Property as an economic category reflects the whole complex of social relations: social, national, religious, political, legal, moral and ethical and others. This is a rather complex and multifaceted concept. Property is at the center of the economic system, as it determines how the worker will be connected to the means of production, determines the structure of society, both political and social. It also affects the presence and nature of motivation to work, the choice of how to share its results.
Thus, expressing the deepest interconnections and interdependencies, property as an economic category reveals the essence of society.
At first, it was considered as a person’s attitude to a certain thing, that is, whether he has it and can dispose of it. Then, as the society developed, scientific knowledge accumulated, the idea of property became more meaningful and voluminous. Things began to be understood differently. Only under certain economic conditions, silver and gold turned into money. After all, they themselves are not such.
The same applies to property. It is characterized in the first place not by the relation of a person to a thing, but by who it is and in what way it is assigned to. It is also important how much the interests of others are affected. As soon as they enter into a relationship regarding the appropriation of a thing, it becomes property. And this is an economic category.
Assignment is a concrete way of mastering a thing existing in a society. It expresses the attitude of the subject towards her as a personal one.
Assignment begins with the sphere of production. It is here that the property is formed, its value. Who owns the means of production, he gets the results. Further, through the areas of exchange and distribution, this process continues.
This implies the following definition. Property as an economic category is a complex of relationships between business entities. Together they decide on the appropriation of the results of production and its means.
There is an opposite process - alienation. It takes place when the subject is left without rights to own and dispose of some property. Both processes are diametrically opposite sides of the same concept. The contradictions in the appropriation-alienation system serve as a strong internal impetus for the self-development of property relations. It is precisely in this that the powerful influence of this connection lies.
Property as an economic category perceives the appearance of how a person relates to things. Therefore, it necessarily reflects the relationship: the relation of its "owner" to "not the owner." This interdependence is manifested through its subjects and objects.
The latter are all that can be appropriated: real estate, natural resources, money, securities, capital goods, etc.
Bearers of relations are subjects of ownership. These are individuals or legal entities, a state or several states.
Property as an economic category is closely interconnected with the legal side of life. The legal aspect is fixed in the legislation. This gives the character of legal relations to economic relations, that is, their participants become carriers of certain obligations and opportunities.
Another of the most intractable problems in the economy that arises when considering property is the classification of its types. It is carried out on the basis of two approaches: horizontal-structural and vertical-historical. The latter defines those types of property in the economy that have developed historically.
A horizontal structural approach takes into account, first of all, the level of development of productive forces, the degree of the subject’s rights to resources, to production management, to its results, etc. Based on these criteria, private and public property are distinguished, each of them has its own forms manifestations.