Professional Expert Communities as a Party in Socio-Economic Relations

The paper discusses professional expert communities' role in socio-economic relations and solving different tasks by community members. The definition of the term "professional expert community" is given with the emphasis on experts' role in such communities. The paper singles out several factors that contribute to professional expert communities' development and presents their original classification. The theoretical foundation for this research includes O. Williamson and E. Ostrom's works, the Nobel Prize winners and prominent economists specialising in institutional economics. From the perspective of these scholars, professional expert communities must follow specific management principles and solve the problems connected with transaction costs. Moreover, community members' skills and experience are to be used altogether; institutional design principles may be affected. The study's main conclusion is that extensive development of professional expert communities may help accumulate knowledge, skills, and community members' competencies necessary to solve urgent social problems. We believe that in the future professional expert communities can be actively involved in socio-economic relations.