Challenges and search for sustainable ways of territories’ development cause serious concern to authorities around the globe. The choice of methodological approaches for assessment and monitoring, indicators for sustainability criteria, as well as the ways of their processing are an important conceptual basis that provides effective facilitation of the administered territories development. The study is aimed at finding and analyzing the existing approaches and tools for territorial development monitoring, as well as elaboration of methodological and procedural framework for assessing the territories sustainability to solve social and economic problems. Herewith, in the authors’ opinion, the main conceptual and methodological prerequisite that distinguishes the proposed approach, should take into account the effects of interregional and intersectoral interaction or, in other words, the effects of cluster transfers. It has been revealed that there is still no consensus among the scientific works’ authors not only concerning theoretical aspects, but also on methodological issues of the monitoring procedure and tools for assessing the development sustainability, especially in the context of cluster approach. The analysis of the main methodological approaches to assessing the sustainable development of various levels systems (national and regional economies, territories, industries, enterprises and products) is given in the paper. Systematization of the approaches and tools used by scientists from different countries, as well as international organizations and institutions, has been carried out. Advantages, disadvantages and limitations for the practical application of the selected methodological approaches are indicated. The essence of the TOPSIS method as a tool for assessing the sustainability of the territories’ development, taking into account the multiplicative effects of interregional and intersectoral interaction is given. It has been shown that it is the cluster approach that acts as an effective tool for managing the sustainable development of territorial systems

An Analysis of Hospital Efficiency and Productivity Growth Using the Luenberger Productivity IndicatorWe analyze the efficiency and productivity growth of a representative sample of Portuguese hospitals from 1997 to 2004, using an innovative approach by employing the directional distance function and the Luenberger productivity indicator. The primary advantage of our approach is that both input contractions and output expansions are considered. Our model generates a productivity indicator that is decomposed into the usual constituents of productivity growth: technological change and efficiency change. The results show that, on average, Portuguese hospitals did not experience productivity growth during the period analyzed. In addition, the incidence of positive productivity growth across Portuguese hospitals was remarkably low.JEL Classification: I11, I18, L5

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Subject. The article addresses treats to the economic security of Russia’s regions in conditions of large-scale introduction of information and communication technologies. Objectives. The purpose is to explore problems of assessing the level of economic security of regional systems, analyze the impact of digitalization on systemic risks and threats to territory development. Methods. The developed approach rests on methods of statistical data processing, the criterion of the shortest distance to the optimum, methods for constructing a fuzzy set and membership function, aggregation of indicators given the probability of occurrence of events. Results. I obtained statistical estimates of the level of economic security and risk of the regions of Yenisei Siberia. The paper establishes the fact of rising risks and a decrease in the level of economic security of the territories, taking into account the influence of digitalization processes. Conclusions. Processes of digital transformation entail an increase in risks and threats to economic security. This problem is particularly acute in the territories that have a smaller margin of safety in terms of parameters and indicators of socio-economic development.

Subject. This article explores the transformational effects of the transition to a digital economy, their impact on the quality and standard of living. Objectives. The article aims to identify areas that require additional study in order to increase the efficiency of the process of digitalization of the social sphere, sectors of the economy, and the system of public administration. Methods. For the study, we used the method of index numbers. Results. The article proposes a sequence of evaluation procedures that can help obtain a consolidated integral characteristic of the effectiveness of the implementation of strategic plans for the digital transformation of the regions. Conclusions. Adjusting strategic plans and updating regional projects based on the experience of digitalization and adequate assessments of success and failure in this process is a promising direction.