INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY OF GARMENT ENTERPRISES AS A FACTOR OF THEIR COMPETITIVENESS

The article analyzes the main indicators of innovation activity of industrial enterprises of Ukraine for 2014–2019. It is established that the share of expenditures on own research and development is consistently low, without showing a clear downward trend. It is shown that foreign trade in light industry goods in Ukraine is not balanced, as imports predominate over exports, which leads to an outflow of funds that can be spent on innovative development of the industry, creation of new high-tech jobs and training of highly qualified personnel. The annual deterioration of innovation indicators of light industry enterprises was revealed, which was caused by a low share of innovation-active enterprises in their total number, as well as a small share of innovative products in the total volume of light industry products. The number of innovatively active industrial enterprises by areas of innovation in 2014–2019 in terms of economic activities is analyzed. It is established that the highest indicator of expenditures on internal scientific developments in general in the industry of Ukraine, in processing and light industry was observed in 2016, the lowest – in 2019. Expenditures on external research in the industry as a whole ranged from 30.3 to 56.6% in relation to the expenditures on internal developments during the study period. The indicator for the processing industry is slightly lower (from 29.1 to 45.3%) and very low for the light industry (from 14.3 to 36.4%). It should be noted that in 2015, 2017 and 2019, external R&D was not carried out). The analysis of expenditures on innovations of industrial enterprises by areas of innovation in 2014–2019 showed that for all articles in light industry they are insignificant, and in some years either there is no data on them at all, or the data are not published. Factors that negatively affect the ability of light industry enterprises and garment enterprises in particular to carry out innovative activities (low innovative potential of industrial enterprises; lack of information on new technologies, lack of information on markets and lack of opportunities for cooperation with other enterprises and organizations). Some ways of development of innovative business for Ukrainian garment enterprises are indicated.

Local context and firms creation

This paper explores Italy’s biotech industry. This is the case of a new industry formation in a hostile institutional context. Our goal is two-fold. First, it is to extend our understanding of the role of institutions on firm formation and industry creation. Second, it is to offer prescriptive evidence for those regions that are trying to encourage entrepreneurship in innovative industries or increment existing systems of innovations. We adopt the interpretative lenses of the institutional theory. Our work aims to discuss the role that institutions (by the meaning of regulations, policies, and fiscal measures) provide to the development and change of industries around the world. We offer a comparison between Italy and other European countries in order to advise rules and suggestions to improve the competitiveness of the Italian biotech industry and firm formation. We recognize that the Italian institutional context is hostile to new industry creation because the rules and regulations do not support new firm formation. Moreover, Italy represents a context that shows a high level of risk aversion to radical innovation such as biotechnology.

Development prospects of the copper industry in the Far East

Research aim is to assess the prospects of using copper resources in the Far East to organize the regional base for the copper industry. Methodology. To assess the possibility or necessity of using the Far Eastern copper resources in the domestic industry, the state, production, needs and use of copper resources together with the existing projects of their development in the Far Eastern region are analyzed. Results and their analysis. In the Far East, projects are currently being implemented that require considerable use of a variety of non-ferrous metallurgy products. Metal products, materials and equipment required for the projects are imported or delivered from the western parts of Russia. Transportation significantly increases their cost. With the discovery and exploration of large copper deposits (Malmyzhskoye and Peschanka) and rich prospects of increasing the copper resource base in the far East, a number of ideas for copper industry creation and development in the region are proposed. Summary. The issue of copper industry creation in the Far East requires a multifaceted discussion, including the estimation of the general state and plans for the development of the copper industry in Russia and promising projects in the region. The region has sufficient reserves and resources of copper to create a complete technological chain of the regional copper industry, which involves the organization of copper production in the region. The potential of copper mineral resources in the region with an effective strategy for their use can contribute to the accelerated development of the Far East and become one of the factors of changing the geopolitical importance of Russia’s eastern part.

Development of the Intelligent Core of Vehicles’ Technical Inspection Management System

The efficiency of road transport is based on the reliability of the vehicle fleet, as well as the safety of its operation, which is ensured by the timely diagnosis of faults and the quality of maintenance and related repairs. Despite constant technical progress in the field of automotive industry, creation of technological equipment for maintenance and repair of the vehicle fleet, as well as new reasonable approaches to operation, the problem of developing an integrated system for managing the operation of road transport in order to ensure road safety remains urgent. In addition to the collection, storage and primary data processing module, such a system should include a specialized decision support module. In this regard, the scientific goal of the work is formulated—the development of an intelligent core for the management system for vehicles’ technical inspection. The mathematical model of the functioning of the technical inspection point is based. On its basis, the simulation model is constructed. The goal function is the amount of revenue from the provision of technical inspection and subsequent repair, minus losses due to equipment and workers idle time. A planfactor computer experiment was conducted, the number of repair workers, diagnostic lines, workers on the diagnostic lines that provide the maximum of the goal function were found.

High-speed Rail Network and Changing Industrial Dynamics in Chinese Regions

High-speed railway (HSR) network can significantly reduce the transport cost of people and facilitate interregional knowledge spillovers. It may thus affect regional industrial dynamics. By employing the industrial relatedness indicator, this article shows that regional industrial dynamics is path dependent in China. It further adopts several classical accessibility indicators to capture the network characteristics of transport infrastructure and the accessibility of Chinese cities in the HSR network. In response to the endogeneity issue, we design an instrumental variable based on historic transport network. Another econometric strategy is to include only two groups of cities in the sample: cities with existing HSR stations and cities with planned HSR stations. The empirical results suggest that high accessibility in the HSR network not only pushes forward new industry creation but also enables regions to be more pathbreaking and diversify into less related industries.

Foreign experience in risk management in the procurement of goods, works and services in the field of construction

In the article, with the help of theory and practice, the essence of foreign experience of risk management in the system of procurement of goods, works and services in the field of construction, its application content is disclosed. The main objectives of controlling purchases in the field of construction, which are provided with planning functions, are analyzed; analytical function; information function; coordination function. An important place is taken into assimilating of the different approaches to insurance of risks in the system of procurement of goods, works and services in the field of construction, differing in the degree of public participation. It is determined that the system of state purchases plays a strategic role in the construction sphere and promotes: modernization of infrastructure in the construction industry; creation of new methods and technologies of construction; housing and communal services development; improvement of personnel training, etc. It is stated that the achievement of the goals of organizing the procurement process in the construction and operation of facilities is based on the principles of openness and transparency of information contained in contracts for the procurement of construction services; provision of competition; professionalism of clients; stimulating innovation; harmony of contractual systems in the construction procurement field; realization of state and municipal needs. Changing the functions of the state in the complex conditions of development of the new economic system in one way or another affects all aspects of state participation in the economy, including in the construction sector. The state carries out the functions that their implementation is associated with significant material costs and is accompanied by mandatory costs for the purchase of certain types of construction goods, works and services.In general, the public procurement process is proposed to be seen as a mechanism by which countries allocate accumulated public funds to meet public needs and ensure the functioning of the country. The stimulating, innovative role of procurement in construction is manifested in the fact that the state, acting as a customer, is also the «first buyer» of new types of construction products and samples of experimental products in the field of construction, which have not, so far, been serial.

Sector blending: evidence from the German Food Bank

This study investigates forms of sector blending practiced by the Federal Association of German Food Banks and respective benefits and drawbacks emerging for the organization. The study builds on a prior sector blending categorization system. Twenty in-depth interviews with food bank members were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. In addition, webpage materials from German food retailers and press releases from the German Food Bank were analyzed. Imitation, interaction and industry creation were forms of sector blending found. The main drawback found was that the food bank fails to serve those outside the German social security system, such as the homeless. Benefits include a more professional image of the organization, and the enhancement of social capital. Overall, the additional generation of funds and resources were the most important aspects of sector blending efforts in the German food bank, as it helps food pantries adjust to an increasing number of people in need.