Halyna Mishchuk

This study aims to evaluate social integration and obstacles for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in local communities for further improvement of governing local communities regarding the integration of IDPs in new surroundings. The expert sample included 38 representatives of relevant authorities, scientists, NGOs, and volunteer organizations from 11 Ukrainian regions. The survey was conducted using the online questionnaire method via Google Forms. The results show the low participation of IDPs in most political and civil activities in new communities. The level of social integration according to these criteria is, respectively, 3.0 and 3.2 points out of 6 possible. At the same time, the level of economic integration (3.7 points) and integration into cultural and sports initiatives (3.6 points) are comparatively high, which are a feature illustrating the readiness to be involved in some kinds of activities in a new community. A significant result is also the fact that according to most signs of social integration, in the evaluations of experts, there are assessments of the activity of IDPs at a level that exceeds the activity of residents (6 points). Such results indicate the existence of a resource for developing communities due to the use of the potential of IDPs. This is especially characteristic of activities in counteraction to russian aggression, involvement in grant and project activities, search for opportunities for legal income, and support of social justice principles in labor relations.

Acknowledgment
This study is funded by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine under project No.2021.01/0343 “Ensuring social protection of ATO/JFO participants and social integration of IDP under the condition of increasing threats to social security.”

The increasing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in wartime Ukraine leads to growing problems in social protection funding. Under these circumstances, the evaluation of the effectiveness of public finance use is of increasing importance. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of public finance for internally displaced persons’ social protection, adapting the KPI methodology for analysis on the national level. The effectiveness is considered following the OECD approach as the extent to which the intervention achieved its objectives and results. At macrolevel of research, the integral indicator was developed based on indicators of input (financing of social protection programs), output (involvement of IDPs in social programs), activity (funding per recipient and multiplicative effect in GDP growth), mechanism (administrative costs for achieving results), and control (effectiveness of IDPs’ social protection compared to other demographic groups). Thirty indicators in total were used (e.g., budgetary funding allocated for housing assistance; budget expenditures on staff salaries of the authorities responsible for certain programs; coverage rate of unemployed IDPs receiving vocational training). The essential distance from the maximum level of expected results (1.0) allows concluding the low effectiveness in this area of public finance use: from 0.330 in 2020 to 0.668 in 2023. Gaps are evident in each direction, especially in input performance (the highest value did not exceed 0.370). The best results were achieved in housing funding and employment governance. The proposed approach is useful for analyzing gaps and identifying opportunities to improve the management of other social programs.

Considering the loss of talented youth in Ukraine caused by migration, there is a growing need to investigate how to attract and retain students. The study aims to identify the peculiarities of Ukrainian student migration against the background of global patterns of academic migration, focusing on factors of countries’ attractiveness for the students. The typology of countries by the level of inbound and outbound academic migration is developed based on variation analysis. The correlation analysis is used to identify the factors that influence countries’ attractiveness to students. The analysis of educational policies of the most attractive countries for Ukrainian students is fulfilled using the contextual analysis of legislative norms on academic mobility. In the global dimension, the variation of both inbound and outbound academic mobility is closely related to a country’s economic level, measured by GNI per capita. However, the correlation analysis did not confirm the higher migration attractiveness of countries with a high level of economic development (correlation with GNI per capita is –0.147). The impact of employment and social and economic resilience of an economy was relatively significant, with the correlation coefficients of 0.426 and 0.371. The analysis of educational policies of host countries showed the active use of language integration tools, the combined use of financial mechanisms, and the involvement of universities in career development. Implementation of the best practices of educational management in Ukraine is critical for restoring demographic and intellectual capital.

Acknowledgment
This study is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine under the project “Higher education in the conditions of war and post-war recovery: Determinants of development to overcome threats to the restoring of human capital” (State registration number 0124U000351).

Type of the article: Research Article

The migration of highly skilled workers and its impact on productivity, competitiveness, and innovative development is becoming an increasingly relevant area of scientific research in the context of rapid digitalization of the economy. In this regard, the article aims to explore the relationship between the migration of highly skilled workers and digital economy development (using the example of EU countries). The study was conducted using correlation analysis and parametric data analysis methods, based on EU countries’ statistics on the migration of highly skilled workers, macroeconomic digitalization indicators, and the adoption of digital technologies at the business level. The results confirm that highly skilled migrants positively affect aggregate indicators of economic digitalization: correlation coefficients with the Global Digitalization Index and the DiGiX Digital Index are 0.735 and 0.692, respectively, and are statistically significant. At the company level, a significant influence of highly skilled migrants on the use of specific digital technologies in EU companies was confirmed. In particular, there is a strong correlation between the “Foreign Highly Skilled Personnel” indicator from the IMD World Talent Ranking 2024 and digital intensity indicators (level of application of key business-related digital technologies), as well as business activity in using big data analytics technologies: the correlation coefficients are 0.770 and 0.689, respectively, and are statistically significant. The proposed approach to analyzing the relationship between highly skilled worker migration and the digital development outcomes of companies and host countries can be used to develop and adjust knowledge and human resource productivity management strategies at both the micro- and macroeconomic levels.

Acknowledgment
This study is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine under the project “Higher education in the conditions of war and post-war recovery: Determinants of development to overcome threats to the restoration of human capital” (State registration number 0124U000351).

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Forced migration of Ukraine’s population, caused by the war initiated by the russian federation, is a subject of national governance in demographic processes. In a country at war – rapidly losing human potential due to casualties among military and civil populations, as well as forced relocations – the social relations between internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities are of critical importance. The aim of this paper is to assess the perceptions of IDPs in host communities and to identify factors contributing to potential social tension. The research is based on a nationally representative sociological survey conducted in June–July 2024 in Ukraine, involving 514 IDPs and 850 residents of host communities. The findings reveal that social tension is generally low, with most ratings no higher than 3 out of 5. Notably, one-third of host community residents and two-thirds of IDPs did not observe any tension in social interactions at all. IDPs tended to be more optimistic in their evaluations compared to host community members: their perception was significantly lower, with only 7.3% reporting high levels of strain (4-5 out of 5). In contrast, the host population’s evaluations were more critical, particularly among young people and residents of regional centers, who expressed the most negative views. Key factors contributing to tension included negative changes in the housing market (44.8% of host community respondents), increased pressure on healthcare institutions (29.3%), and greater demand for administrative services (26.2%). The results highlighted the need for regular monitoring, which should complement traditional social management practices.

Acknowledgment
Research is supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine under the project No.2021.01/0343 “Ensuring social protection of ATO / JFO participants and social integration of IDP under the condition of increasing threats to social security”.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
The growing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), combined with challenges in financing social programs during wartime, highlights the importance of ensuring the effectiveness of public spending. This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of state programs supporting IDPs in terms of their alignment with the target group’s needs. The assessment was conducted based on data from a nationally representative sociological survey of IDPs. The analysis of the effectiveness of the housing assistance program for IDPs was conducted using elasticity coefficients that consider price growth and changes in the subsistence minimum. According to IDPs’ assessment, most programs funded from the state budget meet current needs and are rated above the average level, above 2.5 points out of 5. Programs of legal and informational support (3.8), cash assistance (4.3), access to medical care without restrictions (i.e., the requirement to sign a declaration) (3.4), provision of social housing (3.3), and tax deductions under rental agreements (3.2) are considered highly relevant. Low relevance was assigned to assistance with relocating businesses (1.7), grant support for starting a business (2.2), housing loans (2.2), and vocational training through referrals from the State Employment Service (2.4). Conclusions were drawn about the need for periodic monitoring of IDP needs and analyzing the effectiveness of funding while considering price changes and the subsidence minimum. This approach could be used to support decisions regarding the attraction of alternative sources of financing for social programs when state budget funding is insufficient to cover basic living needs of IDPs.

Acknowledgment
This study is supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine under the project No.2021.01/0343 “Ensuring social protection of ATO / JFO participants and social integration of IDP under the condition of increasing threats to social security”.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Military veterans constitute a distinct social group whose socio-economic integration is becoming increasingly urgent due to the growing number of veterans, which today approaches one million individuals. The aim of this study is to assess the problems related to the socio-economic integration of military veterans and to explore potential solutions, taking into account public perceptions and the population’s readiness to support veterans. In 2024 a sociological survey targeted 516 veterans and 850 members of the general population in Ukraine. Data were processed using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 20). The findings indicate that, despite certain societal stereotypes, the relationship between these groups is predominantly positive. The mean population assessment of conflict in relations does not exceed 2.35 points (on a five-point scale), while veterans’ assessments do not exceed 2.75 points. Veterans’ relations with state authorities responsible for social guarantees are less favorable, with evaluations ranging from 2.46 to 3.24 points. The most prevalent form of support for veterans is the willingness to provide financial or material assistance (20.6% and 24.4% of respondents, respectively). There are promising conditions for encouraging support for veteran-led businesses: 7.8% of respondents indicated a preference for purchasing goods from such enterprises. Furthermore, 9.1% of respondents expressed support for the development of economic incentives for companies established by veterans or employing veterans. The results provide a basis for improving state programs for veteran integration, suggesting that traditional support measures may be significantly strengthened by policies aimed at increasing veterans’ active participation in economic life.

Acknowledgments
Supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine under project No.2021.01/0343 “Ensuring social protection of ATO / JFO participants and social integration of IDP under the condition of increasing threats to social security”.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Educational choice is increasingly understood as a multidimensional decision-making process, shaped not only by economic, institutional, and social determinants but also by behavioral mechanisms that operate under uncertainty. Drawing on human capital theory, rational choice theory, social norms theory, and behavioral economics, this study develops a theoretically grounded, a priori classification of behavioral response patterns in educational choice – a rational model, a social-norms model, and a bounded-rationality model – and quantifies the distribution of model-coded responses among Ukrainian higher education applicants. It further examines whether this distribution varies by gender, admission score, family income, and locality of secondary education. The empirical analysis is based on a survey of 405 first-year students at five Ukrainian universities, using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-squared test. Rational responses predominate in the choice of higher education institution (54.0%) and study program (49.0%), whereas the choice of study city is distributed almost evenly across all three models. Gender is the only variable significantly, though weakly, associated with the distribution of model-coded responses (Cramer’s V = 0.138); admission score, family income, and locality show no statistically significant association. The findings also point to the growing role of official university websites and social media in applicants’ information-seeking behavior, and to the importance of security considerations as a context-specific factor shaping institutional choice under wartime conditions. By integrating established determinant-based theories with a behavioral decision-making perspective, the study offers a novel classification framework and practical implications for evidence-informed recruitment and communication strategies in higher education.

Acknowledgment
Funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine under the project “Higher education in the conditions of war and post-war recovery: determinants of development to overcome threats to the restoring of human capital” (State registration number 0124U000351).