SYNTHETIC INDICATORS OF QUALITY OF LIFE: EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF UKRAINE'S ECONOMIC POLICY

This paper examines the effectiveness of Ukraine's economic policies through the lens of quality of life and argues for the adoption of a minimal set of evaluation criteria, ideally a single composite criterion, to optimise policy evaluation. Despite ongoing efforts to identify such criteria, the study introduces a novel approach by using synthetic indicators of quality of life as the basis for evaluation. This approach is particularly relevant in the context of Ukraine's post-war recovery and its aspirations towards European Union integration. These conditions require the adoption of economic policies that meet European standards of quality of life and facilitate the necessary reforms. Such policies are crucial for improving the living conditions of the Ukrainian population and facilitating the return of refugees after Ukraine's victory over Russia, the aggressor country. This study develops a methodology that uses synthetic indicators of quality of life as a system of criteria to assess the effectiveness of Ukraine's economic policy. The research involves a cross-country analysis of data from seven EU Member States and Ukraine, and the construction of regression models that link the determinants of state economic policy to several indicators: population quality, welfare, social quality, and a comprehensive synthetic indicator – quality of life. The obtained results confirm the hypothesis about the key parameters of the state economic policy as determinants of improving the quality of life of Ukrainian citizens. In addition, the analysis of the dynamics of synthetic indicators of the quality of life in Ukraine and their determinants makes it possible to identify priority areas of economic policy aimed at improving these indicators, which will contribute to the overall efficiency of Ukraine's economic policy.