Interest about income distribution and inequality have substantially grown in recent years. First of all, it can be explained by the increase in inequality as a major threat for the stability of society and economy, that often try to associate with the consequences of the globalization process and slowdown in the global economy. Hence the need for research and constructive discussions on inequality, and its causes. As hypotheses, as a rule, statements are tested: economic growth leads first to an increase, and then to a decrease in inequality; high income differentiation stimulates higher growth rates; the processes of globalization contribute to reducing inequalities in the world. The aim of the empirical part of submitted research is to analyse the relationships between income inequality and economic growth, income inequality and globalisation. The choice of methods to confirm the assumptions was determined by the properties of the long-term relationship between time series of indicators. Study has employed a single-country regression to investigate the existence of the Kuznets curve hypothesis for the Ukraine economy over the period 1995-2016. The bounds testing (ARDL) approach to cointegration is applied to examine the long-run relationship between income inequality and economic growth. The results, when regressing Gini index and GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity, confirm the presence of hidden cointegration. The Granger causality test was applied in order to test the existence of a causal relationship between the degree of globalization and income inequality. For case of Ukraine there is relationship between globalization process and inequality in the long run. Also the causality test revealed some cyclicality, in other words, there is the interchange of one-way direction of causality.

In the empirical tools for the research of trade integration a special place is occupied by gravity models, insofar as these models have rather high accuracy in explaining mutual trade flows. Recently, however, the gravity model approach has been subjected to critical rethinking: globalization brought considerable changes not only in economic growth, but also in international trade, what allowed speaking about a “Death of Distance”. At the same time, estimates based on gravity models almost always demonstrated an increase in the coefficient of distance as a proxy for transport costs, which contradicts the general perception of the phenomenon of globalization. The paper is devoted to testing the validity of inclusion of the globalization index in the model, which would allow consider the role of globalization in bilateral cross-country trade, as well as testing the hypothesis of reducing the coefficient of distance. Based on the annual panel data over the period 2000-2016 the trade integration model for the EEU countries was estimated. To test the hypothesis of a decrease in the estimated coefficient of distance over time, the gravity model was also evaluated at different time intervals. And the positive impact of the globalization factor on the volume of exports is revealed.

The article is devoted to the scientific and practical activities of the prominent representative of the school of political arithmetic W. Petty. He was a well-known English economist, physician, inventor of copying equipment, doctor of physics, professor of astronomy, founder of English classical political economy, statesman, one of the founders of the Royal Society of London. In the article the biography of W. Petty is outlined and his role in the formation of scientific statistics is considered. The main works of the scientist such as: “Political arithmetic”, “A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions”, “Verbum Sapienti posthum”, “Political anatomy of Ireland” are analyzed. The views of the scientist on a wide range of socio-economic problems of the time and directions of their solution are considered Petty’s contribution to the development of methodological foundations of statistical science is determined. The article emphasizes the historic merit of the scientist in creating the basis of the statistical- economic method of research. The focus was made on W Petty’s application of the methods of collecting, processing, systematization and generalization of statistical information. W Petty first calculated the magnitude of the national wealth of England and Wales and made calculations of the national income, as well as differentiated these concepts and paid attention not only to the monetary form, but also material. In essence, from these calculations we can speak about the emergence of the foundations of the modern system of macroeconomic national accounting. It was also a great achievement of W Petty that he identified his main task of studying the laws of social phenomena. He was the first to raise the issue of the necessity of establishing a state statistical service and outline outlined its main activities. His achievements of the scientist concerning forecasting and comparative characteristics of the population of large cities of Europe are also considered. The article reflects the thoughts and statements of the descendants of W Petty, well-known researchers in the history of statistics, who highly appreciated the role and contribution of the scientist in the formation of statistical science.

International labour migration has been a highly controversial issue that challenges European governments for a long lime. Currently, there is not any consolidated position among the EU's member states towards immigrant workforce. Thus, every country decides on its own whether to open an access for foreigners to local labour markets or not. In this article we endeavour to explore benefits and drawbacks of labour immigrants' inflows for the host countries. Besides, this study aims to research how immigrant workforce affects local labour markets, economic growth, and distribution of welfare. More specifically we will focus on impact of complementing and competing immigrants' influx on host economies in terms of employment and economic growth

The article is devoted to the scientific and practical activities of the outstanding scientist-economist, profound theorist, active publicist and prominent Ukrainian public figure Mykola Ivanovych Ziber. The life of the scientist, his historical role in the development of political economy and statistics are considered. Mykola Ziber was a great connoisseur of classical English economic literature and the newest German economic literature. He systematized and popularized the ideas of classical political economy. The contribution of the scientist to the development of the theoretical and methodological foundations of statistics is determined. Mykola Ziber actively used the historical-evolutionary and interdisciplinary subjection in the study of the interconnectedness of economic activity and legal economic relations. The scientist paid a lot of attention to the analysis of land relations and co-operation, industrial development and the impact of progress on socio-economic processes. A prominent economist with an analytical mind examined various historical and economic issues, analysed socio-economic processes in different countries of the world. Great attention Mykola Ziber paid to questions of statistical classifications, defining their features and imperfections. He focused on the commonly defined division of statistics into three main groups: population statistics, economic statistics, and moral statistics. Scientist revealed the essence of the phenomena belonging to these groups and their classification. The article describes Ziber’s attempt to build a program that would enable the development of material that characterizes social life. Mykola Ziber believed that it is necessary to study demographic processes and socio-physiological relation, generalize information that characterizes these processes, and more widely use average values. The author was convinced that in order to develop a holistic program for the study of social phenomena it was necessary, in addition to demographic processes, to study information on production and consumption. The program, developed by Mykola Ziber was one of the first, which was used by the statistics of Chernihiv region to study the socio-economic development of the country. It made possible to describe in detail the state of socio-economic phenomena. The author has sufficiently clearly defined all the necessary questions. A system of statistical indicators was formed, method of grouping was widely used, and objects were considered on a number of different features. Mykola Ziber’s work made a sufficient contribution to the enrichment of the methodology of statistical research.