Conference: Financial Inclusion and Fintech

25 - 26 March 2019
SOAS University of London

Call for Papers (submission deadline: 28 February 2019)

We invite academics and practitioners working on “Financial Inclusion and Fintech” to submit their papers to our conference, which will take place on 25th and 26th March 2019 at SOAS University of London.

Financial inclusion has emerged as a major policy agenda in many developing and developed countries with the aim to increase access to formal financial services. In particular, households with lower incomes and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) experience financial exclusion. This results in underinvestment in human capital, health and capital stock, diminishing economic growth.

Financial technology (Fintech) promises to enhance financial inclusion offering technological solutions that reduce information asymmetry (e.g. rating systems), transaction costs, and the need for intermediation (e.g. peer-to-peer lending platforms). Will these innovations eliminate financial constraints? Is there a future without banks? Can new technologies promote sustainable investment?

The conference and special issue will discuss these and related questions encouraging empirical and theoretical contributions to the literature on these subjects.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Theoretical underpinning of financial inclusion and economic growth

  • Empirical evidence linking financial inclusion, fintech and economic growth

  • Fintech and green finance

  • Fintech and financial regulations

An extended abstract should be submitted by 28th February 2019.

Special Issue in The European Journal of Finance

The European Journal of Finance invites conference participants to submit their paper for consideration for a special issue with the theme “Financial Inclusion and Fintech”. Please note that if there is excess demand for the special issue then some papers could be considered for a regular issue of the European Journal of Finance instead. The guest editors for the special issue will be Professors Lihui Tian (Nankai University, China) and Gerhard Kling (SOAS, University of London, UK).

All papers will be double blind refereed in the usual way. Authors should submit their work to via the journal’s website:

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rejf

Authors are reminded that submitted papers must comply with the format specified in the notes for authors on the European Journal of Finance website:

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=rejf20

There is a submission fee of £125.00. Submitted articles should be consistent with the aims and scope of the journal. The opening date for the special issue is 6th May 2019. Please do not submit for the special issue before that date. The closing date for submissions is 10th June 2019.

Please contact Professor Gerhard Kling if you need further information about the special issue or the conference. Contact ejf@soas.ac.uk for general enquiries about The European Journal of Finance