Methodological grounds for assessment of effectiveness of economic specialization of a country

Subject of study. The subject of the study is theoretical and methodical approaches to determining
the level of effectiveness of country’s international specialization.
The purpose of the study is to reveal the essence of economic complexity and product space
concepts as the basis for the national economic systems development; to determine the effectiveness
of the economic specialization of Ukraine; to formulate theoretical principles and practical
recommendations for improving economic specialization and accelerating Ukraine’s economic growth.
Research methods. The methodological principles the research relies on include a set of general
and special methods of scientific knowledge, including comparative and statistical analysis, index
method and time series analysis method.
Results. This article looks into modern methodological toolkit to assess the role and place of a
country in global labor distribution, as well as the country’s potential to ensure a high level of prosperity
of its people. It analyzes the concept of product space that demonstrates the existing industrial capacity
of a country. The paper exhibits the characteristics of different product groups through the prism
of their economic complexity and ability to serve as a source of accelerated growth. It generalizes
the characteristics of «low quality» economic activities as the subject of international specialization
of a country. The article analyzes the existing economic specialization of Ukraine and its potential for
improvement. The work emphasizes the reasonableness of a targeted use of «modernizing» type of
economic policy to improve economic specialization and to accelerate economic development of the
country and it also accentuates the threat of decrease in economic complexity and loss of economic
growth potential in case of laissez–faire policy.
Conclusions. The economic complexity and product space concepts are solid methodological
basis for describing and explaining the historical laws of economic development. Earlier, the economic
theory didn’t have proper methodology and tools to comprehensively explain radically different проeconomic
trajectories in different countries of the world. The application of economic complexity and
product space concepts shows the ineffectiveness of economic specialization of Ukraine, proves the
possibility of successful structural transformations of the economy, warns against the losing potential
of economic growth in the case of «non–interference policy», arguing the expediency of purposeful use
of the «modernization» type of policy to accelerate the country’s economic growth.