Oleh Pustovoit’s scientific contributions

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.

The purpose of this article is to clarify the content of the concept of "competitiveness", to develop and test approaches to assess the importance of basic, price and non-price competitiveness of commodity exports to ensure its dynamics on the example of Ukraine. Methodology. The article proposes to expand the content of the concept of "competitiveness" by generalizing the level of compliance of goods (services) with consumer preferences of market participants. This conceptual position is used to enhance the understanding of basic, non-price and price competitiveness of products and to clarify methods for its evaluation. The results of testing the methodology and technique showed that the cyclical process of alternating growth of non-price or price competitiveness of Ukrainian export products is mainly interrupted. The reason for this is the high price competitiveness of raw material exports, which is achieved mainly at the expense of low wages in the economy. On international markets, non-price competitiveness is inherent in a relatively small number of commodity groups of Ukrainian products. These include: insulated wires, cables and other insulated electrical conductors; fiber optic cables; turbojet engines, turboprops and other gas turbines; electric heating appliances and devices; parts of aircraft. Practical implications. It has been substantiated that in terms of finding a new economic growth strategy for Ukraine, the most relevant issues are not the intensification of export activities, but the renewal of the composition of the largest export commodity groups. The leading positions among them should be taken by goods with a large share of added value, increased technological complexity and non-price competitiveness. Value/originality. The beginning of this process will mean the emergence of new qualitative changes in the economy, as well as the effectiveness of the state policy of economic reforms.

In economics, "competitiveness" remains a very general concept, and its use in applied research does not allow combining their results and making unambiguous conclusions. This process is also complicated by the fact that the concept is composite and has two components – the price competitiveness and the value competitiveness. The latter can serve as an indicator of qualitative changes in the economy. However, this aspect of competitiveness in developing countries is still disregarded by researchers. Therefore, it is safe to say that today there are no studies, which, with a high level of accuracy, can analyze the value competitiveness of exports in such countries. Economists usually focus their efforts on the analysis of export price competitiveness and one of its main factors, which is the exchange rate of the national currency. However, this approach has limited cognitive capabilities, because the emergence of new centers of global growth, such as China and India is impossible to explain, based only on the high price competitiveness of their exports. The article attempts to solve some accumulated problems in economic science. In particular, based on the results of the analysis of modern definitions of the concept of "competitiveness", the author proposes to expand its content, generalizing the level of conformity of goods (services) to consumer preferences of market participants. This conceptual position is used to deepen the understanding of the basic, value and price competitiveness of products. A method for assessing the dominant role of value (price) competitiveness of exports in ensuring its dynamics has been developed. According to the results of the of methodology, it was found that in Ukraine’s export markets, the cyclical process of alternating growth of value or price competitiveness of this country’s products is mostly interrupted. The reason for this is the high price competitiveness of raw material exports, which is mainly attained due to low wages in the economy. In international markets, value competitiveness is inherent in a relatively small number of product groups of Ukrainian products. These include: insulated wires, cables and other insulated electrical conductors; fiber optic cables; turbojet engines, turboprop and other gas turbines; weapons, ammunition, their parts and accessories; electric heating devices and apparatus; vessels intended for the carriage of persons or goods; tugs and pushers; parts of aircraft; cars for transportation of passengers, cargoes, including self-propelled ones; water steam turbines and other steam turbines; and women's and men's clothing. It is substantiated that from the point of view of finding a new strategy of economic growth for Ukraine, the most urgent issues are not those of intensifying export activities, but those of updating the composition of the largest export commodity groups. Leading positions among them should be occupied by goods with a large share of value added, and increased technological complexity and value competitiveness. The beginning of this process will mean the emergence of new qualitative changes in the economy, and the effectiveness of public policy of economic reform.