Leonid G. Melnyk

Were Ukrainian regions too different to start interregional confrontation: economic, social and ecological convergence aspects?

Abstract This article deals with analysis of economic, social and ecological disparities of Ukrainian regions. Regional economic disparities are measured through the convergence concept and the article employs panel data analysis with fixed and random effects estimations. Our empirical results show the presence of economic convergence in Ukrainian regions. Initially it was found that poor regions do grow relatively faster than the rich. Moreover, the difference between poor and rich regions has been decreased 1.8 times during 1999 and 2010. In addition, it was found that the presence of ecological convergence in the Ukraine and initially ‘clean’ regions do increase pollution faster than initially ‘dirty’ regions. That is, Ukrainian regions were converging to some environmental steady state through the process of increasing pollution. Ukrainian regions were also experiencing health convergence with negative policy implications, since all regions do converge to some health levels through an increase in morbidity. The economic growth of Ukrainian regions was achieved through sacrificing environmental situations and increased morbidity. Therefore, there were no clear economic reasons to start interregional confrontation that has taken place in the Ukraine, since all regions were on the same track of development.

The Perspective of the Green Bonds as Novel Debt Instruments in Sustainable Economy

Being relatively new, even definition of green bonds is under scrutiny. As the market of green bonds is rapidly growing (with the small recent setback in growing rates), it is crucial to establish the main determinants of the green bonds market growth and evaluate the perspectives of green bonds in sustainable economy. The main objectives of the research are the following: to evaluate the need for the green bonds as instruments, fostering the sustainability of economy; to identify the determinants of both green bonds related and green investment; to analyze the green bond yields and prices in comparison to non-green bonds; to estimate the perspective volatility of the green bonds price. Green bonds characteristics were compared against characteristics of the non-green bonds. Covariation and regression based analysis was used for the identification of green investment determinants. Variance was estimated in the assessment of bond price volatility. The results showed that price of both green bonds and non-green bonds has tendency to fluctuate in the similar trend; green bond appeal determinants are in coherence with the determinants of green investment; green bonds tend to be less volatile than non-green bonds. It is concluded that the use of green bonds has significant potential to add to the sustainability of the economy.

The Dualism of Economic Systems and Its Role in Development of Economies

The role of economic dualism in the evolution of economic systems are tackled in the article. It shows that economic systems have the properties similar in their manifestation to dualism.