Methodological eclecticism in the interpretation of the essence of financial system

The article is dedicated to critical analysis of competitive conceptual approaches to determining the essence of financial system. The system establishing element of the financial system resource concept is understanding finance as economic relations of formation, allocation and use of financial resource funds with the purpose of performing functions and tasks of the state/company and provision of conditions for expanded reproduction. According to this approach, the notion ?financial system? is further determination of finance and shall be interpreted as the totality of relatively separated but mutually related spheres and links of relations, in the process of which centralized and decentralized financial resource funds are created and used. The institutional concept of the financial system considers finance as a social institution that organizes determined ways of interactions between individuals or their separate groups in the society. Its target purpose is to minimize transaction expenses arising at exchange of binding requirements for real resources in the economy. Under this approach, the financial system is understood as an aggregate of means ? financial institutions and markets ? which result from the evolution of social contracts and with the help of which intertime decisions and interactions are fulfilled and coordination of savings and investments in the economy is performed. The article shows that the alternative theoretical models of financial system contain structural elements heterogeneous by content and nature of interrelations, with various properties. The differences between them concern methodological approach to distinguishing qualitative signs which determine the essential nature and structure of the financial system; mechanism of formation and functioning of financial relations; nature of distribution and scheme of financial resources flow; the nature of functions of the financial system in the economic environment; special mechanism of effect of the financial system upon the economic system. Considering the theoretical and methodological differences between the resource and institutional concepts of the financial system, the author offers to divide them into two theoretical models ? financial system concept and the concept of the system of finance.