Innovations As A Priority Factor Of The Regional Economic Development

The goal of the paper is to study the role and assess the innovation impact on the economic development of the region. Methodology. Theoretical and methodological foundations of the research draw the works of scientists on the problems of economic development of regions. In the process of scientific research, a complex of such methods was used: content analysis, generalization, systematization - in order to specify the conceptual-categorical apparatus and identify features of innovation; dynamic, statistical, comparative analysis - when identifying the innovation influence features on the economic development of the region, mathematical modelling in economics - to develop a methodology for assessing the innovation impact on the economic development of the region. Results. Features of an innovative approach to the economic development of regions in the context of obtaining sustainable competitive advantage and strengthening of positions of regions on the international arena. The analysis of the innovativeness level of the regions' development was carried out and the methodical approach for determining the degree of innovation effectiveness in a hierarchical regional section was proposed, which is based on the use of tools of the multidimensional statistical analysis. At the same time, the effectiveness of regional innovation involves the implementation of these stages: formation of the statistical data matrix on the basis of the regional innovation factors by types of INPUT and OUTPUT, defying the degree of innovation of each region, determining the innovation effectiveness measure in the hierarchical regional context. It is established that the semantic interpretation of the regional innovation effectiveness requires clarification of the classification procedure of regions taking into account the chosen methodology for the correlation of INPUT and OUTPUT indices. It is substantiated that the innovation efficiency definition should take into account interregional differentiation, as a result of which the measure of the effectiveness of regional innovation, which takes into account: the ties between the country and regions forming a hierarchical structure, the connections between the innovation index of the region of INPUT type, and the innovation index of the region of OUTPUT type. Practical importance. It is established that the use of a single combined indicator and the rating table does not allow you to track the complexity of the innovation process itself, with innovation indicators shifting in favour of those countries specializing in high-tech industries, in particular, in high-tech manufacturing. The significance of the influence on innovation, in addition to financial, economic, and educational factors is substantiated, as well as technological, organizational and managerial, and especially social and psychological factors. On the basis of calculating the innovation efficiency of regions for the different values of the given index, it is established that its magnitude affects the place of the region in the classification of regions taking into account the chosen methodology of the correlation of INPUT and OUTPUT indices. In determining the degree of innovation effectiveness in the national context, it is proposed to use the regional innovation multiplier. Its value directly determines the position of the country with regard to the effectiveness of the use of innovations in a regional context and, therefore, can serve as a benchmark for national policy in this aspect. Importance/originality. On the basis of the conducted research, a methodical approach is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of regional innovation on fundamentally new principles, which add an opportunity to reproduce the innovative potential and increase the technological and the information level of all spheres of economic activity of the region, to achieve a high level of competitiveness of its activity.