IJTIMOIY XIZMATLAR TUSHUNCHASINING MOHIYATI VA TAVSIFIGA OID NAZARIY QARASHLAR

The article examines the essence of social services and their role as an economic category based on various theoretical approaches. Scientific interpretations of social services are systematized within the frameworks of institutional theory, public and merit goods theory, welfare state concepts, and human capital theory. The role of social services in ensuring social justice, social stability, and improving the efficiency of human capital utilization is substantiated. The approaches of foreign and national scholars, as well as definitions of social services in the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, are analyzed. An authorial interpretation of social services as an investment-oriented and institutional mechanism influencing economic growth and sustainable development in a transition economy is proposed.