Ukrainian Society

9-20

Authors: Timmer A.

This study examines the critical mechanisms explaining the health outcomes of such understudied social group as immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU), including Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, among other countries. Literature on the ‘health paradox’ suggests that immigrants from various countries enjoy better health than their native-born counterparts. Importantly, however, this trend does not seem to exist among FSU immigrants, especially those residing in the United States. In addition, while research studies find that socioeconomic status (SES) is the fundamental cause of health and illness among native-born individuals, higher SES does not appear to be the health-protective factor among the FSU group, likely due to their unique experiences and beliefs. Consequently, a new model is necessary to provide a more nuanced explanation of health outcomes of immigrants from FSU countries. Drawing on medical sociology and epidemiology literature, first, this paper outlines unique factors that explain health of FSU immigrants and argues that particular attention should be paid to acculturation, its sources, and the mechanisms through which it affects health. Specifically, differential levels of acculturation shape the degree to which FSU immigrants engage in risky behaviours, hold unique beliefs, access health care, and cope with stressors, which, in turn, influences their physical and mental health. Second, hypotheses are proposed based on the new model to be tested by future studies and third, unique interactive effects on health outcomes are discussed including such factors as SES, gender, country of origin, and other social structural factors. Overall, this paper contributes theoretically to medical sociology, epidemiology, social psychology, and global studies by outlining the novel model conceptualizing immigration and health relationships among one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in contemporary society.

34-53

Authors: Chernysh N. Yo., Boretska M. Yu.

The paper offers an attempt of theoretical conceptualisation of coevals’ values of independence of Ukraine, as well as carries out the approbation of the put forward theoretical positions in empirical studies with the participation of authors. Coevals of independence are the oldest age cohort of the generation born in free Ukraine, and the central line-forming concept is the concept of “generational values”. The authors emphasised that in the multiparadigmality of modern sociology, it is methodologically expedient to develop several variants of “generational values” concepts following the main lines of sociological theorising, each of which provides appropriate empirical research methods. Paper considers four possible research schemes of these concepts in the framework of the “first”, “second”, “third” sociology (based on the works of G. Zborovsky and P. Sztompka), and a scheme based on the work of K. Mannheim is singled out. Semantic modelling of the “generational values” concept of using the axiological core of the “first” sociology (or neoclassical, objectivist) metaparadigm of sociological theorising with the appropriate method of quantitative empirical research. This allowed testing the theoretical provisions of this concept in the development of methods and empirical research with the authors’ participation and a comparative analysis of sociological information with databases of the World and European Values Surveys 2020 (particularly in Ukraine). The common and distinctive features of axiological spaces of respondents aged 29–30 in the global, European, and local context are determined, the specifics of the axiological system of the older age cohort (coevals) of the generation born in 1991–1992 are revealed to emphasise the peculiarities of the value spaces of Ukraine’s independence coevals, first of all, in relation to the ratio of materialist and postmaterialist values. The general conclusion is the recorded ambivalence of the axiological space of thirty-year-old respondents with barely noticeable shifts towards the older generations in the context of the prevailing trend of transition to post-materialist values.

76-87

Authors: Brydun I. Ye.

This article examines the transformation of the global insurance industry under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The author examines the roles of regulators, governments, consumers of insurance services, insurance, and reinsurance companies in responding to the new challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic was an unexpected factor for the global insurance industry, and as because of the global crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, there was a need to assess the transformation of processes in it. Accordingly, the materials of experts of international insurance associations were analyzed, in particular: International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), The International Credit Insurance and Surety Association (ICISA), European Federation of Insurance Intermediaries (BIPAR), International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (IASIE) and others. The division of insurance market participants into two classes has been substantiated. In one class, there are consumers of insurance services and the insurance market regulators. In another class, there are insurance associations, insurance, and reinsurance companies. Based on the studies and reports of international insurance associations, the author revealed conflict escalation between insurance, reinsurance companies, governments (US, EU, China), and insurance market regulators due to the requirements of compliance with the principle of expediency and transparency in control and supervision, increased demands for reserves and quality assets, changes in the assessment of solvency, constant changes in regulations and requirements for additional information. From the considered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic given the existing regulatory documents Solvency II and IFRS-17, the problem of ambiguous formations in the regulatory acts in the paragraphs “Terms of the insurance contract” and “Exclusion of the insurance contract”– interpretation of the word: “material damage” and the difference in the words: “epidemic” and “pandemic”. Paper identifies the problems of these ambiguous formations in the normative-legal interpretation of the world regulatory bodies, the postulate of Solvency II and the lawsuits that caused these formations. The comparative analysis of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was performed using the S&P 500 and S&P Insurance Select Industry indices. There was a shock due to the pandemic and the forecasted expectations of investors, who negatively assessed the insurance industry, and as a result, the price of the insurance industry index lost the connection of identical fluctuations with the S&P 500 and the price of the index fell relative to the S&P 500 index. The forecast has been developed to increase the demand for insurance, which will grow from the momentum of the world economy. After a reduction of 3,7% in 2020, the world economy is growing by 5,8% in 2021, which is significantly higher than the average of 3,0% over the previous decade. The paper illustrates the difference between economic growth in developing and developed countries. The author compares the recovery of the insurance industry after the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global financial crisis in 2008: the insurance industry of the COVID-19 crisis is 14,35% growth and by the end of 2021 should exceed pre-crisis figures, the total amount of global insurance premiums accrued in 2021, will be 11,46% higher than the pre-crisis level of 2019. Conclusions and recommendations on the transformation processes that have arisen under the influence of the pandemic on the insurance industry has been substantiated.

107-131

Authors: Shyshkov S. Ye.

The author determines the peculiarities of privatisation processes in transformational economies compared with mature ones and considers the difference of the goal – to accelerate the development of the already existing stock market, and in fact, to create the market anew. Socio-economic transformations, privatisation of property and creation of market infrastructure are prerequisites but not a guarantee for the emergence of the domestic stock market as a specific institutional phenomenon, especially in the absence of adequate incentives for public equity. It is established that some local stock markets are degraded against the background of increasing size, globalisation, liquidity, and integration of world capital markets, including the Ukrainian one. It is stated that, unlike the neighbouring post-socialist states (firstly, Poland), the stock market has not been built in Ukraine as a basis for compelling attraction and allocation of capital. Paper substantiated that this is primarily a consequence of inefficient and protracted privatisation, mainly over-the-counter sale of shares, inconsistency of state and regulatory policy, optional iterations in the development of market infrastructure, the creation irrationality of privatised enterprises (even the smallest) exclusively in the form of open joint-stock companies, which die to their objective inability to raise public capital faced inadequate financial burden and coercion of listing on exchanges. The author identified the main problems of the Ukrainian stock market laid down during privatisation: excessively consolidated share capital structure, insecurity of minorities, meagre free-float and liquidity, conditional exchange pricing, the predominance of over-the-counter circulation of shares, etc. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of the attempt to implement the squeeze-out procedure in Ukraine. In the absence of market prices and the acquisition of control by dominant shareholders long before the legislative changes, the share buyback did not protect minorities. However, it led to significant investors’ losses, termination of circulation of shares of most issuers, even greater conditionality of indices, capitalisation and other indicators of market development. It is noted that the effectiveness of the announced state plans for the development of the stock market due to the privatisation of state property remains in doubt in the absence of prerequisites for balancing economic interests between market participants, the objectivity of pricing, incentives for public capital raising and effective institutional environment. It is concluded that in Ukraine, the focus on privatisation procedures in the stock market development has no prospects in the absence of adequate incentives for the public raising of capital.

152-160

Authors: Liudohovska K. V., Burak D. I.

The paper presents the results of surveys of the innovative youth project U-Report for July – August 2021: the attitude of young people to environmental issues and the use of plastic bags, volunteering, conflicts and bullying in social media.