Integral Estimation of the Level of Self-Development of Ukrainian Regions

The aim of the article is to substantiate the stages, methods, techniques, indicators of an integral estimation of self-development of regions as a basis for determining the tools to stimulate regional self-development. There proposed definitions of such concepts as self-development, self-sufficiency, self-government and self-financing of the region. The sequence of stages for determining the integral index of the level of regional self-development is substantiated. There clarified the definition of «the level of self-development of the region», combining self-sufficiency, as the ability to maintain the current level of development using the own resources to provide an appropriate level of implementation functions imposed on the region, and the region’s ability to generate new competitive advantages upon the availability of management mechanisms. There justified the components of regional self-development: self-sufficiency, self-government, self-financing, for the assessment of which at the methodological and practical level there built integral indices by the method of entropy, and the regions are distributed by the level of self-sufficiency, self-government and self-financing. The evaluation of the level of self-development of Ukrainian regions by components is carried out. Prospects for further research are forecasting the values of components of self-development of regions, identifying changes in the state of the indices and developing on this basis recommendations to improve the position of regions in terms of self-development