Instruments of regional policy for human resources conservation by means of regulation of external youth migration of rural territories of the Carpathian region

Purpose. The aim of the article was to identify and analyze negative trends, substantiate practical recommendations for improving regional policy for preserving human resources by regulating the external migration of young people from rural territories of the Carpathian region in Ukraine. Methodology / approach. The methodological basis of the study involved general scientific (graphic, structural analysis) and special (sociological, integral and correlation analysis) methods of research. Sociological survey was conducted by the SI “Dolishniy Institute of Regional Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”) in September-October 2019. The survey was focused on the higher educational institutions, vocational schools and general secondary schools graduate students from the Carpathian Region (1200 people). The author's approach to constructing an integral index of the migration activity environment involved the implementation of an algorithm based on the normalization of indicators (stimulators and de-stimulators), determination of the weights of indicators and groups of indicators by constructing a correlation matrix, calculation of multidimensional values in the form of weighted group indices. Results. In the article, due to sociological research, characteristics of external migration activity of young people from rural areas of the Carpathian Region in Ukraine were analyzed. Conclusions were based on the problematic aspects of youth migration and its impact on the further development of rural areas. The integral indices of push-factors determining population migration in Ukraine and Lviv Region were calculated, which allowed stating a higher level of “aggressiveness” of the population migration environment in the Carpathian Region compared to the average in the country. Recommendations on the instruments for regulating migration of young people from rural areas to preserve human potential for their development were substantiated. Originality / scientific novelty. A new methodology for calculating the integral index of the environment of population migration activity was developed (using five groups of indicators: demographic stability and health status; population enrolment in education; labour market and employment conditions; living standards; economic development), as well as approach to evaluation of the relationship between the push-environment and migration activity of population was improved. Practical value / implications. policy instruments for conserving human resources by regulating the external migration of young people from rural areas (by organizational, economic and institutional groups) were substantiated for their implementation by regional authorities.