Eurasian Journal of Economic and Business Studies

Higher Education and National Development: Insights from Kazakhstan’s Transition Economy

Anel Kireyeva — 2025-06-30

To date, the analysis of issues related to developing educational potential and promoting intellectual development has not been conducted at the appropriate level, particularly in adapting higher education to current demands. In addition, a pressing issue exists in many countries of the CIS, including Kazakhstan, the question of whether education programs comply with international standards and labor market requirements remains significant. Therefore, this paper aims to empirically investigate the relationship between the performance of Kazakhstan's higher education system and key socio-economic indicators from 2004 to 2024, identifying systemic inefficiencies and potential directions for policy improvement. Drawing on official data from the Bureau of National Statistics, the World Bank, and the OECD, the study employs a comprehensive econometric framework, which includes correlation matrices, regression models, and principal component analysis (PCA). The results reveal a positive correlation between the contribution of education to GDP and R&D expenditure (r = 0.820) and average household income (r = 0.841), suggesting that education’s economic effectiveness is strongly linked to innovation investment and income levels. Conversely, a negative relationship was observed with student enrollment, faculty size and the number of higher education institutions, suggesting that quantitative expansion alone does not enhance economic efficiency. The findings point to structural contradictions within the higher education sector, including a misalignment with labor market needs and limited integration into the innovation economy. Future research should aim to address gaps in understanding the internal quality and practical orientation of higher education programs.

Structural Barriers and Opportunities for Financial Inclusion of Women in Kazakhstan

Makpal Bekturganova — 2025-06-30

Despite steady growth in banking resources in Kazakhstan, female engagement in credit markets remains uneven and constrained by structural imbalances. The current study aims to assess the impact of structural features of the banking sector in Kazakhstan on financial accessibility and women's involvement in credit relations. To measure structural accessibility, a composite indicator was developed using two groups of variables: resource-based indicators (interbank deposits, loans received, and customer deposits) and concentration indicators (top-5 banks’ share of assets, loan portfolios, and customer deposits). The statistical materials on the regulation and development of the financial market and the National Bank of Kazakhstan and Bureau of National Statistics for 2013-2023 were used as initial data. The study results show that credit availability for women has not increased proportionally despite the steady growth of banking resources. The theoretical availability index decreased to 0.487 in 2023 due to the high concentration of the banking sector, and correlation analysis confirmed the absence of a statistically significant relationship between structural opportunities and the actual volume of women's loans. Periods with strong resource growth and moderate theoretical accessibility, such as 2018, coincided with peak credit issuance to women despite high sectoral concentration. These findings highlight the need to account for institutional, behavioral, and policy-driven factors when evaluating financial inclusion outcomes. Further research should focus on a detailed analysis of the impact of government programs and initiatives and the study of behavioral and institutional factors limiting women's financial activity.

The Role of Education in Reducing Income Inequality: A Regional Analysis of Kazakhstan

Saule Zeinolla — 2025-06-30

In the context of increasing social stratification, the assessment of factors affecting income inequality is becoming particularly important. This article examines the influence of socioeconomic factors, including access to education and human capital development, on Kazakhstan's income inequality level. The Fixed Effects Model is used as an empirical approach, allowing for consistent regional characteristics and minimizing unexplained data variability. The methodological base is built on panel data for 16 regions, covering the period from 2001 to 2022, comprising 352 observations. The regression model estimates obtained showed statistically significant correlations between the analyzed factors and the level of income inequality. In particular, an increase in the level of education and an increase in the subsistence level contribute to a decrease in the Gini coefficient (coefficient for the subsistence level = -3.32e-06; p < 0.01). On the contrary, an increase in the proportion of the population with incomes below the subsistence level (coefficient = 0.000766; p < 0.01), unemployment (coefficient = 0.010659; p <0.01), as well as inflation (coefficient = 0.000851; p < 0.01) lead to an increase in income inequality. The results indicate that regions with higher educational opportunities and investment in human capital exhibit lower levels of inequality. The findings underscore the need to develop policies that expand access to quality education and reduce regional disparities, thereby mitigating social and economic inequality. Further research should focus on analyzing the role of educational institutions at the micro level and examining the nonlinear effects of regional education policies.

The Role of Universities in Driving Innovation through Human Capital in Kazakhstan

Gulbakhyt Olzhebayeva — 2025-06-30

This research aims to assess the impact of human capital elements, including graduates, postgraduate students, and educational expenditures, on the level of innovation activity in the regions of Kazakhstan. Research is based on a quantitative panel analysis of Kazakhstani regions, namely correlation and regression, from the National Bureau of Statistics in the years 2000-2023. The empirical results show that Gross Regional Product (GRP) and the number of PhD students significantly and positively affect innovation activity. A 1% increase in GRP corresponds to a 0.75% rise in the number of innovative enterprises, while a 1% rise in the number of PhD students leads to a 0.23% increase in innovation. In contrast, the number of university graduates and educational expenditures did not demonstrate statistically significant effects. The findings suggest the need for targeted policy interventions, including support for doctoral research, the creation of innovation clusters, and region-specific strategies. The research highlights the importance of economic capacity and advanced research personnel in fostering regional innovation while also pointing to institutional and structural barriers that may inhibit the effective translation of educational investments into innovation outcomes. Policy implications include the need for region-specific innovation strategies and greater alignment between academic institutions and enterprise needs. Future research should incorporate mixed methods, explore intra-regional differences, and investigate time-lag effects in educational investments on innovation performance.

Integration of Islamic Values and Sustainable Tourism: The Case of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Deniz Can Ekren — 2025-06-30

Hosting international mega-sporting events is increasingly seen as a tool of soft power and a way to promote sustainable development, national values, and tourism culture. The article aims to analyze how Islamic values have been integrated into the strategy of sustainable development and tourism legacy implemented during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Methodologically, the work is based on a qualitative approach combining a case study (based on the example of the 2022 World Cup) and autoethnography, which made it possible to combine the institutional and personal levels of analysis. The empirical base includes structured diary entries by the author, accumulated over eight years of professional participation in the preparation and implementation of sustainability and legacy programs, as well as secondary sources – scientific publications, official FIFA documents and government reports. The results of the study show that in a number of key areas (environmental sustainability, cultural exchange, social responsibility) there is a similarity between the goals of FIFA and Islamic values, which confirms the conscious localization of global standards. Islamic values were not just a background but were actively used in decision-making, programming, and communication with an international audience. In conclusion, it is recommended that religious and cultural values be integrated more deeply into the practice of sustainable development, especially in non-Western contexts, to ensure greater cultural relevance and acceptance in society.

Assessment of Bank Profitability through Structural Indicators: Evidence from Kazakhstan

Nazym Zaitenova — 2025-06-30

Bank profitability remains a central concern in assessing financial sector resilience, especially in systems undergoing institutional and regulatory transformation. This study aims to examine the impact of key internal structural indicators, namely capital adequacy, management efficiency, liquidity, and market-based funding, on the return on equity (hereinafter – ROE) of the banking sector in Kazakhstan. The analysis uses linear regression based on data from 2013 to 2023, incorporating standardized indicators to measure the relationship between structural financial variables and profitability. The model includes adjusted capital adequacy ratio, pre-tax return on assets, ROE, liquidity ratio based on client deposits, and the share of market-based funding in total liabilities. Results demonstrate that management efficiency has a substantial and statistically significant effect on ROE (β = 11.41, p < 0.01), while capital adequacy, liquidity, and market-based funding show weaker or statistically insignificant effects. The high explanatory power of the model (R² = 0.970) suggests that internal operational factors, rather than the balance sheet, drive profitability in Kazakhstan’s banking sector. A comparative analysis of marginal effects further supports the dominant role of internal operational performance over passive balance sheet structure. The study is complemented by a literature-based framework highlighting mixed evidence on the role of liquidity and capitalization under different institutional conditions. Findings indicate that in transitional financial systems, profitability is primarily driven by internal cost and risk management rather than by regulatory capital levels or external funding strategies. Policy implications should prioritize operational efficiency and coordinated prudential regulation according to system-specific constraints.

An Assessment of Financial Stability of Artificial Intelligence-based Monitoring Project in Kazakhstan

Timur Narbaev — 2025-06-30

Today, public-private partnership (hereinafter – PPP) projects, which apply digital technologies and artificial intelligence (hereinafter – AI), are becoming essential for improving infrastructure delivery and transparency. This study aims to assess the financial stability and risks of the Sergek project, an AI-based traffic video monitoring system in Almaty implemented under the PPP model with fixed government payments. The study examines the macroeconomic and operational risks of the project using system dynamics (SD) modeling. The data inputs for the SD model were collected from project documentation, national economic statistics, and expert interviews. In the baseline scenario, with a stable exchange rate (0.1% growth per year) and timely government payments, the internal rate of return (hereinafter – IRR) increases from -1.0% in 2021 to 0.37% by 2026. In an alternative scenario with an annual devaluation of 20%, the IRR only reaches 0.3%, and the break-even point is delayed by one year. However, the return significantly declined under scenarios simulating currency depreciation, underscoring the AI project’s sensitivity to external economic risks. This study provides methodological and practical contributions to the field, specifically within the contracts of availability-payment mechanisms in emerging economies like Kazakhstan. The proposed simulation model is an adaptable tool for stakeholders to forecast investment outcomes and enhance project monitoring and control based on AI applications in PPPs.

Human Resource Management Configurations and Their Impact on Macroeconomic Indicators in Kazakhstan

Meruyert Kanabekova — 2025-06-30

Human resource management (hereinafter – HRM) has become a key factor in the adaptability of organisations in the context of instability. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the types of organisational configurations in HRM and macroeconomic indicators in a hybrid institutional environment in Kazakhstan. The research methods employed include categorical coding of organisational characteristics, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), univariate analysis (ANOVA), and linear regression to assess the relationship between HRM configurations and GDP and employment indicators. The initial data covered the period from 2010 to 2024, including organisational characteristics of 26 small and medium-sized enterprises in Kazakhstan, as well as official industry statistics on GDP and employment, aggregated by four types of HRM configurations. The following key results were obtained: the HRM model in education and science demonstrated the most excellent effectiveness, having a significant impact on both GDP (F = 2369.3, p <0.001); the agricultural model showed a high correlation with employment (F = 116.99, p <0.001); the digital-creative model was significant only in terms of GDP (F = 109.4, p <0.001); the industrial hierarchical model showed the least impact on both indicators. These findings confirm that HRM models embedded in flexible, multifunctional structures with a development focus produce greater institutional and economic resilience. The study contributes to developing HRM typologies in transitional settings and offers evidence-based guidance for redesigning organisational systems aligned with sectoral performance and labor market priorities.

Economics of Water Supply and Household Behavior: the Transition from Self-Supply to Centralized Systems

Askar Adamov — 2025-06-30

Access to clean and safe water remains a critical determinant of public health, quality of life, and socio-economic resilience, particularly in emerging economies with unequal infrastructure development. This study aims to identify the key factors that determine consumer behaviour in the water supply sector, taking into account water quality and the level of infrastructure coverage from 2013 to 2023. The research integrates behavioral, infrastructural, and environmental dimensions to understand how access to water infrastructure and source quality influence consumption patterns. Using a mixed-method design, the study combines streamgraph visualization, correlation matrix analysis, and multiple linear regression modeling based on five indicators: quality of centralized water (DW_C), groundwater (DW_G), population connected to centralized systems (AC_P), per capita consumption (WC_PC), and the self-supply population (SA_NP). The results reveal a strong positive correlation between access to centralized systems and per capita water consumption (r = 0.901, p < 0.001). At the same time, higher groundwater contamination is associated with greater reliance on self-supply (r = –0.824, p = 0.002). The regression model confirms the significant influence of centralized water quality (β = –0.2679, p = 0.023) and consumption behavior (β = –0.1506, p = 0.087) on reducing the prevalence of self-supply. Visual analysis via Arc Diagrams reveals structural links between infrastructural expansion and behavioral change, suggesting that improved access and sanitary standards influence household preferences. The results highlighted the importance of targeted investments and effective governance mechanisms in reducing dependence on unsafe self-supply, particularly in Kazakhstan's regional disparities, especially in rural areas.

Analysis of Employment Policy Effectiveness in Kazakhstan: Regional Clustering Approach

Baglan Aliyeva — 2025-06-30

Effective evaluation of public employment programs in transition economies requires analytical frameworks that can address institutional complexity, spatial disparities, and inconsistent performance monitoring. The purpose of this article is to conduct a state audit of the implementation of the “Enbek” employment program in Kazakhstan from 2017 to 2021, taking into account both spatial and institutional aspects. The study employs a combination of pre- and post-analysis, regional comparative assessment, hierarchical clustering, and benchmarking against official unemployment targets to assess policy coherence and execution. The empirical base comprises panel data from 17 regions of Kazakhstan, covering the period from 2014 to 2024. The results demonstrate the achievement of the national target for the unemployment rate (<4.8%) and a decrease in the share of informal employment from 25% to 12.5%. However, pronounced regional imbalances and institutional constraints remain. The findings of the cluster analysis reveal three regional typologies reflecting disparities in labor market structure and policy responsiveness. Regions with developed labor infrastructure exhibit relative stability, while peripheral regions remain characterized by persistent structural misalignments. However, the results suggest that current evaluation methods are insufficient to fully assess the effectiveness of employment programs across different regions. Future research should focus on developing indicators for regional inclusivity, integrating program sustainability assessments into strategic planning, and institutionalising the adaptation of public employment tools.