Innovation and Labor Productivity: Empirical Studies of Industrial Enterprises in Ukraine

Abstract

The development of the industrial sector of Ukraine is impossible without the growth of labor productivity on the basis of improving the qualitative characteristics of the fixed assets and human resources involved, as well as the expansion of innovative activity of industrial enterprises. The study aims to deepen the empirical discussion in two directions: conducting a comparative analysis of the productivity of industrial enterprises in individual EU countries and Ukraine; substantiation of the need for the transition of industrial enterprises from growth based on capital accumulation to growth based on innovation. The aim of the article is to substantiate the directions of increasing the level of labor productivity by increasing the innovative activity of industrial enterprises. To study the productivity of industrial enterprises, data from Eurostat and the State Statistics Service of Ukraine for 2017 and individual indicators for 2010-2018 are used. The method of comparative analysis of the main indicators affecting the productivity of industrial enterprises of Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Ukraine is applied. According to the results of the analysis, it has been determined that labor productivity at Ukrainian enterprises is much lower than in the studied group of countries. A comparative analysis of the factors that influence the size of labor productivity has led to the conclusion that ensuring productivity growth at processing enterprises in Ukraine cannot be ensured by the increase in the volume of attracted resources. It has been concluded that the growth of labor productivity based on innovation should be oriented towards enhancing the dynamics of the cost of innovation; improving the structure of innovative spending directions towards increasing the share of expenditures on financing of internal and external research development; expanding the list of sources of financing innovative activity of industrial enterprises by increasing the volume of attracted financial resources.