METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRY MARKET CONCENTRATION

Abstract

The article examines the methodological foundations for assessing concentration in the resort and recreational services market under the transformation of the competitive environment, the digitalization of the economy, and the diffusion of sustainable development principles. It is substantiated that traditional approaches to concentration analysis, which rest primarily on the assessment of market shares, do not adequately capture the industry-specific features of the resort and recreational services market: they fail to reflect the effects of the spatial localization of enterprises, seasonal demand fluctuations, functional specialization, the level of digital transformation, and the implementation of sustainable development practices on the formation of the competitive environment. The purpose of the study is to advance methodological approaches to assessing concentration in the resort and recreational services market through the development of a comprehensive system of original indicators. The methodological framework of the research comprises general scientific and specialized methods, including theoretical generalization, systems analysis, structural-logical and economic-mathematical modelling, statistical analysis, integrated assessment, min–max normalization of indicators, and the entropy method for determining the weighting coefficients of composite indices. The study develops a comprehensive methodological approach to assessing concentration in the resort and recreational services market that extends the existing analytical toolkit with a system of specialized indicators: the Seasonal Demand Concentration Indicator, the Market Spatial Concentration Indicator, the Functional Profile Concentration Indicator, the Sustainability Advantage Concentration Indicator, and the Digital Transformation Concentration Indicator. For selected indicators, composite indices were developed, systems of measurable variables were proposed, methodological approaches to determining weighting coefficients were substantiated, and an economic interpretation of the assessment results was provided. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the development of a comprehensive system of original indicators for assessing concentration in the resort and recreational services market which, unlike existing approaches, provides an integrated account of the structural, spatial, functional, digital, and sustainability-related characteristics of the competitive environment, thereby improving the objectivity of concentration assessment and expanding the analytical capabilities of sectoral market research. The practical significance of the results lies in the applicability of the proposed methodological approach by public authorities, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, local governments, administrations of resort territories, and business entities for monitoring market concentration, assessing the competitive environment, supporting managerial decision-making, developing competition policy measures, and formulating strategies for the development of the resort and recreational sector under digital transformation and the implementation of sustainable development principles.