Institutional foundations of innovative development of logistics enterprises in Ukraine

Abstract

The relevance of the study was determined by the increasing role of the institutional environment in ensuring the innovative development of logistics enterprises under conditions of digital economic transformation and Ukraine’s integration into global supply chains, where the misalignment between regulatory mechanisms and the requirements of the digital economy, high transaction costs, and restrictive currency regulation create systemic barriers to the implementation of innovations in logistics. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the institutional environment, including digital transformation, transaction costs, and currency restrictions, including regulated cross-border payments and maximum settlement periods for export-import transactions, on the international competitiveness of Ukrainian logistics enterprises and to identify priority directions for improving the institutional framework under the conditions of digital economic transformation. The research employed systemic and comparative analysis, structural-logical modeling, generalisation methods, and elements of statistical analysis, while the empirical basis was formed by data from the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Commission, and national statistics for the period 2018-2024. The results revealed the presence of institutional asymmetry between the level of development of digital logistics technologies and their regulatory framework, as well as the dominance of constraining factors such as high transaction costs, insufficient digitalisation of administrative procedures, restrictive currency regulation, and weak institutional incentives for innovation. The findings indicated that these factors constrain the integration of Ukrainian logistics enterprises into global high-tech supply chains and reduce their international competitiveness. The practical value of the study lies in providing an analytical basis for improving institutional policy in logistics through the harmonisation of the regulatory framework with European standards, the digitalisation of regulatory processes, and the liberalisation of the currency environment to stimulate the innovative development of the sector