Institutional determinants of implementation of the smart specialisation concept: case for old industrial coal-mining regions in Ukraine

Abstract

The paper considers the special features of applying the concept of smart specialization in the old industrial coal-mining regions to implementing the strategy for future sustainable development of the regions, as well as providing recommendations for ensuring the compliance of the institutional environment in such regions of Ukraine with the principles and organizational requirements for the implementation of this concept. The research is methodologically based on the theoretical principles of the evolutionary economics, in particular, on the con- cepts of path dependency, lock-ins, and others. As an initial step towards creating new path development of old industrial coal-mining areas, the paper pro- poses to forming institutional and organizational foundations for the development of industries built on the principles of circular economy. It can be done by returning waste from coal-mining and coal enrichment into production cycles using in- novative technologies. It is proved that in the case of the of smart specialization concept application in the conditions of the old coal-mining regions it should be necessary to take a number of institutional measures, the main ones of which are proposed in the paper.