UNIVERSITIES AS DRIVERS OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH

The role of universities in ensuring sustainable regional economic growth is significantly increasing amid the shift toward knowledge, technology, and digital platforms. Modern universities are becoming centers of human capital generation and diffusion, producers of scientific knowledge, and participants in entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems. The article considers universities as institutional actors of regional development, forming multi-level influence — from workforce training and technology transfer to strategic participation in shaping regional policy. The paper analyzes the mechanisms and channels of such influence, as well as institutional barriers limiting the potential of universities as growth drivers. The necessity of transitioning to integrative models embedding universities into the region’s long-term economic architecture is substantiated.