Sustainability of cryptocurrency in blockchain technology for business development in African Countries

The aim of the paper is to analyze the sustainability of cryptocurrency in blockchain technology in African countries for securing financial business transactions. Following the subprime crisis that shook the world economy, a new perception of money has emerged. It is a fully digital currency whose transactions are made through a distributed network. This algorithm-encrypted currency, reputed to be tamper-proof, transparent and inclusive, relies on a distributed network called the Blockchain. By comparison with traditional registers in which operations are paginated and successively recorded, transactions in blockchain technology are aggregated within the chain of blocks. It is decentralized since it is replicated on several geographic sites around the world. It enables peer-to-peer transactions, automated in real-time, reliable, secure, without intermediaries and non-repudiable. To ensure maximum security during financial transactions, blockchain miners use cryptography. This distributed system is, therefore, a major technological innovation capable of securing the financial infrastructure and mitigating failures by reducing operational risks. According to our analysis based on the Merkle tree model and blockchain energy consumption, the sustainability of cryptocurrency is a major issue for developing countries. Especially in Africa, its practicality poses a number of constraints.

Opportunities for interdisciplinary studies of the economic behavior fundamentals

The purpose of the study is to identify trends in the economic behavior of the population in the field of consumer, saving, investment, and credit activity. The analysis of human economic actions only for solving scientific problems is divided into the listed types, but in practice, an individual makes a particular decision (chooses a certain strategy) under the impact of simultaneously influencing groups of factors that depend on gender and age, place and living conditions, social affiliation-income group, level of education, psychological and value attitudes, level of development of the financial infrastructure in a certain territory, stage of economic development of a country and / or region. And now another significant factor has been added — the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences. The article presents the results of the first stage of the interdisciplinary research project "Socio-psychological factors of economic behavior of the population: risks and opportunities (cross-country comparisons)" carried out by the authors. On the basis of the data obtained with the help of the sociological tools developed by the authors, the types of economic behavior are investigated in terms of four psychosocial aspects closely related to the features of mentality: trust, risk, stress, responsibility. An interdisciplinary approach to the study of the motives and strategies of economic behavior provides identification of the most realistic picture of all current risks and opportunities for population in the financial and consumer services market. At the second stage, the data obtained by the authors from the results of the survey of the Russian population, will be compared on the basis of a comparative analysis with the outcomes of the forthcoming surveys of respondents from Poland, Belarus, Lithuania and Slovakia.

Rethinking Digital Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Bangladesh

A growing body of literature is advancing the impact of financial inclusion and digital finance on marginalized populations. However, mainstream scholarship has not focused on understanding the potential drivers and challenges of digital approaches to financial inclusion. This study aims to investigate the mismatch between assumptions implicit in the financial inclusion discourse and ideas of access and use of digital technologies and seeks to move the discourse forward through a comprehensive framework for digital financial inclusion. Our study showed that the social dynamics of financial engagement with new technologies require a move beyond a simple individualistic adopter/non-adopter binary framework and ‘supply oriented’ financial infrastructure. We conclude that although digital services have eased and bridged the gap of physical access to financial services, such services have not been utilised due to lack of basic connectivity, financial literacy and social awareness. This article theoretically contributes to digital financial services adoption literature by offering a significant critical overview and a new perspective on both digital finance and financial inclusion mechanisms.

Military and Political Influence on the Portfolio of Global Reserve Currencies

This paper analyses a new concept presented in the works of B. Eichengreen, A.J. Mehl, L. Chitu “Mars or Mercury? The Geopolitics of International Currency Choice”, according to which the state’s possession of nuclear weapons is linked to its possession of reserve currency. The paper aims to provide a detailed assessment of how gaining reserve currency status depends on the military and political potential of the state issuer. The research method is an analysis of the historical material and the current state of the issue under discussion. The study shows the relationship between the global military and political leadership and control over the global financial infrastructure, which increases its importance as a space for interstate conflicts. It has been proven that neither the presence of military power nor the ability and willingness to provide partners with security guarantees do not predetermine the acquisition of the reserve status by the national currency. This status is acquired as a result of control over global investment processes, in the implementation of which military power plays a significant, but not exclusive role. This power, as the potential for economic and financial dominance, is a derivative of the scale and level of development of the national economy, with a key factor in its deep involvement in international trade. From the point of view of practical forecasting of economic, military and political development, the authors conclude that in the foreseeable future, despite the strengthening of its military potential, the PRC will not be able and, most likely, will not try to obtain the status of the yuan as a reserve currency. The United States, in turn, will increasingly use its dominance in the capital market and control over the global financial infrastructure as a tool to maintain global leadership. Further study of the considered issues will significantly increase the efficiency of forecasting economic processes in relation to the military and political situation.

Democratizing finance with Robinhood: Financial infrastructure, interface design and platform capitalism

It is widely claimed that financial technology democratizes financial access and promotes financial inclusion. This paper challenges this dominant narrative of financial technology using the popular US-based mobile investing platform Robinhood as a case study. Analyzing press articles on Robinhood and regulatory filings of online brokerages, the concepts of financial infrastructures and platforms are used to unpack the capitalist logics that drive the platform business model. Specifically, this paper shows how digital interface design plays a central role in Robinhood's articulation of investors into the stock markets, through its simple, minimalist app that keeps users engaged by the productive management of ‘frictions’. The ease of investing via platform-based brokerages has seen investors taking on greater amounts of risk. This paper argues that Robinhood's success is driven by the continued expansion of its user base using various interface design techniques. This allows platform capitalism to be enacted by extracting rent through various revenue streams, where higher rents are derived from more frequent and riskier trading behaviors. The narrative of democratizing finance as employed widely in the financial technology sector thus obscures the capitalist logics and predatory practices that underlie financial technology.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA: A DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS

This study aims to identify the status of Saudi Arabia as a destination for FDI, the factors that attract FDI into Saudi Arabia, and the factors that hinder the flow of FDI into Saudi Arabia. The study covers a period of five years from 2015 to 2019. The study analysis various determinants of FDI: market size, infrastructure, technology adoption, innovation friendliness, productive and diversified labor force, financial infrastructure, taxation, political risk, corruption, and ease of doing business. The study finds that several factors like market size, well-developed infrastructure, a higher degree of technology adoption, innovation-friendliness, the banking system that is well-capitalized and liquid, low corporate taxes, political stability, low transfer risk, low expropriation risk, low levels of corruption, and a stable currency make Saudi Arabia an attractive destination for FDI. At the same time, the low labor market efficiency and the low ranking in ease of doing business makes it less attractive to FDI.

Municipal integrated coastal governance approach: complimentary disciplinary instruments and collaboration pre-conditions

Municipal coastal governance practice also in Latvia has various limitations, and taking into account growing climate change adaptation challenges, new understanding and new approaches are to be studied and tested. Overall study frame is based on research-and-development approach. The aim of the research was to study how municipal coastal governance is functioning in practice, particularly, in the relation to the coastal dune protection zones (150/300 m) and further coastal territory behind that, applying whole list of governance instrument groups – political/legal, planning, and especially institutional instruments, also financial, infrastructure and, last but not least, coastal communication instruments. This was done via research-and-governance frame of the three coastal governance dimensions – governance content, stakeholders (governance segments) and governance instruments, realized in Jurmala municipality as especially nature-culture rich and due to tourist attraction also sensitive coastal pilot territory at the Latvia coast. Case study research methodology applied (document studies, observation and stakeholder’s interviews) were approving pre-study understanding, based on previous coastal governance studies, that also this territory with international coastal resort status and well developed municipal administration capacities have limited success on integrated coastal management (ICM) approach implementation and, subsequently, there are requirements on further development of disciplinary instruments and also collaboration governance as ICM preconditions. An integrated ICM approach was internationally designed and approved also for EU coastal countries, since comprehensive requirement to manage the adequate governance of the coast as complex socio-ecological system, but old shaped long existing traditional disciplinary/branch approaches of former and formal municipal planning and management does not really permit necessary innovations with cross-sectorial and cross-level integration perspectives. However, also orientation towards re-use and/or re-development of disciplinary ICM instruments, especially, to be designed and realized as complementary as possible and collaboration governance developments shall be seen as necessary pre-conditions for ICM adequate development.