The article examines the problem of the ICO (Initial Coin Offering, from English — “initial offer of coins, initial placement of coins”). The information source is the ICO rating data of the return on investment in blockchain startups. The methodological base of the research is a situational comparative analysis of the ICO, DAOICO, IEO and STO and systematization of information. The author analyzes three new ICO models. The first one includes elements of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO). Its aim is to minimize the difficulties and risks associated with the ICO. The second model (Initial Exchange Offering (IEO), from English — “primary exchange offer”) is designed to minimize risks, liquidity problems and a delay in listing tokens at the end of the token sale. The third model — the Security Token Offering (STO, from English — “offer of security token”) — was designed to support real assets and comply with the SEC requirements. These models are a new direction for small and medium enterprises and investors. The absence of any scientific work emphasizes the relevance and scientific novelty of the study. The article is a follow-up of the empirical work related to the success of the ICO, as well as the basis for its revision using the case study results.

The article analyzes the main reasons for the slow adoption of blockchain technology, in particular, in the financial sector. The authors critically analyzed the main declared properties of blockchain technologies: trust, security, decentralization, immutable data storage, lack of intermediaries, hardware protection against attacks, and openness. The aim of the study are to show that these blockchain properties are overestimated, the expectations of its adoption are inflated, and the delays in its adaptation outside of cryptocurrencies, in particular, in the financial sector, are natural. The article is based on a methodology for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of scientific publications and statistical sources on the blockchain adaptation from the perspective of the theory of diffusion of innovations, the conditions and the specifics of economic and sociological approaches for consensus-building. The study resulted in the following new systemic findings. Blockchain and distributed ledgers are not fundamentally new technologies. In general, they do not have the properties of the immutable data storage, trust, anonymity, low transaction and adoption costs. All current consensus technologies have fundamental faults. Cryptocurrency technology is original, but it was a private experimental solution to a specific ideological problem of the libertarian political agenda. Consensus does not provide trust. Delayed blockchain adoption, in particular in traditional financial institutions, is natural, since the technology does not show better results than current digital solutions, and traditional economic institutions have greater public trust. The practical implications of the findings are that they may be used by investors.

The aim of the article is to systematize the views on the concept of cryptocurrency from the literature and among international and national organizations and regulators, to analyze its economic essence and the place in the modern monetary and financial system. The definition and the functions of cryptocurrency are discussed in the framework of descriptive and theoretical analysis. The paper systematized the existing approaches to the concept analysis of cryptocurrency; the place of cryptocurrency in modern economic theory is shown.The article concludes that cryptocurrencies are often determined through the set of basic characteristics. Cryptocurrencies are not money, though they can perform the main function of money — to be a means of payment; they can be a means of making settlements, assets, platforms for concluding smart contracts, a means for crowdfunding. They are not private money in Hayek’s interpretation. Cryptocurrencies can be described in the framework of the models of new monetarism (payment economics).

Modern economic relations are developing under the influence of digital property that creates conditions for unprecedented socialization of production and new realities in the relations of appropriation and alienation. This requires both theoretical interpretation and practical research. The aim of the article is to identify current trends in the development of digital property and the new economic relations that it forms in the world, to systematize the conditions for digital property in Russia. The authors used the findings of institutional and evolutionary economic theories, political economy, as well as the principles and methods of SWOT-analysis in order to systematize the issue. The paradigm of the development of Russia should be changed from consumption to production of innovative products and technologies of the digital economy. The paper presents the essential characteristics of digital property and a model of the influence of the digital economy and global integration on modern economic relations. Potential opportunities for the economic development in the system of new economic relations were identified due to the SWOT-analysis of the conditions for the development of digital property in Russia. At the same time, endogenous institutional and target restrictions on the development of the digital economy in Russia (as weaknesses), as well as exogenous restrictions in the form of threats were specified. The authors found the strategic modeling of systems engineering education as a long-term basis for the development of the digital economy necessary. The research results can be used in developing national programs.

Increasing investment activity is a key problem for Russia. Despite many state’s efforts, investment activity is low. The aim of the article is to propose an innovation management method based on a systems approach. The main objective of the research is to find an effective approach to optimizing state efforts to enhance financial management of innovative activity. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the enterprise closed innovation system. Economic and mathematical methods are used to represent the management function as an operator equation of the first kind. This allows to create a control algorithm to maximize the effectiveness. The methods of computational diagnostics and tomographic economics are used for the element-by-element analysis of the subsystems of the innovation system. The information base for the study was publications concerning the theory of management and business management. The possibility of applying computational diagnostic methods to optimize the financial management of innovation activity was proved by separating the controlling and controlled subsystems of the enterprise innovation system and observing all laws of production. A form of control functional was obtained on the sets of observable characteristics of the controlling and controlled subsystems while optimizing the results of innovative activity due to the feedback channel. The results of the study may be of practical interest for innovative projects in order to transfer the enterprise to innovative development, in particular, in relation to the restructuring of organizational structures and institutional support in the digital economy format.

The study analyzes the impact of domestic Russian mergers and acquisitions on the cost of debt for companies involved in deals. The author systematized the existing findings in this area in developed and emerging markets. The methodology developed by the author for analyzing the impact of mergers and acquisitions on the cost of debt considers the specifics of the Russian market and can be used in conditions of limited information about nonpublic companies. The estimation of the cost of debt is based on synthetic credit ratings of the companies involved in the deal and the corresponding yield spreads between corporate and government bonds. The methodology was tested on a sample of 73 domestic deals completed in 2014–2016. Random effects model with robust standard errors was used to test the significance of factors affecting the cost of debt. This research makes several practical contributions. First, in the studied sample, deals lead to an increase of the cost of debt by 3,1% within a year after the deal. Second, significant factors affecting the change in the cost of debt after domestic Russian mergers and acquisitions were identified. The cost of debt is reduced by the purchase of large companies during the period of economic growth. There is a significant impact of the deal value on the increase of the cost of debt. Company management, academic researchers and experts can use research results to assess potential deals of mergers and acquisitions on emerging markets. The developed methodology can be applied to mergers and acquisitions in other countries to analyze the features of these markets.

This work is a new direction in the authors’ previous study on applying the market multipliers in assessing the value of oil and gas companies. The work is based on the findings of statistical studies of multipliers calculated for the industry, as well as their volatility over a 12-year period — from 2006 to 2017 inclusively, as exemplified by 46 companies from nine sectors of the economy of the Russian Federation. The analysis of the risk measures Value-at-Risk (hereinafter VaR) and Expected Shortfall (hereinafter ES) was conducted by means of volatility calculated in different ways. In particular, the multiplier volatility was introduced by V. B. Minasyan. It was established that for all nine sectors of the Russian economy, calculated with conventional stock volatility statistics (when possible), risk valuation measures VaR and ES led to lower calculated risk values compared to those calculated using multiplier volatility. The results of the study are of interest to evaluators, investors and other interested parties, as it allows to analyze the general behavior of the stock value in Russian companies and to compare the change in indicators of various economic sectors in terms of multiplier technology.

The article presents the analysis findings of the problems and prospects of using the fractal markets theory to mathematically predict the price dynamics of assets as part of a financial risk management strategy. The aim of the article is to find out the features of value of bank assets and to develop recommendations for assessing financial risks based on mathematical methods for forecasting economic processes. Theoretical and empirical research methods were used to achieve the aim. The article reveals the features of mathematical modeling of economic processes related to asset pricing in a volatile market. It was proved that using financial mathematics in banking contributes to the stable development of the economy. Mathematical modeling of the price dynamics of financial assets is based on a substantive hypothesis and supported by an adequate apparatus of fractal pair pricing models in order to reveal specific market relations of business entities. According to the authors, the prospects of using forecast models to minimize the financial risks of derivative financial instruments are positive. The authors concluded that the considered methods contribute to managing financial risks and improving forecasts, including operations with derivatives. Besides, the studied fractal volatility parameters proved the predictive power regarding extreme events in financial markets, such as the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers investment bank in 2008. The relevance of the article is due to the fact that the favorable investment climate and the use of modern financing methods largely depend on the effective financial risk management.

The study was motivated by the increasingly widespread phenomenon of narcissism of CEOs in various companies throughout the world, including Indonesia.he purpose of this study was to determine the impact of narcissism of the Chief Executive Officer on the profit quality of the company.The study was conducted on the purposive sampling of 20 state-owned companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2015 to 2018. The impact of narcissism of the CEO on the profit quality and the financial performance of the company was assessed.The author provided the mathematical justification of some provisions of the issue. The Modified Jones Model was used to evaluatethe company’s financial management. The data were analyzed by means of Multiple Liner Regression.The study showed that the narcissism of the CEO negatively affects the financial results of the company and leads to lower profits. This is consistent with the Upper Enchelons Theory, which states that the organization is a reflection of the values of its leader.

Contents of the journal for 2019.