MNU Center for Economic Research

Dr. Nygmetzhan Kuzenbayev holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Nazarbayev University. Currently serving as an Assistant Professor at Maqsut Narikbayev University, he also directs the university’s Center for Economic Research.  His research interests lie at the intersection of economics, psychology, and political science. His dissertation investigates the effectiveness of behavioral nudges in curbing corruption. Additionally, he conducts research on the political implications of traditional beliefs.

Nygmetzhan also has an M.A. in Economics from Nazarbayev University and a B.Eng. in Electrical Power and Energy from Heriot-Watt University. His academic journey is complemented by a robust publication record, with articles in journals such as World Affairs, Politics & Policy, and Social Sciences. He has presented his research at various international conferences, including those in Italy, Kyrgyzstan, the Czech Republic, and South Korea.

Dr. Saule Kemelbayeva is an accomplished economist with extensive academic and administrative experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Newcastle University, where her thesis focused on access and returns to education in Kazakhstan. She also earned a Candidate of Science in Economics degree and a Specialist degree in International Economics from Kazpotrebsoyuz Karaganda University of Economics.

Currently serving as the Dean of the International School of Economics at Maqsut Narikbayev University, Dr. Kemelbayeva is a key leader in shaping the institution’s strategic development. She oversees academic, research, and administrative activities, contributing to academic program development, faculty hiring, budgeting, and fostering partnerships with academic, industry, and community stakeholders.

Dr. Kemelbayeva’s primary research interests include the economics of education and labor economics. Her scholarly work explores topics such as educational inequality and gender wage gaps in Kazakhstan. She has published her research in renowned international journals, such as the International Journal of Educational Research, The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, and Education Economics.

As an educator, Dr. Kemelbayeva has taught a wide range of courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including statistics, econometrics, labor economics, and applied economics. Her commitment to advancing economic education and research is evident through her leadership, scholarly contributions, and dedication to fostering academic excellence in Kazakhstan and beyond.

Stanislav Yugay is a Teaching Professor at the International School of Economics at Maqsut Narikbayev University and a doctoral researcher at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Also, he is an external doctoral researcher at Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies, Germany.

His research focuses on macroeconomics and price formation in the wheat markets of the Black Sea region with implications for global food supply and global food security. His doctoral thesis investigates the effects of world oil prices, exchange rates, and weather extremes on domestic wheat prices in Russia. He has published his work in leading journals, including Agricultural Economics.

Dr. Elmira Mynbayeva is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Maqsut Narikbayev University, where she teaches the Principles of Finance course and supervises master’s students in finance. She holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Aberdeen, with her doctoral research introducing a novel clustering method, homogeneous subsets, to enhance portfolio optimization by mitigating noise in financial data. She also developed a bootstrap shrinkage estimator for means, significantly improving portfolio performance.

Dr. Mynbayeva’s current research focuses on deriving a new shrinkage target for means in multivariate settings, which minimizes quadratic risk and incorporates translation and scale invariance properties. Her research interests have evolved to include behavioral and personal finance, focusing on understanding financial decision-making and its implications. Additionally, she collaborates with a master’s student on applying machine learning techniques to predict stock index trends, bridging traditional finance methodologies with modern computational approaches.

Her academic contributions include impactful research published in esteemed journals, such as the European Journal of Operational Research. She has also served as an expert for JSC Science Fund under the programme-targeted financing project, contributing to the development of effective mechanisms for regulating the commercialization of applied R&D.

Dr. Mynbayeva is fluent in Kazakh, Russian, and English, fostering strong connections within academic and professional communities. Dr. Mynbayeva combines her research and teaching expertise to contribute meaningfully to the field of finance and to support the development of her students.

Dr. Daliya Kaskirbayeva is an Assistant Professor at the International School of Economics at Maqsut Narikbayev University and a former Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. With 15 years of experience in research, consultancy, and teaching, she is a recognized expert in health economics. Her work primarily focuses on health financing, addressing issues such as funding sources, allocation, service costing, informal healthcare markets, and equity analysis.

Dr. Kaskirbayeva’s recent research includes quasi-experimental evaluations of health financing policies in Kazakhstan, cost-effectiveness analysis within the ALPHA trial, and systematic reviews for the PROSPER and REPPARE projects. Her ongoing projects explore pandemic preparedness, healthcare efficiency in Kazakhstan using big data and real-time insights, and enhancing healthcare operations and planning.

She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Leeds, an MSc in Mathematics and Finance from Imperial College London, and a BSc in Applied Mathematics from Eurasian National University. Dr. Kaskirbayeva teaches courses such as Data Science in Economics, Data Visualization, Cross-Sectional and Panel Data Econometrics, and Research Methods in Applied Econometrics. She also welcomes inquiries from motivated students interested in postgraduate (PhD) research opportunities.

Her scholarly contributions include publications in prestigious journals such as Ageing Research Reviews and Perspectives in Public Health. Notable works also include her doctoral dissertation, “Impact of Provider Payment Reforms on Hospital Productivity in Kazakhstan”.

Dr. Binur Yermukanova is an accomplished economist specializing in theoretical and behavioral Industrial Organization (IO). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Nazarbayev University (summa cum laude) and an MSc and PhD in Economics from the University of Alicante, Spain.

Dr. Yermukanova’s research delves into firm theory within the context of tax-motivated vertical foreign direct investment (FDI) and examines how firms exploit consumer naivety, as well as how consumer sophistication and learning alter firms’ behavior in the context of add-on markets. Her notable publications include “Tax Motivated Vertical FDI and Transfer Pricing” in Economic Modelling and “Integral of Trigonometric Functions Revisited” in The Mathematics Enthusiast.

Her academic excellence has been recognized through several prestigious grants, such as the Prometeo grant from the University of Alicante for hiring pre-doctoral research staff (2023-2024), the ACIF grant by Comunidad Valenciana for hiring pre-doctoral research staff (2020-2023), and the BEFPI grant by Comunidad Valenciana for academic stays in research centers (Fall 2021). Additionally, she enhanced her research experience with an academic visit to the Toulouse School of Economics in France during Fall 2021.

Dr. Yermukanova contributes to the academic community by serving as a referee for journals including Annals of Tourism Research and Frontiers in Education. Her dedication to advancing the field of economics is evident through her rigorous research and active engagement in scholarly activities.

Timur Kogabayev is a Teaching Professor at Maqsut Narikbayev University, renowned for his research in management, business models, biomass utilization, business model innovations, and rural development. He also serves as a visiting lecturer at the University of Tartu’s School of Economics and Business Administration and Tallinn University of Technology’s School of Business and Governance, where he teaches courses such as “Environmental and Sustainable Development Economics”, “Innovation Management”, “The Basics of Innovation”. Additionally, he supervises BSc and MSc students at both Tartu University and Maqsut Narikbayev University.

He holds a Master of Science in Management and Business and is currently pursuing his PhD at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, whose faculty is ranked among the top 35 globally by QS and Times Higher Education rankings. His academic engagement extends to roles as a project assistant for Erasmus+ and INTERREG initiatives at the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

His scholarly contributions include publications on innovation classification, the impact of innovation on investment efficiency, and the development of agricultural cooperatives in Kazakhstan. With over 300 citations, his research highlights the importance of sustainable and innovative business practices in addressing global challenges. Through his academic endeavors, Timur Kogabayev continues to influence and advance the fields of management and sustainable development.