An environmental component of securing the national economy’s innovative development in the Industry 4.0

With the development of Industry 4.0, the transformation processes are taking place at the level of the national economy. The needs for energy supply, renewal of fixed assets, expansion of production, and ensuring innovative development are growing. These transformations require the introduction of additional mechanisms to ensure environmental safety. The article investigates the principles of development and functioning of the environmental component of securing the innovative development of the national economy in Industry 4.0. The system of environmental indicators of innovative support of the economy’s industrial and technological development is monitored, namely capital investments in environmental protection, the share of publications in ecology and environment, the share of renewable energy consumption, emissions of pollutants and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A relatively high emission rate of 0.57 tons of CO2 per $ 1,000 of GDP is set and this figure is graphically visualized in Ukraine and other countries. The distribution of administrative territories according to the level of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere from stationary sources is presented. The highest values of pollutant emissions from stationary sources are observed in Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions - 31.4% and 23.4%, respectively. The positive dynamics of the growth of renewable energy capacities is determined. The positive preconditions for the introduction of ecological innovations are identified, namely a new procedure for establishing and distributing the ecological tax, a new state environmental policy, bringing Ukrainian environmental policy in line with the standards of leading countries. Ukraine’s position on the Environmental Efficiency Index is determined. The main measures for the development of the environmental component of the economy in the leading countries are analyzed. Recommendations for improving the state policy of industrial and technological development in the framework of activating the environmental component are provided.

Measures of financial control over the development of united territorial communities

The purpose of the article is to substantiate new measures of financial control over the development of united territorial communities. The article examines the relevance of the introduction of a system of financial control over the development of united territorial communities in Ukraine. The authors prove that the main goal of proper financial control of the further development of the united territorial communities in Ukraine was actualized for the three reasons: rational distribution and efficient use of financial resources; ensuring the upward dynamics and territories’ sustainable development. The features, goals, and objectives of financial control of the development of territorial communities are outlined. The essence of the concept of financial control of the development of territorial communities is specified. The results of the analysis of several indicators of financial development of the united territorial communities in Lviv region are given and the conclusion about the disproportions of financial support of community development is systematized. The author's methodological approach to the analysis of the integral coefficient of financial capacity of territorial communities of the region is developed. The analysis of the state of financial capacity of the united territorial communities in Lviv region is carried out. The scientific novelty of the research lies in substantiating the author's methodological approaches to grouping and comparative analysis of united territorial communities based on indicators of income and expenditure, grants and subventions from the state budget, which allowed to identify the level of financial capacity and assess the effectiveness of the use of financial resources in each united territorial community in Lviv region. The practical significance of the research is that the implementation of the results of the financial capacity analysis can be used as informative and analytical measures of financial control over the development of local communities. Other perspective guidelines concerning measures of improvement of financial control in the processes of social and economic development of communities are outlined.

Competitive advantages in development of agricultural enterprises’ foreign economic activity

A necessary condition for a market economy is the existence of a competitive environment between economic entities, especially when agricultural enterprises enter foreign market. This problem is clear because the foreign economic activity of enterprises provides them with a competitive advantage allowing enterprises to enter a competitive market and occupy their positions in the world market of goods and services. The choice of strategies for a particular enterprise in the field of foreign economic activity is a long-term process that involves the choice of strategies from possible behaviors and coordination of actions of all structural units. Unfortunately, the loss of agricultural enterprises is one of the negative factors preventing them from performing management tasks related to the implementation of the chosen competitive strategy. In this case, the company may not focus on any strategy at all, and will not solve operational problems related to the economic efficiency of economic activity. In general, the essence of strategic management of enterprises engaged in foreign economic activity is to form a concept of benefits and prospects that can bring the international market and its actions. When implementing the company's strategic management in the international market, it is inevitable to avoid assessing short-term, medium-term and long-term risks and prospects. The competitiveness of agricultural enterprises should be based on the following aspects: improving the quality of enterprise management, development and compliance with standards of strategic competitiveness of agriculture and food; formulation of proposals for the formation of various strategies for enterprises; improvement of innovative organizations, introduction of information technology, and the presence of merchants in the commodity market provides information support; improves the organizational and technical level of support for agriculture; develops logistics and marketing systems.

Structural policy of large cities at the present stage of decentralization (on the example of Lvivska consolidated territorial community)

The present stage of decentralization in Ukraine is characterized by the activation of the processes of harmonization of economic development priorities in many newly established consolidated territorial communities (CTCs). In the first place, it is about the CTCs that were established around large cities after last year’s local elections. Traditionally, rural areas are rather skeptical about the possibility of complete realization of their interests within such CTCs. It causes numerous conflict situations. A range of CTCs established in the previous years even refuse to join new municipal CTCs. Often the refusal contradicts economic logic but meets the social support of the local population. For example, Lvivska CTC didn’t manage to consolidate a range of adjoining areas around it due to the unfriendly disposition of management of surrounding CTCs and their residents. Consequently, its spatial location turns out to be rather asymmetrical. The city’s boundaries literally “encounter” the neighboring village CTCs on the South and East. Moreover, some part of municipal infrastructural facilities turned out to be at their territory (supermarkets, trade centers, traffic intersections, and communal infrastructure facilities). To overcome the described problems and prevent conflict situations, it is reasonable to change approaches to the implementation of economic policy on the local level in the future. In the first place, modern approaches to the implementation of large cities’ structural policy should be introduced at the present decentralization stage. Because currently manufacturing prevails in the structure of these cities’ economy in Ukraine. Moreover, the foundations of industrial capacity of the municipal economy were formed back in the Soviet period. In the first place, it is about industrial regions of Eastern and Southern Ukraine. Yet, even in the West, namely in Lviv, most currently operating industrial enterprises were founded in the 1960s (some of them even in the 1940s). It is hardly real to transfer the production capacities of such enterprises to the neighboring rural areas. So, increasing the capacity of innovative production in adjoining rural areas should be the major priority of large cities’ structural policy at the present stage of decentralization.

Features of city image formation in the context of European integration

The article identifies the main aspects of strategic planning of the city image. In Ukraine as a democratic country, where the people are the main source of power, strategic planning, in particular in urban planning should be carried out for the people and together with the people. The stages of strategic planning are identified. They represent the relevant tasks, which should be accomplished on the basis of local public, business, and industrial organizations, thus obtaining comprehensive information about their problems and needs. The mechanisms used in the foreign practice of strategic planning are analyzed (on the example of Barcelona (Spain) and Hamburg (Germany). Community participation in strategic planning of Barcelona (Spain) and Hamburg (Germany) demonstrates its important role in Barcelona’s acquisition of the City of the Future Award (2015) and Hamburg’s high 23rd place in the 2010 World Quality of Life Ranking. The paper establishes that the cooperation of cities and society is the ground for the successful strategy; the community is a full participant in strategic planning. The main thing in the development strategy is to reach a consensus between the government-business-residents on a common vision of such development. In Germany, the planning law provides for community participation in all planning processes, and the entire population of the city can participate in the process of resolving issues using the Internet platform. Ensuring community participation in the form of partnership at all stages - both in the development process and in the implementation and monitoring of results will help optimize the process of regulating urban planning in our country.

Regional determinants of the environment of educational emigration of the population of the Carpathian region

The problem aspects of the environment of educational emigration in the oblasts of the Carpathian region are determined and the directions for their regulation are substantiated. The problem aspects of the environment of educational emigration are outlined across the main determinants (defining factors): educational migration capacity; academic environment quality; educational migration motivation; cooperation between universities and industries in the research; institutional conditions in education. The paper suggests the calculation of the Regional Index of Forming the Educational Migration Environment (RIFEME) to evaluate and analyze the environment of educational migration that pushes the young students abroad. It is calculated across 28 parameters by the data for 2017-2018. The selected parameters characterize various conditions of forming the educational migration environment: educational, educational–scientific, informational, socio-economic, political, socio-demographic, innovative, institutional. An aggregate estimation of determinants (integral index) shows the place of the oblasts of the Carpathian region by the condition of forming the educational migration environment. Systemic RIFEME calculation (calculations are performed for 2017-2018) forms the information base for monitoring the environment of the population’s migration activity and condition of educational services market based on academic mobility of students, teachers, and researchers and their cross-border mobility, for detecting the problems of the educational emigration environment, and for determining the ways to regulate it. Main directions to regulate the environment of educational migration in social, scientific-technological, economic, educational, and informational public policies are substantiated. The suggested tools and measures of regulation of the educational migration environment aim to reduce the paces of educational emigration and prevent possible losses of resources capacity and human capital of domestic higher educational institutions and scientific schools.

Structure and dynamics of Ukrainian merchandise exports: a regional dimension

Ukraine’s integration into the global market has a clear resource-oriented nature, as agricultural products remain the dominant component of domestic merchandise exports. This urges the need to diversify the structure of exports and increase the share of high-tech and medium-tech industries. Given the structural heterogeneity of the formation of domestic merchandise exports in the regional context, the research in this direction is relevant. The purpose of the article is to identify key changes in the export specialization of the regions of Ukraine and to group the latter according to the level of their export activities. Based on the assessment of the structure of merchandise exports of Ukraine and its regions, the export specialization of the latter by commodity groups is determined. The diagnostic study of export activities at the meso-level results from the calculation of indicators that characterize: export orientation of the economy (calculated as the ratio between the value of merchandise exports of the region and gross regional product), export coverage of imports (calculated as the ratio between the values of merchandise exports and merchandise imports of the region), export manufacturability (calculated as the ratio between the values of high-tech exports of the region and merchandise exports in general), the high-tech export orientation of the industry (calculated as the ratio between the value of high-tech exports of the region and the volume of sold industrial products). The regions are divided into four conditional groups according to the level of their export activities, based on the values of the integrated index calculated by the method of the arithmetic mean of partial indicators. Some key trends and problems in the formation and development of Ukraine’s export potential are outlined. Emphasis is placed on the high share of products made from toll raw materials within the high-tech merchandise exports of the vast majority of regions of the Western region. Measures for the implementation of an efficient state policy of export promotion are proposed and their targets are defined.

Analysis of the problems of the functioning of the food security institutional mechanism

The efficient functioning of the food security institutional mechanism is an important factor in providing the population with vital foodstuffs. It is the efficient relationship between traditional food demand institutions and modern food market regulation institutions that catalyzes the development of an efficient food security mechanism. The efficient functioning of modern institutions of the food security system is possible with an efficient system of institutional integration. That is why the need to highlight the problems of forming and efficient functioning of the institutional mechanism is important for finding ways to improve the existing food security system. At present, Ukraine's food security system is at an active stage of institutional transformation, which contributes to building an efficient link between agricultural production, the country's population, and the green economy. According to the SWOT analysis of the food security institutional mechanism, it can be concluded that the set of existing formal and informal institutions needs significant reform and improvement, as they should stimulate production, the competitiveness of Ukrainian products in both domestic and foreign markets, and affordability of agricultural products for citizens. According to the PEST-analysis of the institutional mechanism of the food security system, it can be concluded that to ensure the efficient functioning of the food security system, the state should build an efficient strategy for agro-industrial complex development and a strategy to provide the population with quality food products, bring the existing regulatory framework in line with modern market requirements and international standards, increase the level of technical and technological equipment of agro-industrial production, etc. In order to improve the current situation, the following areas of regulation of the food security institutional mechanism are proposed: strengthening the role of formal institutions in the domain of agro-industrial production and food security, ensuring the transformation of formal institutions in accordance with international law, stimulating development and creating incentives for informal institutions in the food security domain, ensuring strong interconnection and efficient interaction between formal and informal institutions of the food security mechanism.

Shaping the sustainable development of medical tourism in Ukraine

Due to the growing impact of tourism on the economy and the fact that tourism and medicine have become the leading industries in the world, there is a need to study and justify the prospects for development, areas of state support, and solutions to various problems in this industry. This article considers the relevance of medical tourism in Ukraine, reveals the very concept of medical tourism, its potential, popularity, and realities of implementation. The ideas of improving medical tourism and overcoming problems in their implementation are highlighted, as well as compared to the experience of foreign medical institutions. Based on the analysis of international experience, the most popular types of treatment and rehabilitation among medical tourists, as well as the main reasons for the huge gap in the cost of medical services in leading countries and countries with emerging markets are identified. The prospects of medical tourism development on the basis of state support are outlined and the solutions to various problems of this industry in the perspective for the future in Ukraine are suggested. It should be noted that the relatively low price compared to European countries is the biggest advantage of medical tourism in Ukraine. The cost of medical services in Ukraine in most cases is much lower than the cost of similar treatment in other countries. The ways to develop the medical tourism market to address economic, political, and social issues, reorganize all systems of rendering medical care, change the structure of medical education in Ukraine are offered. The following main tasks are defined: to improve the quality of domestic medical care and treatment efficiency; to improve the work of staff in providing quality services; to revise the legislative base of Ukraine, to develop the law "On Medical Tourism"; to develop the departmental regulatory framework for cooperation with foreign clients in medical institutions, primarily in the state and municipal domains; to promote Ukrainian medical tourism in the world.

Corporate social responsibility as the foundation of the development of tourism enterprises

Nowadays the tourism industry contributes to the development of partnership relations between the state and private sector and helps to strengthen the international partnership. It promotes the development of regions and stimulates the cooperation between the tourism industry and public society. Implementation of social orientation of the tourism industry contributes to the use of partnership approach to clients, economic entities, public authorities and local governments, NGOs, and the staff of touristic companies. This way, corporate social responsibility is formed. The implementation of corporate social responsibility stipulates overcoming the legal standards of business. The companies try to establish relations with society and invest in its development, strengthen its reputation, and harmonize the “living environment”. Yet, socially responsible behavior stipulates the allocation of some part of financial resources to solve the tasks that are not directly related to gaining profits. A strive to prosper urges the companies to search for the balance between the need to invest in the social domain and possible economic results in the long run. Understanding the fact that corporate responsibility can be an important tool for competition, the companies actively include its principles in the corporate strategy. The paper examines the features of social responsibility implementation as the foundation for the development of a tourism company. The nature of social responsibility is analyzed and the components of corporate social policy are characterized. The system functions of entrepreneurial activity of touristic companies that impact the forming of corporate social responsibility are determined. Based on the defined function, the major directions of tourism entrepreneurship development are outlined. The scheme of corporate responsibility in the tourism business is constructed. The measures directed at the implementation of external and internal social responsibility of a tourism company are suggested.