The role of regional innovation clusters in the context of global economic challenges

Abstract

Ukraine is a rather large area and unevenly developed country, as a result of which the role of regional development is consistently significant for the country. At the same time, the growing significance of the innovative development of the regions of Ukraine in increasing the effectiveness of the socio-economic development of the state is intensified during the period of recovery of the state’s economy after the destruction caused by the aggressor country during the period of full-scale military operations. The purpose of the article is to specify the role of regional innovation clusters in the context of global economic challenges facing Ukraine in the process of its post-war recovery. To achieve the goal of the research, general scientific methods were used, such as analysis, synthesis, systematization and generalization, as well as a specific method of cluster analysis, which involves grouping homogeneous objects according to a certain criterion, in particular, according to the amount of capital investment in innovative development. As a result of the research, it was established that at today’s stage of development, the economy of Ukraine has quite significant imbalances associated with the uneven development of the regions, which significantly increased under the conditions of martial law. The main disparity is observed on the basis of the analysis of the volumes of capital investments in the innovative development of the regions. Based on the analysis of statistical material, a cluster analysis was carried out and three key clusters were identified: a cluster of regions with a high potential for innovative development, which is a cluster of central-eastern regions; the cluster with the highest potential for innovative development is the capital cluster; a cluster of regions with a medium-low potential for innovative development, which is represented by the southwestern regions. The conclusions of the study define the role of each of the clusters and outline recommendations for further development and innovative growth in order to increase the effectiveness of the fight against global economic challenges.