Ekonomiczne przesłanki cen socjalnych

The policy of prices for socio-welfare services is generally connected with the necessity of utilizing budgetary subsidies as tools in eliminating contradictions between a low level of these prices and the economic-financial system of self- financing enterprises. The article is an attempt at showing also such solutions which could reconcile social and economic criteria of fixing these prices . In other words, such solutions when realization of social goals through the policy of moderate prices (not covering full costs of producing given goods and services) may be simultaneously an instrument allowing to increase effectiveness of economic performance. The author discusses main characteristics of the price for socio-welfare services and its place in the socio-welfare policy and describes one of methods for fixing it on the basis of the price differentiation mechanism. Next, there are analyzed possibilities of reconciling economic and social goals in the situation of the so-called dilemma of a uniform price in conditions of indivisibility of production apparatus, existence of the so-called "geared production" , and uneven nature of production in different periods of time.