Olena Tsyplitska

The study reveals the peculiarities of modern global production development due to global value chains (GVCs) formation that allow both developing and developed countries to integrate successfully into international production networks. This research is aimed at identifing key factors responsible for the upstream movement of Ukraine through GVCs and determining locations for production capacities, as well as at developing an institutional mechanism for facilitating the successful integration of domestic producers into GVSs. To achieve this, a multiple linear regression reflecting the interrelation between manufacturing industry share in exports value added and the institutional and economic indicators is analyzed. Three scientific hypotheses are tested and two of them are verified. The multiple linear regression results disclose a significant impact of institutional factors on the country’s ability to participate in GVCs and justify the first hypothesis, namely the higher the government effectiveness and regulatory quality are, the higher the manufacturing value added in exports is. Better governance and administrative functions performance enhance companies’ export potential. The model also verifies the second hypothesis that emphasizes better ability to join GVCs with low and medium technology product than with a high technology one. The model outputs contradict the third hypothesis on the protectionism: high tariffs for imports significantly matter in exports promotion. However, this result should be considered while accounting for the global trend of trade liberalization and Ukraine’s international agreements. The article proposes policy recommendations for improving the positions of Ukraine in GVCs.

The paper aims to highlight the status of the circular economy implementation in the EU and Ukraine, as well as to determine the advantages, challenges, opportunities and barriers to transition to circular supply chains. The main problems of waste management in Ukraine are explored, including faulty legislation, underinvestment, state policies and enlightenment regarding the circular economy, formal approach to the implementation of programs and strategies that should improve economic conditions, dominance of most waste-generative – extractive – industries in the economic structure of Ukraine. It is found out that the legislative framework for circular- and bio-economics in Ukraine does not meet the global challenges and requirements of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and needs urgent improvement measures. Studying the EU experience allowed describing the advantages and challenges of a circular economy that emerge in Ukraine. The article presents a mathematical model aimed at describing the peculiarities of a circular economy in the countries with low and high levels of industrial ecologization as well as understanding conditions for resource conservation during production processes. An econometrical model of the correlation between the solid waste generation, GDP and capital investment into environmental protection in Ukraine is used to demonstrate the absence of the latter’s influence on the waste generation at the current technological level of the national industries. The research results allow developing recommendations for state policy for the industrial sector and environmental protection that may be implemented at the current stage to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

The close relationship between industrial development and environmental pollution is considered the main problem of negative climate changes and the deterioration of life quality leading to an increase in mortality. In this regard, the protection of environmental human rights is of great importance. The paper aims to assess the trends of industrial influence on the human environment and the level of protection of environmental human rights in different countries through reviewing and analysis of the set of relevant studies. The paper brings novelty exploring an array of objectives for protecting human environmental rights in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, implementation of a circular and resource-efficient economy, together with the Industry 4.0 technologies for industrialized countries, including Ukraine. Most studies consider contradictions between the economic and environmental goals of both businesses and the state the main obstacle for the ecologization of industrial production. The economic feasibility of introducing more resource-efficient business models has been proved. The impact of Ukrainian industrial companies on the environment and the state of human environmental rights protection is studied. The results of the study allow stating that the resource and energy inefficiency of industrial technology in the country, as well as the weakness of state institutions in the implementation of reforms for sustainable development, is a fundamental threat to human rights and a healthy life.

Digital inequality of the regions is considered one of the topical issues of sustainable development provision in less developed countries. It can be defined as a gap between the geographical areas regarding the access opportunities to ICT and the Internet use for different activities. The goal of the study is to identify the link between the regional digital divide and the level of economic development in Ukraine and generalize international practices of digitalization promotion in lagging regions. Methodologically, various statistical methods (analytical grouping, variation, and correlation analysis) were used. The most appropriate and available data for assessing the digital divide referred to the State Statistical Service of Ukraine’s survey on Internet users in Ukrainian regions. The study revealed an overall shrink in the variation coefficient of the share of Internet users (from 36.4% in 2010 to 10.2% in 2019). However, the variation coefficients for the share of interacting with public authorities, reading online, and e-mailing persons remain significant.
Furthermore, analytical grouping of regions suggested that the level of industrial sector development influenced the penetration of digital technologies into public life vastly, though several unaccounted factors also existed. Finally, the paper examined international practices of managing the digital divide. As a result, recommendations for public policy (e.g., the implementation of training programs for late adults and elderly, improved digital maintenance and digitalization programs for schools, price equalization for digital technologies, equal Internet provision in different regions, and investments in services digitalization) were developed.

The research aims to identify industrial and other economic sectors’ contribution to the regional divergence in Eastern European countries, particularly Poland and Ukraine. The ambiguity of the results of previous studies on the factors of regional convergence indicates the need for further research, considering the peculiarities of distinct economies’ development. The countries selected for analysis – Ukraine and Poland – had similar starting conditions for market transformation, have a common border, and a comparable population. The analysis of regional inequality in Ukraine revealed a tendency of asymmetric regions’ growth in 2010–2017. In Poland, divergent trends in regional development in 2009–2017 were significantly less pronounced. The statistical method to identify the impact of the industrial, agricultural, and service sectors on regional σ-convergence based on coefficients of variation measuring the differences in regional economies’ sectoral structure was used. The analysis demonstrated that, in general, the uneven structure of regional economies does not significantly impact any of the analyzed countries, which confirmed the results of some other studies. Simultaneously, it highlighted that the industrial sector had the greatest impact on regional divergence in Poland. Despite the dominant role of services in regional divergence in Ukraine, most researchers emphasize the importance of the industrial sector for regional development. To consider this factor in the regional divergence of Ukrainian regions, some regional policy implications were considered.