The impact of tax incentives on the investment attractiveness of bonds for retail investors is assessed in the article. The paper presents a comparative empirical analysis of investment attractiveness of Russian bonds and bank deposits for domestic retail investors. We identify investment preferences of retail investors in Russia, analyze investment characteristics of deposits in Russian banks and a variety of bonds available for retail investors. Given the tax benefits of the recently introduced Individual Investment Account, we show that the real yield of investment in government bonds is over eight times higher than the yield of bank deposits. Despite higher risks of investing in bonds, we conclude that government bonds taking into account the tax benefits of the Individual Investment Account could be a realistic alternative to bank deposits for Russian retail investors.

The article contains the study of the capabilities of choosing such a form of joint business organization by an economic convergence initiator which would ensure the maximum growth of such business under the influence of digitalization and thereby the maximum improvement of the initiator's competitive capability. The author has developed a model of creating an economic ecosystem as a really effective ecosystem which takes into account the influence of both positive and possible negative consequences of the impact of digitalization on a joint business and ensures the maximum economic benefits of the joint business. An algorithm has been developed to implement the model in the framework of a certain level and a specific product of digitalization. The main parameters of the model and the algorithm for the implementation of the same are such terms introduced by the author as an economic ecosystem, potentially the most effective economic ecosystem, a real ecosystem, and a really effective ecosystem, which are described by indicators and costs of the economic effect. Following the steps of the algorithm which implements the model will eventually make it possible to create such a version of an economic ecosystem which would bring the highest economic effect to the initiator on a certain convergence level considered when a certain digitalization product is used in the joint business. Comparison of the versions of real ecosystems obtained for each digitalization level and product makes it possible to select the final version which would produce the maximum economic effect for the initiator with respect to convergence levels and digitalization products and hence the maximum growth of the initiator's competitive capacity. The economic ecosystem formed on the basis of the developed model and the algorithm that implements it gives the initiator of the joint business the greatest advantages in a competitive economy.

Nowadays digitalization is one of the key drivers of insurance market development in Russia. Introducing InsurTech provides insurance companies with a number of competitive advantages, such as increasing speed of making decisions, opportunities for portfolio expansion, tools for risk assessment and fraud detection. Application of digital technologies helps them to increase effectiveness of business processes. Among all business processes of an insurance company we emphasize the most significant in terms of insurance service provision. Those include the processes of underwriting, conclusion and support of an insurance contract, settlement of an insured event. However, adoption of innovations blurs borders between business processes. The paper discusses InsurTech tools implemented in these business processes, evaluates the effectiveness of their use, identifies the associated risks. The conclusion is made that the risk of unauthorized access or use of personal data is the most significant. Another significant risk is the model risk arising from the imperfection of the models used, insufficient data or its poor quality. In addition to that, the impact of digitalization on the activities of insurance companies and its business processes should not be overestimated. Funding: The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-01-00785.

A “silver economy” can drive economic growth. The key condition is effective demand, determined by the number of financially secure members of the elderly population. The aim of this study is to assess the conditions of the Russian “silver economy”, identify the constraints on its growth, and develop recommendations for their elimination to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. We applied multivariate statistical analysis methods. The absolute and structural numbers of elderly people in Russia were found to not differ much from those in the developed countries of Europe. Their financial support exhibits several important features. A state pension plays a key role in financing the needs of Russian pensioners. Income from labor occupies the second position. Asset-based reallocations are negligible. Public programs will improve the standard of living of current pensioners. For future pensioners, it is important to increase the income received from asset-based reallocations. Russian pensioners were found to have had a negative experience of participation in the funded pension system. It is necessary to stimulate the voluntary participation of future pensioners in the funded pension system and to change the regulation of the investment activities of pension managers. In general, the formation of conditions favorable to the “silver economy” may turn it into a driver of sustainable development in Russia.

The relevance of the paper is predetermined by the fact that insurance acts as an institute of financial and social protection, and insurance companies (especially for long-term life insurance) are the most important and socially responsible investors, which account for about 8-12% of total investments in developed countries in the economy, which, in turn, serves as a significant factor in economic growth. The purpose of our paper is to prove the relationship between the level of development and dynamics of insurance markets on the one hand, and the level and dynamics of economic growth rates in a number of countries, on the other. To achieve the goal, we set and solved the research objectives: 1) to determine the degree of elaboration of the problem of the relationship between economic growth and the development of the insurance market in a number of countries and regions of the world economy; 2) to construct a comprehensive classification of similar and different characteristics in certain countries of the worlds’ economy (European, Asian, extended countries with a federal structure, post-socialist countries); 3) to highlight some indicators of the level of economic development and growth of classified countries (central bank interest rate, economic growth rate, investment growth rate, etc.) associated with some parameters of insurance market development, primarily with the volume and growth rate of insurance premiums, including the growth rate of life insurance premiums; 4) to classify the insurance regulation models of the grouped countries based on the analysis of the relationship between the selected economic and insurance indicators; 5) to assess the degree of relationship between the development of a relatively young and unbalanced insurance market and indicators of economic growth in Russia. The latter occupies a special place in the classification of the countries under consideration by characteristics of insurance development, by spatial, geopolitical parameters, by indicators of economic development and economic dynamics. The research results and conclusion are the following: 1) there is a direct relationship between the indicators of economic growth and indicators of the development of the insurance market in national economies and regional integration complexes; 2) different types of grouped countries have a different degree of dependence between indicators of economic growth and the insurance market indicators’ development, which is determined, not least of all, by historical, economic, spatial, geographical and geopolitical characteristics; 3) the close relationship between the indicators of economic development and growth of countries under consideration and their insurance markets is ambiguous, due to the fact that the active growth of insurance is noted in countries with a high density and a significant proportion of the young population; 4) the reasons for similarities and differences in the relationship under study are diverse and determined by differences in functioning of socio-economic systems (geographical, legislative, political, social, etc.), as well as by the adopted model of insurance regulation; 5) the growth of the insurance market corresponds to the general economic growth, subject to the intensification of investment activity; 6) life insurance shows a closer relationship with macroeconomic indicators compared to other segments of the insurance market; 7) the importance of studying the proposed problem for Russia in the future is due to its important integrating function for the national insurance markets of European as well as Asian countries.

The most important trends in the modern economy are convergence – the process of convergence of activities of various economic entities and digitalization. Their interaction creates new opportunities for increasing the competitiveness and efficiency of insurance companies. The purpose of the paper is to identify economic convergence processes taking place on the Russian insurance market, which, when using different digitalization products, lead to new business models of partnership. The results of the conducted empirical analysis confirm the existence of economic convergence processes at all levels (intra-segment, intersegment and inter-sectoral) on the Russian insurance market. The proof of this is the significant reduction in the number of insurers in 2021 to 158, compared to 600 insurers in 2011. Over the past three years, the share of sales of insurance products with the participation of banks acting as intermediaries in the sales of insurance services has increased by 1.5 times. Also, along with insurance companies, health care companies have increasingly become involved in such operations. Digitalization products (information technologies (IT); IT and IT platforms; IT, IT platforms and networks) have a huge impact on the forms of organizing joint business with the participation of insurance companies. Some insurance companies do not provide opportunities to issue an insurance policy online or pay an insurance premium, i.e. they use sites for only minor customer interactions. Most often, Russian insurance companies use mobile applications. The impact of various digitalization products at different levels of economic convergence of insurers initiates multivariate business models of joint business.

Socio-economic development of a region is based on its production capacity. However, most regions in Russia are characterized by financial instability of local enterprises and the lack of a balanced structure of the regional economy. Insurance is an instrument of financial protection against risks, and its effective functioning is important for the development of the manufacturing sector, especially in depressed regions.This paper aims to highlight the mechanisms for increasing the production capacity of a region and reducing business risks with the help of insurance instruments and to provide appropriate recommendations for the development of the insurance market. This is planned to be achieved on the basis of analysis and processing of existing scientific research in this field and statistical materials.For this, a typology of regions was developed, which reflects the level of production in the region and is important in terms of developing the regional insurance market. This allows assessing the impact of insurance coverage in the region on the development of its production capacity. The proposed typology allows determining the causes of production inefficiency. The conformity of the development of the regional insurance market to the needs for insurance coverage of the production sector in the region was assessed. The identified imbalance between the provision of insurance coverage and the need for it allowed demonstrating an additional need for insurance, as well as working out a program for its development.The obtained results are illustrated using the example of the Republic of Khakassia, a constituent entity of the Siberian Federal District of the Russian Federation. To implement risk management in the manufacturing sector, schemes of interaction between insurance market participants using commercial and non-commercial insurance are proposed. AcknowledgmentThe paper was written under the grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research – Development of a Methodology for Green and Infrastructure Investment by Institutional Investors in the Context of Pension Reforms.

The task of improving business performance always raises the problem of choosing the most effective ways to ensure it. The article is devoted to the substantiation of the business efficiency criterion, in accordance with the requirements of which those areas of business development that provide it with the greatest efficiency should be determined. The article puts forward and confirms the hypothesis that, according to the selected criterion the greatest efficiency can be provided not only by the variant of the simultaneous implementation of all possible directions for increasing efficiency, but also by the variant of their implementation in parts — in the form of sets of directions. The authors propose a model for the formation of an effective business, using Pareto optimality and implemented on the basis of two developed Algorithms, which is illustrated by a numerical example.