The knowledge resource and quality of life of the population of Ukraine's regions

L. Fedulova

Economy and Forecasting, 2013, issue 2, 68-83

Abstract: Based on the developed methodological approaches, the article reveals the relationship between the available knowledge resources (potential of knowledge based economy) and the regional level of quality of life, and provides a ""map of knowledge based economy of Ukraine's regions"". The author justifies the conclusion that Ukraine has a largely spatially differentiated knowledge resource with a very high level in the country's center (Kyiv) where more than a third of all nation's researches are concentrated, and a low level in almost all the remaining regions. It is revealed that, among the factors significantly affecting the formation of knowledge based economy, and, accordingly, all its components, is the development of human potential, which, provided its effective involvement in the market economy, becomes human capital increasingly determining the country's national wealth. Particularly close is the relationship between knowledge based economy, hence the knowledge resource whose subject is a person, group, organization or country, on the one hand, and innovation based development as evidenced through the formation of innovation systems with the interaction between the four main components of the innovation potential, namely the potential of learning, the potential of knowledge generation, the potential of knowledge spread and the potential of demand for knowledge. The author designs a two-dimensional matrix of ""quality of life index - the index of the knowledge economy"" for Ukraine's regions and makes an integral distribution the levels people's well being and that of the development of the knowledge resource. It is established that the main cluster of the regions by the combination of the two indices, is within the limits of "medium" to "low" indicating a relationship between the knowledge resources and regional quality of life. The proposed methodological approaches make it possible to carry out an in-depth and detailed analysis of the results of analytical calculations and estimate the real picture of the strengths and weaknesses in the formation of the knowledge resource in each region, and to identify the factors contributing to the quality of life of the whole country's population and its individual groups. The author provides various proposals as to the role of state and regional authorities in shaping the regional innovation systems. It is proved that, among the priorities reflecting a new phase of spatial development and the role of regions in the development of their territories through innovative reforms, should be the acceleration of the formation of a regional innovation system aimed at enhancing local business activities. That should become one of the main guidelines of the state policy of the involvement of regional scientific, technological and innovative capacities to implement the strategic objectives of the country's competitiveness.

Date: 2013
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