Three Seas Economic Journal (Nov 2021)
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES AND DYNAMICS OF PRODUCT COMPETITIVENESS IN UKRAINE
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to theoretically clarify the content of the concept of "competitiveness", to summarize the main results of institutional reforms in Ukraine, to test approaches to a more accurate macroeconomic assessment of the dynamics of competitiveness of major domestic commodity groups and technological complexity of foreign trade. Methodology. The article proposes to consider the concept of "competitiveness" as the level of compliance of goods (services) with consumer preferences of market participants. This conceptual position is used to interpret the basic competitiveness of large product groups and determine methods for its evaluation. The results of the assessment of the methodology and technique showed that in 2017-2019 the basic competitiveness of Ukrainian exports gradually increased, but in its composition the shares of certain types of raw materials and products of their shallow processing increased. At the same time, the competitiveness of consumer and investment products in the domestic market decreased and was gradually replaced by imported analogues. These trends suggest that Ukraine is selling more raw materials on international markets and producing fewer goods of higher technological sophistication with innovative or higher quality characteristics. Despite this, Ukraine's specialization in the global economy remains economically justified and effective. However, in the long run, this position of Ukraine is socially undesirable, as it holds back the development of the economy and throws it to the margins of technological progress. Practical implications. It is substantiated that, despite institutional changes, Ukraine has not approached the goal of increasing the level of competitiveness of products of high technological complexity, which have a relatively large share of added value. Value/originality. The study uses the dynamics of macroeconomic competitiveness of large commodity groups as a criterion of the effectiveness of institutional reforms in the country.
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