Competition of higher education institutions in regional markets of educational services in Ukraine

Abstract

Introduction. The system of higher education in Ukraine is an integral part of the international educational space. In terms of the number of universities (total and per capita), Ukraine is among the top 25 countries with the largest number of higher education institutions. Although Ukraine has a fairly wide network of higher education institutions, this does not mean that there is only pure competition in the regional markets of educational services. The purpose of the paper is to study the competition of higher education institutions in the regional markets of educational services in Ukraine. Results. In the article the authors study the competition of higher education institutions in the regional markets of educational services in Ukraine. Maps of competition of higher education institutions in 29 fields of knowledge in Ukraine have been constructed. For each field of knowledge, the types of competition of higher education institutions in the regional markets of educational services in Ukraine have been identified, including such as “monopoly”, “oligopoly” and “pure competition”. If there are no higher education institutions in the region that train specialists in a certain field of knowledge, then such a region was referred to as a “free niche”. Conclusion. Exceptionally pure competition of higher education institutions in the regional markets of educational services in Ukraine takes place only in the fields of knowledge 05 “Social and Behavioral Sciences” and 07 “Management and Administration”. In other fields of knowledge to some extent there are signs of oligopoly and/or monopoly of higher education institutions in the regional markets of educational services in Ukraine. There is no pure competition of higher education institutions in the regional markets of educational services in Ukraine in such fields of knowledge as 04 “Theology” and 21 “Veterinary Medicine”.