AGENCY OF ECONOMIC ACTORS IN A DIGITALIZED INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Introduction. Contemporary socio-economic development takes place under conditions of intensive digitalization, accompanied by growing uncertainty intensified by crises and war. Technologies, algorithms, and platforms form new institutional frameworks of economic activity while simultaneously transforming the ways economic agents make decisions. Under such conditions, classical approaches focused on rationality or institutional incentives are insufficient to explain the actual behavior of agents.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to conceptualize the agency of economic actors in a digitalized institutional environment characterized by high uncertainty from a human-centered perspective and to substantiate a typology of agents within a digitalized society.

Materials and Methods. The study applies a conceptual interdisciplinary approach that integrates sociological theories of structure–agency interaction, psychological theories of agency, and institutional economics. The following methods are used: theoretical generalization and grouping (to examine the agency of economic actors as a characteristic formed at the intersection of institutional conditions, digital mediation, and psychological factors); theoretical integration, conceptual modeling, and typological analysis (to construct a typology of economic agents in a digitalized society); and logical synthesis of results. The theoretical framework combines the approach to innovation ecosystems as complex sociotechnical systems (Helix models and systems theory), the VUCA/BANI concepts for analyzing high uncertainty environments, and the human-centered approach (typologies of individual adaptation to digitalization).

Results. The article substantiates the view of economic agents’ agency as a dynamic characteristic formed at the intersection of institutional conditions, digital mediation, and psychological factors. A typology of economic agents in a digitalized society is proposed, including individuals, firms, digital platforms, and hybrid agent formations (human plus algorithm). The economic landscape of Ukraine is analyzed in the context of the proposed typology. Based on the results of the experiment, an author's scheme “Subjectivity of individual types of adaptation to digitalization” was developed, which determines the individual level of subjectivity and the type of human freedom as a significant participant in the structure of economic entities.

Prospects. The results of the study can be used for further theoretical and applied research on the agency of economic actors, as well as for the development of human-centered digital policies and institutional solutions under conditions of high uncertainty.