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Industrial regions of Ukraine, especially near-front territories (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions), suffered the greatest damage and losses as a result of the full-scale war. The needs for their recovery, according to the joint assessment of international institutions and the Ukrainian government, constitute half (50.46% or $207.2 billion USD) of the reconstruction needs for Ukraine. Considering the structural lag of the economy in industrial regions, dominated by sectors with weak innovation activity and low technological intensity, the continuation of pre-war development trajectories is absolutely unacceptable and non-competitive in the context of the Industry 4.0-5.0 which gains traction globally. In the conditions of a significant change in the profiles of industrial regions due to the war, there is an opportunity to revive their economy but on fundamentally new, innovative principles. Smart specialization can be utilized for this purpose, aiming at the structural transformation of the economy and the development of new competitive advantages for regions and countries. Emphasis is placed on the necessity of conducting a critical analysis and rethinking the implementation directions of smart specialization in the industrial regions of Ukraine. This is due to the varying degrees of consideration of its fundamental principles in the regional development strategies for 2021-2027 and the need for the structural transformation of their economies to overcome the consequences of the war for the local population. The purpose of the article is to identify key problems in the field of organizational and economic support for the implementation of the smart specialization approach in the industrial regions of Ukraine and to determine ways to solve them, taking into account purely Ukrainian challenges and EU experience. The role of organizational and economic support for the implementation of the smart specialization approach in national conditions has been substantiated. The scientific understanding of the main organizational and economic problems and shortcomings of the implementation of the smart specialization approach in the industrial regions of Ukraine has been deepened. It is highlighted that freezing these problems and the absence of appropriate actions to address them will prevent structural and innovation transformations in the economies of regions based on the principles of sustainable development, thereby excluding the possibility of overcoming their structural backwardness. Proposals on ways to solve existing organizational and economic problems are substantiated, taking into account purely Ukrainian challenges, and the knowledge obtained in the EU member states during the implementation of this approach over the last ten years. The practical implementation of these proposals will make it possible to adjust the smart-oriented goals and sectoral focuses of regional development strategies, to direct them to the transformation of the economy of industrial regions through the support of sectors and industries that have the potential to develop new competitive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of supporting and promoting entrepreneurship development is due to its positive impact on economic growth, innovation processes, and the population welfare, the ability to contribute to the solution of modern challenges. In Ukraine, the entrepreneurial sector - the totality of large, medium, small, and micro-enterprises that carry out entrepreneurial activities in the country - faces problems of premature deindustrialization, slowing down innovation processes and their consequences in the form of a structurally weak, resource-based economy, which are further exacerbated in wartime conditions, when the country suffers from huge destruction and losses. Solving these problems requires a deep economic restructuring - from raw materials to industrial-innovative economy - in which the entrepreneurial sector will play a key role. The article aims to assess sectoral maladjustments of the Ukrainian entrepreneurial sector related to the need for innovative transformation as a basis for economic restructuring in modern and post-war conditions. The assessment was performed based on a set of proposed scientific and methodological foundations using indicators reflecting the level of investment in innovation and proving the effectiveness of enterprises' innovative activities, as of the pre-war period, to further (if relevant statistical information is available) compare the obtained estimates with the structural characteristics of the entrepreneurial sector during the war and post-war periods. It has been established that there are sectoral maladjustments linked to enterprises' economic opportunities in the technological sectors of the manufacturing and high-tech knowledge-intensive services, when it comes to implementing innovative transformation. Sectoral maladjustments in the levels of technological intensity of the sold innovative products in the entrepreneurial sector have been identified. It has been revealed that there are sectoral maladjustments in the levels of the entrepreneurial sector innovative effectiveness by types of economic activities (TEA), which vary significantly by industries depending on their specifics, economic status and other conditions. A grouping of TEA according to the level of innovative effectiveness (IE) has been made. It has been revealed that most of them belong to the group with a low level of IE, which indicates the unbalanced investment and innovation development of the Ukrainian entrepreneurial sector. A comparative analysis of the entrepreneurial sectors of Ukraine, innovatively developed countries, and peer countries in terms of indicators characterizing the state of technology-intensive industries development showed that the national economy lags behind both groups of countries and the need for its restructuring in the direction of increasing the share of gross value added of the manufacturing of high-technology and medium-high-technology industries. This research forms a scientific basis for substantiating and including appropriate actions in state policies to create favorable conditions for the modern and post-war recovery of the Ukrainian economy on a fundamentally new, competitive and innovative, basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is devoted to development of theoretical and methodological foundations, conceptual provisions and practical recommendations for the development of innovation ecosystems of Ukraine. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the concept of innovation ecosystem as a result of the development of innovation theory are improved; the interconnection between glocalization of the world economy and the development of innovation processes is revealed. The research revealed the leading role of industry in the development of innovation ecosystems. Scientific and methodical approach for assessment of innovation activities in industry was developed; analysis and assessment of innovation processes in industry was carried out on the basis of proposed approaches in the context of industries and regions. The necessity of neo-industrialization of the economy is substantiated as a condition for the development of the national innovation ecosystem of Ukraine. Obstacles on the way to neo-industrialization and development of national innovation ecosystem are identified and characterized, the proposals for overcoming them have been developed. Systematization of the institutional foundations, the state and problems of European integration of Ukraine in scientific, technical and innovation sphere has been carried out; the directions of strengthening of Ukrainian participation in the European research area were revealed. A conceptual approach to the development of national innovation ecosystem of Ukraine in accordance with the requirements of the European NUTS classification was proposed; a conceptual model of Ukrainian innovation ecosystems was developed. The proposals for the institutional support of the formation of regional innovation ecosystems of Ukraine at the level of economic regions are substantiated. The scientific and methodological approach to the formation of special economic zones as stimulating regulatory regimes aimed at the development of innovation ecosystems was improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the concept of an innovative ecosystem to describe the open dynamic network (non-hierarchical) environments consisting of organizations, people and institutions that are interacting in creating, using and diffusion of innovations. The origins of the «innovation ecosystem» concept have been explored, the extensive review of the literature on ecosystem issues have been carried out. Analysis of the Scopus database for 1996-2019 showed that the frequency of mentioning the phrase «innovation ecosystem» has increased over the past decade in dozens of times and is growing exponentially. In 2019, the phrase «innovative ecosystem» found in scientific journals 119 times more likely to 2009. Moreover, the interest to this topic has not faded over time, but it is increasing -- in 2015-2019 the frequency of mentioning of this phrase has augmented by 3.35 times, demonstrating the relevance of the research issues. The literature review has shown that, despite the wide application of the term "innovation ecosystem" in the academic, political and business environments, there is no consensus among experts about what is really an innovation ecosystem. To that end, various views of scholars and practitioners on the phenomenon of innovation ecosystems have been analyzed, which have been systematized and grouped into four approaches: ecosystems organized around a focal (central) company; ecosystems as "structures" built around a focal value proposition (focal innovation); ecosystems as defined environments (spaces) that are forming at different levels -- from local to global; ecosystems as platforms, around which the activities of stakeholders are organized. The key characteristics and features of these approaches have been defined, which allowed to ensure the theoretical organization of existing knowledge. The differences between ecosystems and systems of innovation have been substantiated, the advantages of the ecosystem approach have been defined compared to the traditional systematic view of innovation creation. The properties of innovation ecosystems and modern innovation processes have been highlighted. Given the purpose the Strategy of Innovative Development of Economy of Ukraine till 2030 to develop the national innovation ecosystem, the paper accentuates on the need to establish innovative ecosystems at the regional level (in regions or in a few of them within the economic regions) as organic components of the national innovation ecosystem, bearing in mind the rapid, large-scale and constant changes in the global environment, in which they are forming. The definition of the innovation ecosystem of a region (economic region) has been proposed. By adhering to the systemic and structural-functional approaches, the regional innovation ecosystem has been presented and described as a multidimensional model consisting of the ecosystem goal, actors (organizations), their environment and the system of relationships between actors within the ecosystem and the external environment. The conceptual model of the regional innovation ecosystem of Ukraine from the perspective of systems theory has been developed. Basic provisions of the paper and its conclusions could be considered, when implementing innovation policy to form innovation ecosystems at different levels, including at the regional level (economic regions) of Ukraine as the most suitable for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absence of progressive structural changes in the Ukrainian economy during the independence period has led to a significant lag in socio-economic, industrial and technological development. Ukraine is lagging behind advanced countries, as well as many developing ones. In order to change this situation, public policy should focus on the application of tools that will facilitate investment inflows and revitalize the economy. The paper deals with special economic zones as such tools. The objective of the paper is to substantiate the alternative concept of special economic zones in Ukraine as a tool for unlocking the innovation capabilities of regions, considering mistakes in the introduction of this tool in previous years and lessons from international experience in accordance with the strategic national goals under emergence of new industries. Methods of analysis and synthesis, comparative analysis and system approach have been used for this research. Scientific reports by international organizations, Ukrainian legislation, foreign and Ukrainian academic literature on this issue have been used as references. Special economic zones have been analyzed from the standpoint of three approaches: an orthodox, heterodox, and two approaches of evolutionary economics: vertical-specialized industrialization and agglomeration. Theoretical basis of the study is guidelines of new institutional economy and endogenous growth theory. According to them, SEZs have a positive influence on the investment climate and can change trends of the country's movement towards the advanced innovative growth. But it requires effective institutions, including competent government, appropriate and consistent state policy, which provides, first of all, investment in human capital, research and development, and knowledge-based industry. The sixty-year world practice of economic zones has been compiled. The Ukrainian experience in this field has been systematized. Reasons of Ukrainian SEZs' failures, which consist in their initial perception as sources of political rent and abuse of power, are defined, which has caused significant gaps in legislation, the removal of the state from the arrangement of zones with the appropriate infrastructure and the provision of broad economically unjustified preferences to certain producers. The alternative concept of special economic zones in Ukraine is suggested as a tool for unlocking the innovation capabilities of regions in the form of stimulating regulatory regime, encouraging innovative investments, combining the system of incentives and privileges, obligatory control and restrictions to keep balance between interests of businesses and the state. Stimulating regulatory regime of economic zones is described as follows: {Goals of introducing the regime; Entities, subject to the regime; Limits of regime; Fiscal and non-fiscal preferences of the regime; Management structure of the zone to achieve the goals of the regime; Operation period of the regime}. The introduction of the regime will catalyze the generation of ideas for new products and services, development of knowledge-intensive activities, technological (sectoral) diversification of the regional economy, their integration into the global value chains on a more beneficial basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main barriers to enhancing innovation activities of the industrial enterprises of Ukraine is the lack of financial resources per se and their limited use for innovative purposes. Therefore, the primary objective, on the one hand, should be an increase of investment support of enterprises' innovative activity from all sources - own, borrowed and external - and, on the other hand, optimization of innovative expenditures' structure that has developed in enterprises of various types of industrial activity in order to ensure maximum economic returns. The aim of this paper is to analyze the correlation between the amount and components of expenditures on innovation activity and the total amount of innovative products, sold by industrial enterprises of Ukraine, and, according to the results of this analysis, to submit proposals for improvement of investment support of their innovation activity. In the paper, using correlation and regressive analysis the correlation between expenditures on innovation and the volume of innovative products, sold by industrial enterprises of Ukraine in 2015 and 2017, is investigated. It was hypothesized that the total amount of innovative products sold and their share, which is new to a market, as well as the number of innovative products, marketed abroad, depend on various types of investments in innovations. Correlation and regressive analysis revealed a different impact of components of investments in innovation on the amount and structure of innovative products sold, which confirmed the hypothesis of the study. It has been defined that the overall amounts of innovative products sold depend the most on the level of expenditures on purchasing of machines, hardware and software, as well as expenditures, related to the component "Others". The positive tendency of innovative products sold that are new to the market and which are sold to other countries are largely determined by the volume of expenditures on external R&D. Thus, by changing the structure of investment in innovation, an enterprise can significantly increase economic return, and, consequently, their level of competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to proposals on improvement of the existing mechanisms of innovation management in the conditions of modernization of the national economy. Today, innovations are firmly recognized as one of the main sources of sustainable economic growth for advanced and emerging economies. That is why the stimulation of innovative potential of the countries shocked by the crisis is considered as a possible catalyst for revitalizing their economies. More active government intervention to support innovation comes to the fore. For many years in Ukraine there has been a business model that has been based solely on the use of raw materials and cheap labor to produce more income. As a result, Ukraine continues to stay on the resource development stage of the economy. It is clear that further advance along this way directly threatens the national safety of Ukraine. In such circumstances, it is necessary to change approaches to the management of innovation processes, increase efficiency and productivity of the mechanisms of innovation management. In the article the mechanisms of innovation management are considered in the context of modernization of national economy as a set of the control system components influencing innovation processes and reflecting certain aspects of management – goals, principles, functions, tasks, controls, personnel, methods, resources, and tools. Such mechanisms of innovation management are allocated as the main: mechanisms for planning and forecasting, coordinating and monitoring the innovation; financial and economic mechanism and legal mechanism of innovation management. Proposals are grouped singly for each of the selected control mechanisms. In particular, within the mechanism of planning and forecasting the innovative activity at the government level it is proposed to establish a special commission for the development of National Innovation Strategy of Ukraine as a single comprehensive document accumulating political initiatives, offers of scientific community, businesses and all other interested parties. It is worth noticing that all of these mechanisms should be used comprehensively, using the methods and tools of public policy in a certain sequence and interrelation with the involvement in management decisions of all stakeholders and participants in innovation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]