The Role of the Property of the Individual in Economic Relations

The purpose of this article is to investigate the influence of the material and nonmaterial property of the individual on the relations that take shape during his or her productive activity. The importance of the object of ownership, it is argued, places obvious restrictions on its possessor, and obliges him or her to follow the rules governing the use of this property. In its turn, the importance of the object of own ership is a result of the social relations in which the person participates. The theoretical basis for the research is provided by the concept of universal organisational science put forward by A.A. Bogdanov. Property differs from other goods in its exceptional significance for the individual. As a result of this, the person begins to conceive of himself or herself as a continuation of this property, developing the corresponding inclinations and stereotypes of behaviour. It is shown that the motives and habits of this individual, along with the nature of his or her activity, are determined in the first order by his or her striving to maximise the utility derived from the use of the property that he or she possesses. In the article, property objects of all types are considered from the point of view of the well known division of goods into “agreeable”, “useful”, “noble” and “holy”, which has made it possible to advance a hypothesis concerning the origins of limitations and possibilities, proto-institutions and the institutional environment. Propositions are advanced to explain the target functions of the property owner in individual-productive and collective forms of activity