social care economy are presented in Figure 1.
The algorithm of information support for calculations includes the following stages:
- developing institutional regulations to create registers of service providers;
- creating a software module as part of INSYSC, where an array of statistical data on the volume and cost of services is systematised, stored and automatically processed using a special classifier of social services within the industrial classification;
- implementing a set of computational and analytical procedures to determine the cost equivalent of the need for labour, material, and technical resources necessary to ensure quantitative and qualitative indicators of social services provided;
- developing normative regulators of the social care economy, namely basic cost standards for social services.
Based on the findings of the structural analysis of services provided by functionally homogeneous groups of social welfare institutions and identification of the most popular services, we propose an aggregated industrial classification list of consumer social services, the share of which in terms of their cost in the total set of services of one type ranges from 92 to 99 %.
To assess the possibility of using an industry-average cost of the homogeneous services as a basis for a standard, we studied a statistical set of cost values of the social services formed according to the state SWI, as well as other social service providers1.
The coefficient of variation V is the most commonly used indicator of relative fluctuation, characterising the homogeneity of the population. We use a formula below to calculate it:
V = o7 X x 100 %, (4)
where a is the mean square deviation (shows how much the value of the attribute fluctuates on average in the units of the studied population); X is the arithmetic mean of the indicator.
1 Report on the research work "Calculation of costs directly related to the provision of public services and the costs of general economic needs for the provision of public services by type of activity: "social protection", "guardianship", "secondary vocational education" and "vocational training"" for the needs of the Ministry of Social Policy of the Sverdlovsk (ICZ no. 202667143939766710100100190017220244). (In Russ.)
Organisational and methodological support for developing basic cost standards for social services ► Digitalisation of computational and analytical research procedures
Composing an array of data Computational and analytical procedures
• Analysis of institutional regulations for forming normative regulators of the social care economy from the standpoint of the theories of inclusive, society-oriented economy. • Analysis of institutional regulations for establishing state tasks for the provision of social services and ensuring their financing 1. Codification of social services taking into account the attributes from the classification. 2. Creation of a software information technology complex for digitalising computational and analytical procedures (the INSYSC module). 3. Preliminary design of module forms for composing arrays of data on the volume and the costs of social services. 4. Preparation of instructions for social welfare institutions (SWI) on working in the INSYSC module, filling out forms 1. Analytical processing of data with the implementation of statistical procedures: grouping, aggregation. Elimination of abnormal values. Statistical evaluation of the sample representativeness in the distribution series. 2. Calculation of the elements of the basic cost standard for social services
Creation of methodological foundations for studying types and costs of social services, organisational and economic quality support of social services at the level of national and regional standards Calculation of median mean, variation coefficients of indicator values in the distribution series relative to industry averages, values in the typological group of institutions
1. Creation of a database for calculating the components of the basic cost standard for a service by institutions. 2. Introduction of parametric characteristics of volumes and cost of services to the INSYSC module by institutions
Development of a method for calculating basic cost standards 1. Creation of an array of data in the INSYSC module on the volumes and costs of institutions while providing social services. 2. Formation of distribution series of the costs of providing social services according to their classification. 3. Formation of distribution series of parametric characteristics of the volume and costs of social services by industry and typological groups of the SWI Calculation of basic cost standards for social services
Development of a classification of social services taking into account the essential parameters of their standardisation (unification) Testing basic cost standards for social services in trial calculations of SWTs expenditures
Fig. 1. Setting cost standards for social services in a region: A digitalisation algorithm
A sample is considered homogeneous if the coefficient of variation does not exceed 33 % for distributions close to normal. This coefficient is used to compare the fluctuation of heterogeneous features.
Our approach to the application of an industry-average cost to form basic cost standards for social services is presented in Table 3.
The labour intensity of social services and, accordingly, the amount of direct and overhead costs has a large range of values relative to the industry-average level. The high variability of the services cost, depending on the categories of consumers, conditions of provision, organisational and technical equipment and infrastructure of property complexes of social welfare institutions, reason the use of an industry-average cost for homogeneous services as a basis for standards taking into account differences in the economic nature of costs.
Table 3. Methods of calculating average values of the cost standards for social services
Indicator Calculation method Calculation formula
BSi is the basic cost standard for the provision of the i-th service Multiplying the basic standard of direct costs per service Cdirecti from the industrial classification list (according to the typological group of the SWI) by the coefficient of general economic costs Kgen. econji Stage 1. Calculating the costs of providing services by SWI according to the state task for the required period. Stage 2. Calculating an average-industry basic cost standard (according to the j-th typological group of the SWI) for the provision of the i-th social service: BSi — Cdirectji Kgen. econji (6)
Cdirecti is the basic cost standard directly related to the provision of the i-th service Calculating the basic standard of direct costs for the provision of the i-th service using the median average for the j-th typological group of SWI (relying on the commonality of the form of service and the category of consumer) Weighted average value of costs by the number of services actually provided i (median average) for the i-th service provided by institutions of the j-th typological group for the required accounting period. A statistical value of the indicator is determined in a series of cost values distribution with the exception of 15 % of abnormal extreme values
K gen. econji is the coefficient of general economic costs for the j-th typological group of institutions, Calculating the basic standard of general economic costs for the provision of i-th service using a combination of an effective institution method and a structural method of forming standards Calculating the coefficient of general economic costs for the j-th typological group of institutions: Kgen. econji — 1 + dj /100, (7) where dj /% is the average share of general economic costs in the total costs of effective institutions
The proposed method of calculating average values allows us to change radically the model of providing social services based on their product and spatial customisation.
Research results
The empirical evidence of the research is based on the data on the volume and costs of public services for 2020 that social welfare institutions of the Sverdlovsk oblast (121 institutions) entered in the INSYSC module.
The analysis of the typological structure of social services indicated that functional orientation and specialisation of the social welfare institutions is primarily determined by the categories of services recepinets, specific life situations of citizens who are unable to solve the problems themselves. The structural heterogeneity of preferences of social services' consumers is clearly manifested while analysing the diversity of these services. The overall trend in the industry is the maximum coverage of consumers with household assistance (62 %) and social-medical (17.9 %) services, which is confirmed by indicators of both the volume and costs of services. At the same time, the structure of the 'portfolio of orders' differs significantly within the typological groups of SWI and forms of service (Figures 2-5). For example, an individual disability support programme is focused on the rehabilitation of lost functions through the use of special technical means. The social service programme for an elderly person who, due to age, has partially lost the ability to independently provide food, medicines, etc., is aimed at compensating for lost opportunities through the involvement of social service specialists at home (social care workers).
Social services
Household assistance Social-medical Social-psychological Social-pedagogical
■ Social-labour
■ Social-legal Social-communicative
■ Urgent
Fig. 2. Structure of services in social rehabilitation centres for minors, %
3.08 1-92
29.07
64.76
Social services
Household assistance Social-medical Social-psychological Social-pedagogical ■ Other (labour, communicative, legal, urgent)
Fig. 3. Structure of services in boarding houses for the elderly and disabled, %
2.87
5.92
31.41
33.07
11.19
Social services
Household assistance Social-medical Social-psychological Social-pedagogical
■ Social-labour
■ Social-legal Social-communicative
■ Urgent
9.91
Fig. 4. Structure of services in family and children's social assistance centres, %
10.62
0.09 °'29 0.03
0.03
12.82
76.13
Social services
Household assistance Social-medical Social-psychological Social-pedagogical
■ Social-legal
■ Social-communicative Urgent
Fig. 5. Structure of services in integrated social care centres, %
An individual programme for the elderly in need of permanent special care provides for delivering services in inpatient institutions with specialised departments that meet the requirements of regional standards in terms of organisational and technical equipment and qualifications of employees.
Studying the structure of social services provided by functionally homogeneous groups of institutions to categories of citizens defined by nosological and gender characteristics allows us to identify the most popular consumer services in difficult life situations (Table 4). The complex of these services produces a synergistic effect and provides a new quality of life for a citizen.
Table 4. Consumer services in the expenditure of the Sverdlovsk oblast's social welfare institutions
Boarding houses for the elderly and disabled Social rehabilitation centres for minors, rehabilitation centres Family and children's social assistance centres Integrated social care centres (social services at home)
Type of social services CU tu SH <u SH Ö -C <u 3 -A ^ litures ;rvices, % s <u <u SH g'? e tr he 3 -A ^ litures ;rvices, % s <u <U SH e tr he s -A ^ litures ;rvices, % s <u <U SH e tr he G ^ t« 3 -A ^ litures ;rvices, %
Number of con; services* of the / total number o of the ¿-th type S3 <» ^ SH Number of con; services* of the / total number o of the ¿-th type Ö <» ^ SH Number of con; services* of the / total number o of the ¿-th type Ö <» ^ SH Ö £ <" B^ £ £ G <» ^ SH
* S eu ° Ö cu O X g eu f us ° Ö eo X g eu f us ° G eo Number of services* of / total numt of the i-th t x g eu f us ° G eo
Household assistance 13/21 97.47 17/ 72 91.76 20/67 94.13 27/49 97.26
Social-medical 5/32 94.89 13/ 56 90.92 17/ 56 94.73 6/24 97.39
Social-psychological 7/9 94.83 14/27 96.40 18/27 99.4 2/6 99.81
Social-pedagogical 3/5 99.51 12/24 96.96 15/22 98.99 2/7 99.72
Social-labour 5/8 97.73 4/8 98.13 7/11 99.62 2/2 100
Social-legal 9/15 96.30 8/28 94.07 12/30 97.19 5/10 98.17
Social-communicative 3/7 97.20 7/12 99.87 7/13 99.26 3/3 100
Urgent 4/12 96.56 8/27 93.29 12/40 96.55 8/13 98.26
Note: (*) at least 1 % of the total cost of services.
Thus, we have transformed the reporting data of the Sverdlovsk oblast's SWIs on the volumes and costs of services provided into the volumes and expenditures of specialised departments, and then into the prime cost of services.
We have defined technological reference points, namely the consumer services, the accuracy of calculating the basic cost standards for which ensures the objectivity of calculating the costs of institutions using regulatory methods. The expediency of using these methods in the planning and financing of social services is justified by the findings of a statistical study. We have proved their efficiency when determining cost standards for social services by typological groups formed by categories of consumers, forms of service, types of services, their resource intensity: the economic characteristics of services are averaged with a coefficient of variation of the spread of all values to the level of normal error (less than 33 %).
The study has found that applying the existing methodological approach to forming the elements of basic cost standard for services (costs directly related to the provision of the z'-th social service, general economic costs for the provision of the z'-th social service) in most cases is not justified, since the coefficients of variation in the distribution density of the cost of homogeneous services, built without taking into account customisation, functional and territorial specifics of the SWI for most consumer services exceed acceptable values.
We have confirmed the hypothesis that the median values of cost indicators weighted by the volume of services provided can be accepted as normative in relation to typological groups of institutions similar in functionality of activities and forms of service. This statement does not contradict the direct costing system generally accepted in the scientific community, which supposes an enlarged accounting of general economic costs and ensures savings on management costs.
According to our calculation method, we have developed the basic cost standards for the services from the industrial classification. The calculations rely on the method of median averages weighted by the volume of the z'-th public services provided by functionally homogeneous groups of institutions in the distribution series of individual (by institutions) normative values of costs for the provision of the z'-th service. We have determined a list of effective institutions - the values of their individual costs for delivering the z'-th public service have minimal deviations from the median cost values. Examples of calculating the basic cost standard for institutions providing centre-based services and services requiring limited attendance (social rehabilitation centres for minors and social assistance centres for families and children) are given in Table 5.
We have tested the basic cost standards for the type of activity "social protection" taking the case of the Sverdlovsk oblast to calculate the costs that ensure the expenditures of social welfare institutions and autonomous non-profit organisations of social services on fulfilling the state task on the volume of services. The majority of the
institutions participating in checking calculations showed an acceptable level of deviations of the estimated cost levels from the actual ones (5-10 %).
Table 5. Calculation of the basic cost standard for household assistance
Form of service Service Code of service Number of services (2019 report) Basic cost standard for the provision of services, rubles
Industry average costs (according to the typological group of SWI) directly related to the provision of services Costs of an effective institution for general economic needs Basic cost standard
Centre- based services Providing hot meals to minors receiving centre-based social services 1.03.02.1.2 154, 819 293.22 118.28 411.50
Services requiring limited attendance Providing hot meals to minors receiving social services in centres in the daytime 1.03.04.2.2 42,053 195.64 46.84 242.47
The density of the distribution of cost values in the distribution series of homogeneous services across the institutions of the typological group is within acceptable values - less than 33 %.
Conclusion
The research findings confirm the need to adapt current institutional conditions and the existing methodical toolkit of resource maintenance of state orders for delivering social welfare services to the digital economy patterns under the pressure of sanctions and the force majeure factors. The analysis of national practice reveals the priority to accelerate digital transformation of state normative regulation of social services, increasing the possibility of their customisation according to the needs of a particular person.
The proposed model of digitalising normative state regulation of the social care using ICT allows generating a wide range of data that is not available within official or departmental statistics, increasing the level of scientific justification of normative regulators, forming individual social services packages and performing operational accounting of the contracts already at the stage of setting state tasks.
The model rests on the methodological approach to calculating cost standards, which is based on our classification that groups social services with the same type of content, professional and qualification support and technical equipment. The technological platform of the proposed model is the software of the INSYSC module. The software module of the industrial information system contains unique information from 121 social welfare institutions of the Sverdlovsk oblast on regulatory requirements and current conditions for providing services, professional qualification, material and technical equipment for delivering a single social service.
The data processing technology designed in the module for calculating the costs of public services by type of activity "social protection" allows for automated recalculating the cost standards for the provision of a specific service, adjusting the basic cost standards of institutions taking into account territorial specifics and unique specialisation.
The module's storage of primary data provides special access for all state institutions of the social sector, which allows them to systematically update data; model scenario situations of economic processes, take into account territorial, sectoral, individual specifics and ensure financial uniformity of operating conditions, which is an essential factor in building their development strategy.
We have confirmed our hypothesis that the median values of the cost indicators directly related to the social services delivery, weighted by the volume of services provided, can be accepted as normative for typological groups of institutions similar in activities and forms of service.
The formation of basic cost standards according to our calculation method, using a combination of normative, computational, analytical, structural methods, allows us to account for differences in the economic nature of direct costs and general economic costs, to clarify the impact of the institutions' asset complexes as well as other industrial and territorial factors on costs structure.
The basic cost standards for the type of activity "social protection" developed for 409 services and tested using the case of the Sverdlovsk oblast, increase the completeness, reliability and timeliness of justifying the costs of fulfilling a state task by social welfare institutions and autonomous non-profit organisations providing social care.
Implementing the proposed model of digitalising normative regulators will allow forming an effective institutional framework for the integrated development of the social care system in the region on the principles of public-private and state-society partnership.
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Information about the authors
Georgiy I. Zhurukhin, Cand. Sc. (Econ.), Research Consultant. Association of socially oriented non-profit organisations of the Sverdlovsk oblast, Ekaterinburg, Russia. E-mail: georg.zhur@mail.ru
Aleksandr G. Mokronosov, Dr. Sc. (Econ.), Prof., Prof. of Enterprises Economics Dept. Ural State University of Economics, Ekaterinburg, Russia. E-mail: amokronosov@ mail.ru
Ilya V. Illarionov, Head of Demographic Development and Social Service Dept. Ministry of Social Policy of the Sverdlovsk oblast, Ekaterinburg, Russia. E-mail: stmaugly@ gmail.com
© Zhurukhin G. I., Mokronosov A. G., Illarionov I. V., 2023
