The problem of increasing the competitiveness and development of the Ukrainian economy has been updated. It has been argued that this problem can be addressed in the context of institutional change-by eliminating the discrepancy between formal and informal components of the institutional environment. The main gaps in the institutional environment of Ukraine, which determine the dominance of the corruption component in the decisions and actions of various economic agents-representatives of business, legislative and executive authorities have been highlighted. On the basis of the analysis of Ukrainian machine-building enterprises products export dynamics in 2001-2018, the decrease of its competitiveness in foreign markets has been proved. It has been proved by comparative analysis of corruption perception and competitiveness indexes with composition of national economies innovation indexes that the main reason for the Ukrainian economy competitiveness low level is the regulatory structures inefficient activity. It has been stated that this situation is caused by a motivational imbalance between the amount of powers and the responsibility of their employees, which gives rise to the development of the shadow service sector (corruption). This compensates the absence of legal institutions of collective action (lobbying institutes, elements of innovative infrastructure). The conditions under which the business community would be interested in the development of collective action institutions have been identified