Importance The study analyzes the existing approaches to defining the essence and evaluating the efficiency of insurance as a system and a socio-economic mechanism. It is important to evaluate the efficiency of insurance for an individual insurance company and from the standpoint of the insurance industry significance for the overall country's economy and a specific region. Objectives The aim is to review methods and trends in the evaluation of insurance efficiency offered by modern scientists, and to develop a well-structured scheme of the evaluation, which will consider a set of methods and approaches applicable to the insurance practice. Methods The study draws upon certain methods of scientific research, including comparison and analogy, economic analysis, method of scientific abstraction (induction, deduction), statistical methods, and the systems approach. Results The paper reviews classical and modern theories of insurance efficiency, identifies their strengths and weaknesses, and presents a scheme of evaluating the efficiency of insurance, which separates microeconomic and macroeconomic approaches. The functional aspect of insurance evaluation is significant; however, the industry-specific and market-based approaches should be taken into account. The paper addresses these areas in detail, and substantiates the expediency of their further development. Conclusions The paper provides a thorough investigationof insurance evaluation from the perspective of its efficiency. This is important for an individual insurance company to monitor its performance, and for further development of regional insurance markets.
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