Digital financial inclusion and investment diversification: Evidence from China

We examine the impact of digital financial inclusion on the diversification of individual stock investments in China using nationwide data from the Chinese Stock Market Individual Investor Survey and the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China. We show that digital financial inclusion significantly increases the diversification of individual stock investments, primarily by reducing investors' perceived transaction costs and mitigating investors' limited attention. It also plays a more significant role among investors with lower conventional financial development, lower financial literacy, below 45 years old, shorter investment experience and females. We recommend the continued promotion of digital financial inclusion to optimise asset allocation in Chinese households.     

The fintech gender gap

Can fintech close the gender gap in access to financial services? Using novel survey data for 28 countries, this paper finds a large and ubiquitous ‘fintech gender gap’: while 29% of men use fintech products, only 21% of women do. This difference exceeds the gender gap in bank account ownership at traditional financial institutions. While country characteristics and individual-level controls explain about a third of the fintech gender gap, the residual gap declines by 60% when accounting for gender differences in the willingness to use new financial technology, the suitability of fintech products, and the willingness to use fintech entrants if they offer cheaper products. The paper concludes by discussing drivers of differences in attitudes and implications for policy to foster financial inclusion with new technology.     

Financial inclusion,financial inclusion policy and Islamic finance

Using a qualitative analysis, the paper examines the links between financial inclusion and the Islamic financial services industry in Muslim countries. The findings show that, despite growth in the financial sector in many Muslim countries over the past few decades, many individuals and firms are still financially excluded. An analysis of the use of and access to financial services by adults and firms also shows that most Muslim countries lag behind other emerging economies in both respects, with a rate of financial inclusion of only 27%. Cost, distance, documentation, trust, and religious requirements are among the important obstacles. In addition, not surprisingly, the extent of Islamic microfinance is very limited, small by international standards; it accounts for a small proportion of microfinance, about 0.5% of global microfinance, and lacks a cost-efficient service model. This study suggests that Islamic instruments for redistributing income such as awqaf, qard-al-hassan, sadaqa, and zakah, can play a role in bringing more than 40 million people, who are financially excluded for religious reasons, into the formal financial system. The Islamic financial services industry has a long way to go in improving financial inclusion in many Muslim countries due to the scale needed and its relatively weak infrastructure.     

Digital currencies in financial networks

We introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the network of financial accounts. Simulating a shift of deposits by both households and non-financial corporations from the banking sector to the central bank, we model the different responses of the affected institutional sectors. We find that the introduction of CBDC generates funding shortages in banks, which may propagate to other sectors. In addition, significant adjustments in the balance sheets of all sectors trigger large moves in securities prices and induce changes in the financial network structure. Finally, we extend the analysis to the introduction of a crypto financial asset (stablecoin) issued by either a domestic or a foreign entity.     

An analysis of the literature on systemic financial risk: A survey

This article presents an analysis of the literature on systemic financial risk. To that end, we analyze and classify 266 articles that were published no later than September 2016 in the databases Scopus and Web of Knowledge; these articles were identified using the keywords “systemic risk”, “financial stability”, “financial”, “measure”, “indicator”, and “index”. They were evaluated based on 10 categories, namely, type of study, type of approach, object of study, method, spatial scope, temporal scope, context, focus, type of data used, and results. The analysis and classification of this literature made it possible to identify the remaining gaps in the literature on systemic risk; this contributes to a future research agenda on the topic. Moreover, the most influential articles in this field of research and the articles that compose the mainstream research on systemic financial risk were identified.     

Determinants and consequences of financial distress: review of the empirical literature

We synthesise the empirical literature on the determinants and consequences of financial distress, critique the findings and offer suggestions for future research. We categorise these indicators into (i) firm-level fundamental determinants, (ii) macroeconomic determinants and (iii) firm-level corporate governance determinants. We categorise the consequences into (i) financial reporting and auditing consequences, (ii) firm-level operational consequences, (iii) capital market consequences and (iv) corporate governance consequences. We suggest that future research can make a more meaningful contribution, by developing more comprehensive models of predicting financial distress which will entail a departure from the current partial analysis to a more holistic complex analysis.     

A literature survey of financial reporting in private firms

This paper provides a survey of the empirical literature on financial reporting in private firms. Although private firms play a dominant role in country-level economic development, research on their financial reporting is limited. The survey reveals that there remains uncertainty as to the purpose of financial reporting in private firms which is also reflected in the current body of the empirical literature. The survey provides implications for regulators with respect to regulating the financial reporting of private firms. The survey also identifies some limitations of existing research and offers potential avenues for future research.     

Role of banks in financial inclusion in India

Financial inclusion is emerging as a new paradigm of economic growth that plays major role in driving away the poverty from the country. It refers to delivery of banking services to masses including privileged and disadvantaged people at an affordable terms and conditions. Financial inclusion is important priority of the country in terms of economic growth and advanceness of society. It enables to reduce the gap between rich and poor population. In the current scenario financial institutions are the robust pillars of progress, economic growth and development of the economy. The present study aims to examine the impact of financial inclusion on growth of the economy over a period of seven years. Secondary data is used which has been analyzed by multiple regression model as a main statistical tool. Results of the study found positive and significant impact of number of bank branch and Credit deposit ratio on GDP of the country, whereas an insignificant impact has been observed in case of ATMs growth on Indian GDP.     

Decomposing the effects of financial liberalization: Crises vs. growth

We present a new empirical decomposition of the effects of financial liberalization on economic growth and on the incidence of crises. Our empirical estimates show that the direct effect of financial liberalization on growth by far outweighs the indirect effect via a higher propensity to crisis. We also discuss several models of financial liberalization and growth whose predictions are consistent with our empirical findings.     

The impact of the financial system’s structure on firms’ financial constraints

We estimate firms’ cash flow sensitivity of cash to empirically test how the financial system’s structure and level of development influence their financial constraints. For this purpose we merge Almeida et al.’s work, a path-breaking design for evaluating a firm’s financial constraints, with that of Levine, who paved the way for comparative analysis of financial systems around the world. We conjecture that a country’s financial system, both in terms of its structure and its level of development, should influence the cash flow sensitivity of cash of constrained firms but leave unconstrained firms unaffected. We test our hypothesis with a large international sample of 30,000 firm-years from 1989 to 2006. Our findings reveal that both the structure of the financial system and its level of development matter. Bank-based financial systems provide constrained firms with easier access to external financing.     

Developments in accounting regulation: A synthesis and annotated bibliography of evidence and commentary in the 2016 academic literature

In this paper key regulation-related findings and commentaries in the 2016 academic literature are synthesized in annotated form. This paper is one in a series of previously published annotated bibliographies published in this journal. Papers published in academic outlets including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, The Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, The Journal of Financial Reporting, Auditing A Journal of Practice and Theory, and Research in Accounting Regulation were reviewed for potential inclusion. The 2016 literature featured strong regulation-related threads as follows: financial accounting regulation, analysis of individual pronouncements, SEC regulatory activity and its impact, international financial reporting standards, income tax reporting, and auditing.     

区域协调发展的金融地理学探析与现实应用

目前国内不同学者对金融协调界定的内涵外延等存在交叉和冲突,导致其诸多层面尚未达成共识,理论体系比较杂乱。此外,金融协调的中观视角研究还很薄弱。通过金融协调理论溯源、内涵、外延、分歧及共识探析,对金融协调理论进行梳理,框定区域协调发展的金融地理学分析的研究主体与内容,同时凸显其实际应用价值,为进一步的研究提供了方向和借鉴。     

Has financial market integration increased during the nineties?

This paper analyses whether there has been an increase in the degree of financial market integration during the nineties. To do this, we focus on stock markets and compute two alternative measures of market integration based on a refinement of the approach suggested by Chen, Z., Knez, P.J., 1995. [Measurement of market integration and arbitrage, Review of Financial Studies 8(2), 287–325]. The main advantage of this approach is that it relies on the condition of absence of arbitrage opportunities, which is directly related to the idea that more integration means less barriers to trade across markets — and does not depend on any particular asset pricing model. The evidence found suggests that during the nineties there has been an increase of the degree of market integration between stock markets.     

Microfinance institutions,financial intermediation and the role of deposits

Microfinance institutions (MFIs), widely regarded as bankers to the poor, have extended their financial functions beyond lending to managing deposits. We empirically examine the influence of MFI deposit-taking on MFI financial performance. Using data of 1,301 MFIs worldwide, we find that an MFI's deposit level is an important determinant of its financial viability. However, the relationship is influenced by MFIs’ institutional type (for-profit or nonprofit) and the legal environment (common law or civil law). The results suggest that the positive financial impact of deposits has not been fully realised, reflecting the need to further improve cost management and revenue generation.     

Economic growth and the stability and efficiency of the financial sector

It has been claimed that the ability of emerging markets to adopt optimal stabilization policies is hampered by a number of factors. Among them, it has been recently emphasized the role of financial instability, inefficiencies, and financial market imperfections. It is claimed here that the current financial regulatory paradigm, embodied in Basel II, may improve financial stability but reinforces cyclicality. Therefore, countries should emphasize financial efficiency since it would lead to enhanced financial stability, without increasing cyclicality.     

我国现阶段跨市场金融风险的传递载体刍议

我国正经历从分业经营向综合经营转变的重要时期,伴随产生的跨市场金融风险因其复杂性与危害性而亟待研究。本文对跨市场金融风险界定后,将现阶段我国跨市场金融风险的传递载体分为三类:交叉性金融产品、全国公开性金融市场、金融控股公司。剖析了跨市场金融风险在不同载体中的传递方式与风险特点,并基于前文分析建议构建我国的"伞式综合监管 功能监管"模式,以有效防范跨市场金融风险。     

推进"长三角"金融协调发展与建设上海国际金融中心的有效互动

建设上海国际金融中心是一项国家战略,而推动"长三角"地区协调发展则是国家区域发展总体战略的重要组成部分。同样是作为重要的国家经济金融发展战略,如何把二者有机地结合起来,形成"长三角"经济金融协调发展和上海国际金融中心建设良性互动的局面,是本文重点研究和思考的问题。作者从"长三角"金融协调发展现状、"长三角"地区协调发展与上海国际金融中心建设作为两项国家战略的结合、"长三角"金融协调发展与上海国际金融中心建设有效互动的重要意义、推进"长三角"金融协调发展的重要突破口等方面做了深入阐述。     

Individual financial risk tolerance and the global financial crisis

We investigate individual investors’ tolerance towards financial risk by focusing on changes associated with the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009. Financial risk tolerance (FRT) is analysed longitudinally controlling for demographic, socio‐economic and regional variations. In absolute terms, the change in FRT is small and contrasts with a popular view that risk tolerance is an elastic psychological state overly influenced by the pervading market conditions. Even in the presence of significant financial events, FRT tends to be a reasonably stable attribute in the shorter term but possibly influenced and reshaped by events more gradually over time.     

中国农村普惠金融发展的差异分析——以中部六省为例

在对普惠金融发展指数测量方法改良的基础上,对中部六省2005~2013年的普惠金融发展水平进行测度。研究发现,2005~2013年的近十年间,中部六省的农村普惠金融发展水平都有所提高,且各省普惠金融发展指数都没有出现0值的情况。从总体上来看,2005~2013年,湖南的农村普惠金融发展水平处于中部六省当中的最高水平,其次是山西、湖北、安徽、江西、河南,但河南在中部六省的普惠金融发展水平增长速度最快。从分析中部六省农村普惠金融发展水平差异的原因看：农村人均收入、农村金融机构服务数量、农村金融基础设施、普惠金融政策、当地信用环境等是造成六省普惠金融发展水平差异的重要原因。