The Conception of Adaptability in the Context of Researching the Postwar Structural Breakdowns of the National Economy

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the conception of adaptability of the national economy in the context of studying postwar structural breaks and the formation of theoretical foundations for its functioning under conditions of wartime and postwar transformations. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the necessity to rethink the role of adaptability as a key characteristic of the modern economic system, capable of ensuring its resilience, continuous functioning, and efficient recovery after large-scale external shocks. In the context of the ongoing war, Ukraine’s economy has undergone complex structural changes encompassing the production, financial, institutional, demographic, territorial, technological, and foreign economic spheres, which highlights the need to develop new conceptual approaches to studying adaptation processes. In this regard, the research aims to develop theoretical propositions regarding the essence of the adaptability of the national economy and to substantiate its conceptual foundations in the context of studying postwar structural breaks, identify key qualitative characteristics of an adaptive economy, and the main directions of structural transformations caused by the war. To achieve the set aim, the article analyzes scientific approaches to defining adaptability as an integral property of socioeconomic systems, which ensures their ability to respond to changes in the external environment, maintain economic stability, and create conditions for long-term development. It has been found that adaptability is a broader economic category compared to adaptation, as it characterizes not only the process of adjusting to changes but also the ability of the economic system to generate new development mechanisms, ensure structural flexibility, maintain strategic resilience, and create conditions for qualitative postwar recovery. The qualitative characteristics of an adaptive economy in terms of its response to structural breaks have been generalized, and contemporary scientific approaches to understanding adaptive processes at the macroeconomic level have been systematized. The main directions of the manifestation of structural breaks in the national economy of Ukraine have been classified, covering the resource-production, financial-economic, demographic, institutional, territorial, technological, logistical-infrastructural, and foreign economic spheres. The interdependence between the scale of structural transformations and the necessity of forming a new model of adaptive economic development has been determined. It has been found that one of the key manifestations of adaptability is economic resilience, which determines the ability of the national economy not only to overcome the consequences of crisis phenomena but also to transition to a new stage of development in accordance with the Build Back Better conception.