Hype vs Reality on US and BRICS stock markets going their separate ways: post-crisis evidence

On gaining independence, one of the first steps it took was to open its doors to various socio-economic dynamics. It is fair to say, therefore, that South Africa’s neo-liberal approach was necessitated by the nation’s desire to diversify its economy in multiple sectors and, therefore, permit foreign direct investment into the country. To most researchers, this has resulted in near deindustrialization leading to gross job losses and reduced standards of living. Essentially, this paper, relying on realist theory, delves into one of the issues, i.e., the demise of the manufacturing sector in South Africa to deliver the poignant explanation pertaining to South Africa’s sociopolitical economy. The authors find that the presence of China’s finished products in South Africa’s market has emboldened and continues to debilitate its manufacturing industry. A major concern is that South Africa’s attempts to soften this effect on its manufacturing sector through its protectionist policy – precisely the application of the quota system on imported goods – will not go too far considering the limitations placed on South Africa by virtue of its membership in organizations such as WTO and BRICS.

Development of cluster structures is a priority for the knowledge and information economy development and an important prerequisite for effective strategic partnership of logistically and geographically related entities of the economic system. The practice of tourism business shows that it is in the conditions of the development of enterprises cluster systems that will be able to form unique competencies, optimally use the resource potential and strategic opportunities, and obtain synergistic and multiplicative economic benefits. Given the situation, tourism clusters development is considered one of the most promising formats of strategic partnership and predetermines the theoretical field of modern scientific research. The need for a constructive rethinking of the mechanisms of economic actors’ convergence based on cauterization; definition of preconditions, stages, and processes of formation and development of tourism clusters is an unsolved theoretical and applied problem.
The article is devoted to the procedures identification and interpreting the formation of tourism clusters; systematizing the conditions and factors influencing the clasterization in Ukraine. The work developed recommendations for the successful development of tourism clusters, in particular, the author’s vision of identifying structural and functional components of the tourism cluster; establishing interrelations and relationships between participants; definition of tourist attractiveness of the destination for the development of cluster initiatives; algorithmization of the participant’s entry to the cluster; developing scenarios for the development of tourism clusters in Ukraine. The results of determining the participants’ interaction intensity in the tourism cluster are presented, and the effectiveness of the cluster system development based on a set of economic, social and environmental criteria is evaluated.

The resulting indexes for integration processes state development analysis were formed. The integral indexes illustrating integration state were calculated on the basis of member countries of BRICS and Ukraine. It provided the possibility to evaluate socioeconomic state of the countries from the point of view of international integration and create integration processes development scenarios. The strategic directions of integration processes development for Ukraine and member countries of BRICS were formed.