SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The modern period of the society development set Ukrainian economy the issue of fiscal decentralization, which is a basic condition for independent and efficient governance at the regional level. The complexity of the individual regions economy structure, internal processes and relationships set the stage for an unbalanced economic space. The multidirectional development of the regions is often contrary to the general regional trends. The growth of regional development in the context of the Dnepropetrovsk region is affected by the financial, economic and social factors. However, analyzing the level and trends of regional development, one should take into account that some areas have created comfortable conditions, whereas some of them do not have any support. European targeting country requires more emphasis on the social aspect in managing the economy, so there is a need to clarify the extent, to which social policy is carried out at the district level and its impact on the area’s economic potential. Economic growth and decent living standards at the national level depends on how well the state is able to eliminate inter-regional disparities in development. One of the factors is passivity of underdeveloped and depressed regions, caused by the fragmented regional economic space of the country and socio-economic differentiation. This multifaceted study will help to understand regional processes of Dnepropetrovsk region in general and in its particular areas. The aim of the paper is clustering the social dimensions of development, which will determine the prospects and ways to improve the situation in the region on the basis of economic and mathematical modeling. Scientific substantiation of the priority areas for the development of Dnipropetrovsk region should be based on the use of economic and mathematical methodology, which would include an assessment of both qualitative and quantitative indicators of development. To provide such a possibility, the authors suggested to use the tools of self-organization maps (SOM) of Kohonen in conjunction with the principles of fuzzy modeling. To process quality indicators, fuzzy modeling methods should be used, which is an effective tool to account for the expertise and linguistic information processing. The combination of fuzzy neural network model allows to analyze quantitative and qualitative factors and provides additional benefits during the simulation of regional development. In contrast, cluster analysis, which only allows making homogeneous groups of indicators procedure that is performed by using self-organizing maps of Kohonen, and besides groups the indicators also helping to visualize the results. Also Kohonen maps do not require a priori information about the parameters of the clusters. "Standards clusters" are formed in learning neural network based solely on input. Application software that implement Kohonen mapping, including ViscoverySOMine5, can significantly reduce the amount of settlement calculations. Testing of the suggested approach was performed on the data of the Dnipropetrovsk region for eight years (2005- 2012 years). The information base was formed on the basic data on the site of the Main Statistical Office in Dnipropetrovsk region. It was determined, that five most influential quality indicators are: the level of environmental pollution, socio-demographics, level of cultural mentality, safety, quality of services in the field of social services. The study suggests that the social component is an integral part in the creation of regional development programs. Social policy should be an integral dynamic relationship with the financial and economic performance of regions, providing a decent standard of living to the population.