The normative method is a planning method based on the application of norms and standards to substantiate planning, program and forecast documents. Norms are absolute indicators reflecting the consumption of resources (material, labor, financial) per unit of production, work, services. There are technical and economic, financial, socio-economic, environmental, etc. For example, the rate of consumption of a particular type of metal, plastics per 1 machine, machine; the norm of living space for 1 person in the city, in the countryside. Standards are relative indicators characterizing the level of resource use (the yield coefficient of finished products from raw materials, materials, the level of profitability of production, the rate of deduction from profits, etc.).
Through a system of norms and standards, interaction between the state and economic entities is carried out, the problems of the socio-economic development of the country are solved, the needs for resources, products, services are determined, production capabilities are calculated, and proportions are established. Norms and standards are the most important component of the entire set of information data characterizing the main elements of the production process, which involves the interaction of objects and tools of labor, labor itself; development of the social sphere, protection of the population, rational use of natural resources and environmental protection, formation and movement of financial flows, etc.
Norms and standards are grouped by characteristics. As a sign can be: directions of application of norms and standards, the scale of their distribution, methods of development and others.
According to the directions of use, the norms and standards are divided into:
norms of labor costs (production rates – the number of products per worker or per unit of time in the accepted units of measurement) or the time spent on the manufacture of a unit of the product (labor intensity or service standards, etc.); norms of use of material resources (norms of consumption of raw materials, basic and auxiliary materials, fuel, electricity); norms and standards for the use of fixed production assets (equipment, machinery, units, vehicles) in physical terms, as well as in value terms (output per 1 ruble of fixed production assets); norms and standards characterizing the efficiency of social production (production of national income by 1 ruble of costs, per 1 ruble of fixed production assets, etc.); norms and standards of capital investments and capital construction (standards of specific capital investments, norms of construction duration, etc.); financial norms and standards (depreciation rates, standards of deduction from profit to the budget, profitability standards, etc.); socio-economic norms (norms of per capita consumption of food and non-food products, norms of living space in urban and rural areas, minimum consumer budget); norms and standards of environmental protection (the degree of purification of water, air from harmful substances, extraction of minerals from ores, etc.).
According to the period of validity, current norms and standards used in the development of annual forecast and planning documents are distinguished, and long-term (medium and long-term perspective).
According to the nature of the spread, the norms are divided into local, sectoral and intersectoral. If the norms are applied only in a particular enterprise, these are local; in enterprises belonging to the same industry – sectoral; in enterprises belonging to various industries, intersectoral norms.
According to the level of aggregation of norms and standards, there are: the macro level, the level of ministries (departments), enterprises.
According to the methods of development, the norms are divided into calculation-analytical, experimental and reporting-statistical. The most progressive are the calculation and analytical, established on the basis of technically and economically justified calculations. To determine them, modern methods and instructions are used, advanced production experience and the latest achievements of science and technology are taken into account. When establishing experimental standards, they proceed from experimental data, taking into account the achieved best practices and a comprehensive analysis of production reserves. They are accepted in the case when, due to the lack of relevant calculation data, it is impossible to apply the calculation method. Reporting and statistical norms are calculated on the basis of statistical data for the past period. They suffer from all the shortcomings inherent in the past period, do not reflect the planned (projected) achievements of scientific and technological progress, do not stimulate the use of available production reserves. Such norms are established only when they cannot be determined by calculation or experimental methods.
In the context of the transition to market relations and the expansion of economic methods in the regulation of the economy, the role and importance of the normative method are increasing. Consequently, the requirements for the system of norms and regulations are increasing, the task of its improvement is set.