The purpose of this article is to study the impact of the global pandemic on the deterioration of social conditions, property inequality and changes in the poverty line. The solution of socio-economic problems around the world is connected with inclusive economic development.
Methodology. Collection, processing and generalization of information when analyzing the reduction and elimination of global social inequality, changes in poverty as a result of pandemics, the amount of funding to ensure a minimum level of social protection in countries, common logical methods were used to analyze and compare materials from international organizations and foundations, domestic and foreign researchers.
Originality/ value of the research. To prevent the growth of poverty at the global level, increasing the value of the article is aimed at the cluster development of the Republic of Kazakhstan based on the model of inclusive economic development by analyzing scientifi c works and world scientists and materials of international organizations, identifying shortcomings and weaknesses of social problems.
Findings. The article examines the changes in global poverty caused by the coronavirus crisis, the gender gap among those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on households and medium and small businesses, concessional lending by the IMF to 29 poor countries to overcome the pandemic crisis and Kazakhstan's anti-pandemic programs.
In the analysis, the author examines the goals of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda for the period up to 2030, the World Development Report 2022 of the World Bank. The report analyzes the stages of concessional lending by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to poor countries and the IMF fi scal monitor, as well as fi scal measures of the Republic of Kazakhstan in response to the global pandemic.

The purpose of the research is to discuss emigration from Kazakhstan. Since 2014, the outfl ow of the population from the country continues both from cities and from rural areas.
Methodology. When writing the article, methods of scientifi c knowledge, theoretical generalization, comparative analysis of the current and past states were used based on data from the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Originality / value of the research. Based on the available data, the authors made an attempt to analyze the eff ectiveness of the implementation of the state programs «With a diploma – to the village» and «Enbek», aimed at solving the problems of the outfl ow of the population from the northern regions of Kazakhstan and rural areas.
Findings. The greatest outfl ow of the population is typical for the regions located in the central, northern and eastern parts of Kazakhstan (all these regions are combined into one group «northern regions»). The fact that people of working age are leaving the country is a matter of concern. To compensate for the losses of the population, the state implements various programs: «With a diploma – to the village» and «Enbek».
The state program «With a Diploma – to the Village» is aimed at attracting graduates of higher educational institutions to live in rural areas and replenish the labor force. The state program «Enbek» aims to stimulate voluntary relocation to the northern regions from the labor surplus (southern) regions to the northern regions of Kazakhstan. The implementation of these programs has not been able to address the problem of the outfl ow of the population both from the northern regions of Kazakhstan and from rural areas. In our opinion, these programs require revision considering the conditions on the ground.

Purpose of the research – assessment of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) institutional scientifi ctechnological integration capacity by identifying and comparing strategic priorities and directions of scientifi ctechnological development of the member-countries.
Methodology. The study was conducted on the basis of an institutional approach. The main research methods included comparison, quantitative and qualitative content analysis of strategic documents on scientifi ctechnological development of the member-countries. The respective strategies of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Armenia served as input data. The Voyant tools software was used for text processing.
Originality / value of the research. The EAEU member-countries' national economies have been actively integrating in the post-Soviet space, however the issues of scientifi c-technological integration are not suffi ciently considered. This study is aimed to fi ll this study gap. The study results can serve as substantiation for key directions of developing scenarios, recommendations and mechanisms to improve the effi ciency of scientifi c-technological integration in order to form a single scientifi c-technological space in the EAEU.
Findings. It was revealed that scientifi c-technological cooperation was an independent vector of EAEU integration, directions in the fi eld of scientifi c-technological development, which opens up opportunities for active scientifi c-technological cooperation. The institutional capacity of EAEU scientifi c and technological integration is quite high.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the main problems of sustainable infrastructure development in Central Asian (CA) cities to achieve sustainable development.
Methodology: the study of the infrastructure development in the cities of Central Asia (Almaty, Bishkek, Dushanbe and Tashkent) focusing on sustainability applied systematic content analysis, working with literature and application of knowledge gained from the practical experience. The sampling units for analysis are the SDGs, applied reforms and their impact on infrastructure development, urban governance and planning, and dialogue between city authorities and the population.
Originality / value of the research. The CA countries are actively joining the global agenda to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), adjust urban development policies and set the goal of transitioning to a green economy. However, CA cities are not yet ready to benefi t from the transition to a green economy, as they are still dependent on rapidly ageing and expensive to maintain Soviet infrastructure. This study contributes to the theory of eff ective planning and management of urban development and informs about the existing gaps in the urban policy of CA.
Research results: planning and investment in the development of sustainable urban infrastructure, eff ective decentralization reforms, an integrated urban planning system to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability, transparency in decision-making and the development of public accountability.

The article examines the conceptual foundations of the development of digital medicine and studies the possibilities of using digital technologies for the implementation of medical services. Purpose of the research is to reveal the concepts, identify the stages, directions of digitalization in medicine and research the directions of application of digital medical technologies.
Methodology of the research is the analysis of secondary information, theoretical sources, the method of grouping and ranking, marketing research using the method of morphological analysis in the form of expert evaluation.
Originality/value of the research: the tools of digital medicine are structured and systematized, the most eff ective ways of their application for solving signifi cant problems in the fi eld of medicine are determined, taking into account the research of the theoretical base and the opinions of experts.
Findings of the study: the stages of digitalization are systematized, the features of the use of digital technologies in medicine are researched. The main directions of digitalization of medical services are structured and defi ned. The author's contribution lies in the fact that on the basis of the conducted research in the form of morphological analysis, the purpose and possibilities of applying certain areas of digitalization in medicine are more accurately and correctly formulated.

The paper considers approaches to the defi nition of the shadow economy as components of economic activity carried out in the state, the main reasons for their spread, as well as possible ways to counter the expansion of its scale.
The purpose of the research: to substantiate the causes of the emergence and spread of the shadow economy, to identify factors contributing to the reduction of its scale, to develop proposals to counteract the expansion of the shadow economy.
Research methodology: in the course of the research, methods of logical, statistical, qualitative and quantitative analysis, as well as graphical methods of visualization of the results of the research were used.
The originality / value of the research lies in the systematization of data on the substantiation of the essence of the shadow economy as part of the economy formed by criminal (illegal) economic activity of two types – entrepreneurial and criminal, the scale of which depends on the level of economic development of the country. The article presents conclusions on the comparison of the volume of capital exports, GDP, the shadow economy and the role of the cash market in reducing the scale of the shadow economy.
The results of the research are expressed by recommendations for conducting research on the justifi cation of indicators for calculating the scale of the shadow economy and determining the scale by types and directions of economic and legal contents of the shadow economy, proposals for improving the procedure and mechanism of universal declaration as a tool for achieving the formality of economic activity of economic entities, recommendations for deepening research on trends in the development of the cash settlement market in the context of the impact on scaling down shadow economy.

The purpose of the study is to analyze current trends in the dynamics and structure of the investment activity of the population of Kazakhstan and develop recommendations for increasing the level of individual investment in order to improve the welfare of the population while increasing investment in the national economic system.
The research methodology includes the use of such methods as statistical and quantitative analysis of the indicators; qualitative analysis of previous research; surveys to reveal investment opportunities and preferences of the population and graphical methods for visualizing the results of the study.
Originality / value of the research. The relevance of the study lies in the systematization of data on motivation, investment tools, level and structure of the investment behavior of the population in the context of post-pandemic and global economic crisis factors. The conclusions obtained determine promising areas for increasing involvement of the population in the investment process and will contribute to further research in the fi eld of fi nancial literacy of the population, stimulating retail investment in the fi nancial and stock markets.
Findings. The study revealed a tendency to shift investment preferences of the population from deposits in second-tier banks to stock market instruments and low level of investment involvement of the population compared with the indicators of developed countries. The research studies investment products that appear promising for a massive attraction of household savings to the stock and fi nancial markets and suggests directions of state stimulation of the growth of investment activity of the population.

The purpose of the paper examines the problem of work-life balance, well-being, and intrinsic motivation of employees during economic turbulence.
Methodology. Adopting a quantitative approach, this investigation analyses the data obtained from employees of governmental and private local companies. This study reviewed Hasan et al. research on managing human resources, well-being, job satisfaction, and work-life balance.
Originality / value of the research. The vast majority of studies in HRM are around employee eff ectiveness. However, especially in economic instability alternative strategies such as well-being, work-life balance, and intrinsic motivation have to be investigated. Also, the Self-determination theory was chosen because it helps to understand the phenomenon by clarifying the research problem related to intrinsic motivation, social satisfaction, and psychological well-being in depth.
Findings. One of the fi ndings indicates that there was no association between demographic variables and work-life balance satisfaction. The outcome of the analysis implies that obtained data is normally distributed.
Nevertheless, there is lower response rate (33) could be deemed insuffi cient to ensure the data’s neutral skewness. Since the overwhelming number of respondents are female, the fi ndings of the study may be unrepresentative of the entire population. As a result, research will be carried out by gathering data.

The purpose of the present study is to outline and justify the role of internal governance in higher education institutions to provide an eff ective quality management.
The methodology: The study is carried out using the questionnaire designed solely to higher education sector based on key peculiarities and features of an academic fi eld.
The originality of the paper is that it discusses the fi ndings of the research about the role of eff ective internal governance for the eff ective quality management in higher education. Secondly, the current study is the fi rst attempt to study the role of internal governance as one of the most important pillars of quality management in higher education at the regional level.
The fi ndings of the study reveal that both administrative and academic staff of higher education institution (Kazakh national university) consider the importance of developing key procedures and processes in aligning to internal stakeholders’ needs. The obtained results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed dimensions of internal governance and open new insights into the concept of quality management from the perspectives of an institution’s internal environment.

The purpose of the article is to answer three main questions of the study: (1) What is the opinion of scientists on the response measures of universities to the challenges of the pandemic? (2) What measures that aff ected the higher education sector were taken by the authorized bodies in Kazakhstan during the pandemic? (3) What measures were taken by the universities of Kazakhstan during the pandemic to minimize the risks of the spread of the disease and ensure the quality of the services provided?
Methodology. Authors used the method of systematic literature review and content analysis of government regulations and academic policies of universities.
Originality / value of the research. The study contributes to understanding the responses of universities to crisis situations such as the pandemic based on a systematic review of the literature. The article also provides a detailed and chronological analysis of the measures taken by state bodies and universities in Kazakhstan to ensure the quality of education during a pandemic.
Findings. According to a review of the scientifi c literature, leadership qualities and building eff ective communication on the part of university leaders played a key role in successfully overcoming the crisis at the beginning of the pandemic. Also of particular importance was the promotion of a culture of trust and compassion. In Kazakhstan, the main role of the crisis manager was played by the Ministry of Education and Science, which timely initiated changes in the documents regulating the process of higher education. Some universities have also taken additional measures to minimize the risks from the pandemic and ensure the quality of education.

The purpose of the study is to give recommendations on strengthening the economic potential of rural territories and single-industry towns of the Mangystau region through the development of ecotourism, ethno-cultural, historical and cultural tourism.
Methodology. The purpose of this study was achieved using several methods, namely: the method of «anaiysis and synthesis» – the elements of the object of the study were studied and combined into a single system; the method of «hierarchical classifi cation» in the study of program and regulatory documents regulating the tourism sector; the method of «content anaiysis» in the research of literature and materials on the studied topic.
Originality / value of the research. The study of the tourism sector in increasing the economic potential of rural areas and single-industry sities in the Mangystau region.
Findings. The problems of the development of types of tourism in the development of rural areas and single – industry sities in the Mangystau region are considered, recommendations are given.

The purpose of the study is to defi ne the terms of «digitization», «digitalization», «digital strategy», «digital transformation» and «digital economy», as well as to analyze the state of the digital economy based on international indices.
Methodology – in the course of the study, methods of logical generalization, systematization and grouping of information, as well as critical analysis are used.
Originality / value of the study – the results of the study will help in adjusting the strategy of the Republic of Kazakhstan when creating a new program on the digitalization of Kazakhstan and identify priority areas, taking into account the advantages and weaknesses of the country.
Findings – the basic concepts of the digital economy are considered, digital transformation models and approaches are analyzed, the main indices of world ratings for assessing the digital economy of Kazakhstan and readiness for digital transformation are given, a SWOT-analysis of digital transformation in the Republic of Kazakhstan was performed.