The Socioeconomic Structure of the Agrarian Society and the Potential for the Development of Rural Territories (Example of Vinnytsia Region)
Krychkovskyi V. Y.

Krychkovskyi, Vadym Yu. (2026) “The Socioeconomic Structure of the Agrarian Society and the Potential for the Development of Rural Territories (Example of Vinnytsia Region).” The Problems of Economy 1:77–85.
https://doi.org/10.32983/2222-0712-2026-1-77-85

Section: Economics and national economy management

UDC 364.22:316.324.5:001.8 (477)

Abstract:
The aim of the article is an empirical assessment of the socioeconomic differentiation of the agrarian society using the example of rural areas in the Vinnytsia region. The article presents the results of research on the socioeconomic structure of the rural population of certain communities based on the criteria of the prevalence and destructive functionality of poverty. An approach to the economic problem of minimizing poverty in the agrarian society is outlined using the example of existing objects. The results of the author’s randomized field studies of typical rural settlements, as well as a comparative analysis of their socioeconomic condition over a period of about 20 years, were used. The methodological basis of the research is the author’s approach, which relies on the libertarian model of the social contract and overcoming poverty within the framework of capitalist growth. Based on the results of the study, it was found that the level of absolute poverty in most rural settlements is lower than is usually presented in scientific and public rhetoric, while the key problem is institutional poverty, associated with behavioral, motivational, and organizational dysfunctions. A significant differentiation of the socioeconomic status of rural areas, a limited potential for hired labor, and the dominance of the sector of economically active agents oriented toward individual and entrepreneurial survival models were revealed. An author’s typology of first- and second-order poverty, as well as the conception of a libertarian social contract as an institutional basis for minimizing poverty in the agrarian society, was proposed. The practical significance of the results lies in the possibility of using the proposed methodology by local self-government bodies, businesses, and communities to develop applied programs for the economic activation of rural areas.

Keywords: poverty, agrarian society, institutional poverty, social contract, libertarian model, rural areas, entrepreneurship.

Tabl.: 9. Bibl.: 21.

Krychkovskyi Vadym Yu. – PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of Plant Breeding and Horticulture, Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (3 Soniachna Str., Vinnytsia, 21008, Ukraine)
Email: 2112kv@gmail.com

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