Clusters in the Marketing Strategy of Local Self-Government in the Context of Decentralization

It is substantiated that the qualitative changes in local government in the process of decentralization are due to the development of marketing strategies based on the cluster approach. Effectiveness of a cluster depends on identifying one of the historically inherited specializations of the region, which correlates with the most modern world trends of economic development, ensuring their organic combination based on the realization of the interest of the local community as a component of the national public interest. Using the example of the Kharkiv region, there considered the leading role of the educational cluster in achieving the sustainability of the region’s socio-economic development, which is provided by the formation and management of demand for services of higher education institutions. The minimum possible demand, which is directly created by Ukrainian and foreign applicants for higher education, is calculated. Obstacles in the functioning of the educational cluster are identified. The financial trap of higher education institutions and the necessary conditions for its overcoming are presented. Risks of development of the educational cluster are determined. The consolidation of the efforts of the educational community, local authorities, and business in the active implementation of the national interests concerning the development of the educational cluster is considered as a means of strengthening its competitive advantages.