Abstract
Regional development is related to the effective management of disruptive industries on the local level. In the European Union, the innovation regional development policy is based on a smart specialization strategy, which neighboring countries try to apply as well. In their regional strategies, they notice the goals which are designed within the Joint Research Center methodology. It allows revealing the most efficient industries in the region, leading to a new level of regional competence on the global level. The study aims to identify smart specialization priorities based on JRC methodology in certain Ukrainian regions and assess its applicability in emerging markets (Ukrainian case) and develop the set of recommendations considering the specificity of the national economy. The methodology is based on the static and dynamic analysis of economic (the indicators of the growth of average salaries and the number of employees indicators are calculated) and innovation (the indicators of productive, process, organizational, and marketing innovations are analyzed) potential of the region, which is examined in the article. It is revealed that the JRC methodology in identifying the smart specialization priorities has limited application in Ukraine. The restrictions related to the lack of data on innovations and other economic indicators. The analysis of certain regions shows what industries should be recommended as the priorities of smart specialization. However, discussions of the calculated results with the key stakeholders have differences which are not acceptable in the regional innovation policy development. As a result, the experts’ opinions are recommended to consider the priorities of different regions in Ukraine and other developing countries, which are on the path of smart specialization during stakeholders’ communication sessions.
Highlights
Implementing the smart specialization approach in regional strategies is considered a key factor in achieving a disruptive regional development
This study provides an in-depth analysis of the regional economic potential based on smart specialization and innovative industries’ effectiveness in the selected Ukrainian regions
1 industry in each rewithin smart specialization framework are pre- gion passes both static and dynamic thresholds, sented in Figure 1, and at regional benchmarking, employing 2.2% and 1% in Ivano-Frankivsk and Frankivsk and Cherkasy regions were chosen as Cherkasy regions[2], which shows and innovation potential using static and dynam- the defined industries for each category
Summary
Implementing the smart specialization approach in regional strategies is considered a key factor in achieving a disruptive regional development. Smart specialization allows the region to be competitive on a global scale. The identification of the main priorities determining the direction of regional development is extremely important. The regional innovation policies cannot support all the industries for further development. The most perspective and the effective ones should be identified for their point stimulation through R&D, direction of financial support, engaging private stakeholders in innovation entrepreneurship, and other instruments. Accurate calculations based on reliable statistics can support this process, and the results should be a basis for certain regional strategy
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