A lack of financial literacy can hamper the ability of individuals to make well-informed financial decisions. For people who exhibit problems with financial decision making, financial advice has the potential to serve as a substitute for financial knowledge and capability. However, data from the...

Since 1 June 2003 the file of the Central Office for Credits to Private Individuals has recorded information relating to all consumer credits and mortgage loans contracted by natural persons for private purposes, as well as any payment defaults resulting from these loans. This registration aims...

This paper studies the role of trust in incumbent lenders (banks) as an entry barrier to emerging FinTech lenders in the credit markets. The empirical setting exploits the outburst of the Wells Fargo scandal as a negative shock to the trust in banks. Using a difference-in-differences framework,...

Robot investment assistants (RIAs), equipped at various investment platforms, are designed to help individual investors with investment decisions by providing information and advices. Using account level data between 2020 and 2021 from the largest investment platform in China, we examine the...

The behavior of managers in initiating a derivatives market position brings to the surface an interesting phenomenon: sometimes managers initiate a position in derivatives markets (i.e., futures and options markets) and sometimes they do not, even though the price volatility of the underlying...

This paper looks at the lending methodology adopted by ASA International in Nigeria and how the model is suited for operations within the Nigerian microfinance sector. It begins by examining the critical success factors that contribute towards ASA having a lean operations, how it manages...

This paper explores the typical risks that microfinance institutions (MFIs) face in their operations and outlines some of the steps that ASA, one of the world largest NGO MFI, takes to mitigate them. This discussion is from a practitioner's perspective and is intended to provide examples of how...

In this study we examine how Specified Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) were used as a financing tool for companies in the shipping industry in period 2004-2011. We confirm that SPACs focused on acquisitions in the shipping industry have similar characteristics as the population of SPACs...

We examine the interaction between the legal protection of investors, corporate governance within firms, institutional development between countries, and investable premia in emerging markets. In a multi country setting and using a novel dataset we find that better-governed firms experience...