Ilya Valeryevich Filimonov

The article addresses the ecosystems in the socio-economic sphere as network forms of organizing economic activity, operating under conditions of digital technological infrastructure that brings together various economic agents. The aim of the study is the subject identification of ecosystems carried out by highlighting the essential characteristics and theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of the subject. Apart from universal methods of cognition, the authors provide a systematic literature review, in particular, the frequency analysis of scientific articles. Such approach allows to identify the three dimensions within which the ecosystems are determined: socio-economic, technological and physico-biological. Ecosystems have a network of multilevel in-built structure characterized by scalability, self-organization, stability and dynamism. The equilibrium of ecosystems is conditional due to the dynamic interaction of economic actors: a combination of competition and cooperation, vertical integration and horizontal network relations, formal and informal contracts. Ecosystem development is determined by the innovation potential: entrepreneurs play an important role, as well as information, data and knowledge used to develop innovations. To study ecosystems, scientific literature applies a general conceptual apparatus of economic science, as well as the conceptual apparatus formed within new institutional economic theory (NIET), evolutionary economics and theory of innovation. NIET can be applied to the study of ecosystems in the field of contract theory, applying the method of discrete structural alternatives. The dichotomous division of ecosystems into economic entities and environments used is a principle that is applied in evolutionary economics. The results of this study can be applied to ecosystem regulation, as well as developing the courses on digital economy.