ENSURING AND DEVELOPING THE ECONOMIC CAPACITY OF TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES IN UKRAINE IN THE PERIOD OF DIGITALIZATION OF THE ECONOMY

Abstract

The article highlights the peculiarities of ensuring and developing the economic capacity of territorial communities in Ukraine in the period of digitalization of the economy. The authors prove that in the process of studying the formation and development of capable territorial communities, it has been found that scientific publications cover only certain aspects of this topic, leaving the organizational and economic mechanisms for ensuring their capacity insufficiently researched. In the paper, the authors clarify the conceptual and categorical apparatus of the theory of public administration, in particular, the definition of the terms “community” and “capable territorial community”. The analysis of foreign experience has shown that the effective application of organizational and economic mechanisms for the development of territorial communities is possible through the integration of legislative instruments for local government reforms. The author's study of the dynamics of local budgets' own revenues for 2015-2021 revealed the need to further regulate the budget autonomy of TCs, in particular, in the aspects of formation and execution of local budgets. In addition, the characterized mechanisms that ensure the capacity of territorial communities show that their level depends on resource and organizational and legal capabilities, including the expansion of powers and increase of tax potential. The authors propose to use integrated information systems to monitor and evaluate the implementation of development strategies. It is proved that the role of urban agglomerations is important as a form of cooperation between territorial communities, which allows them to combine resources to solve common problems. The organizational and functional model of agglomerations' formation as centers of economic growth developed by the authors will contribute to the social and cultural development of territorial communities. For the further development of territorial communities, the authors formulated practical recommendations, including the introduction of open governance tools, digital transformation, establishment of inter-municipal cooperation and exchange of successful management practices, which will help to increase their capacity.