Alternative indicators for assessing structural shifts in the economy

Abstract

Introduction. Structural changes require a comprehensive assessment of their parameters, since the level of reflection of such analytical data depends on the understanding of the process of transformation of the economic system, and, consequently, the possibility of intensifying the formation of trends in economic development. Depending on the objectives of the analysis, as well as on the amount of available statistical or other necessary information, it is possible to use indices, coefficients and other indicators that identify structural changes in the economy, which are most adapted to the needs of consolidating analytical data. The priority of choosing one or another indicator of structural shifts should be based on parallel comparative calculations of adjacent indices in order to most clearly reflect the processes under study. The purpose of the paper is to study the methodological foundations and features of the use of alternative coefficients for the analysis and assessment of structural changes in the economy. Results. Structural shifts in the economy are the change in the state of related elements of the economic system at different levels of its functioning that are accompanied by qualitative changes in their relationship and are characterized by fluctuations in proportion of their ratio, expressed in quantitative characteristics, which may be due to endo - and exogenous factors. Methods of evaluation of structural changes can be divided into four groups: basic indicators; differentiated indicators; integral coefficients; alternative and baseline indicators of the optimal structure of the economy. The methodical bases of the evaluation of structural shifts in the economy based on integrated groups of indicators, proposals to the methodology of evaluation of some integral coefficients had researched. The paper examines the methodical bases for assessing structural shifts in the economy on the basis of allocation and interpretation of an alternative group of indicators, proposes to improve the methodology for determining some coefficients. Conclusion. It is substantiated that the deepening of research on methods for assessing structural changes in the economy is a necessary prerequisite for the formation of effective directions for managing the structure of the economy and is an important element in ensuring the comprehensive development of the national economy.