Recent Developments In Alternative Finance

Since the global financial crisis began in 2008-2009, there has been a strong decline in financial markets and investment. Alternative finance presents challenges intended to stimulate investment and promote economic growth and development. This volume aims to provide the reader an understanding of alternative finance in its various forms.

Since the global financial crisis began in 2008-2009, there has been a strong decline in financial markets and investment. Alternative finance presents challenges intended to stimulate investment and promote economic growth and development. This volume aims to provide the reader an understanding of alternative finance in its various forms.

In recent years, there has been a swell of investment opportunities in contemporary asset classes that have gained considerable attention, including cryptocurrencies, hedge funds, and private equity. These alternative investments provide the opportunity to enhance the diversification of financial portfolios and harvest risk premiums that traditional assets like stocks and bonds fail to provide. The emergence of these new properties has created the need to further understand the mechanics, risks, and returns of alternative investments. Recent Advances and Applications in Alternative Investments is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the emergence and development of complementary asset classes in the field of finance and investment. While highlighting topics such as carbon emission markets, renewable energy, and digital currencies, this publication explores modern investment strategies as well as the latest products and new types of risk. This book is ideally designed for managers, strategists, accountants, financial professionals, economists, brokers, investors, business practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and academicians seeking current research on contemporary developments in investment strategies and alternative assets.

Promoting a comparative perspective, this comprehensive Research Handbook aids in the understanding of alternative finance and its values in a global setting. Readers are encouraged to view alternative finance through the lens of economic mechanisms rather than terminology. Providing a holistic review of alternative finance, this timely Research Handbook emphasizes the development dynamics between financial practices and industry, financial structures, economic considerations and technology development. Chapters examine each individual type of alternative finance and explain their network advantages, such as their responsiveness to cultural structures and business conditions, bringing to light how significant modern developments like technological advancements may lead to dramatic changes in financial systems. Ultimately, they expand on the great variation of alternative financial practices worldwide. Balancing theory, practice and policy considerations, this Research Handbook will be essential for academics and researchers pursuing the study of finance, banking, and international business. It will additionally be highly beneficial for policy makers involved in the development of financial systems and financial regulators.

This book examines the evolving dynamics between banks and firms within the context of alternative finance and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) integration. The book contributes to understanding the bank-firm relationship in light of the changing financial landscape and its implications for sustainable development. The book employs an empirical analysis to examine the bank-firm relationship in the context of alternative finance and ESG performance to assess firms’ riskiness, access to funds and cost of capital. The book addresses research gaps by comprehensively analysing the impact of alternative finance and ESG on the bank-firm relationship. It assists banks in adapting their financing practices and policies to align with emerging trends, and it offers insights for banks to evaluate and mitigate ESG-related risks effectively. It provides policy implications for promoting responsible lending, supporting the growth of alternative finance, and incentivising ESG integration in the financial sector. Ultimately, it contributes to formulating policies that foster a sustainable and inclusive financial system, and will be of interest to professionals and researchers in finance, alternative finance, and sustainable finance.

This handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of the fast-evolving alternative finance space and makes a timely and in-depth contribution to the literature in this area. Bringing together expert contributions in the field from both practitioners and academics, in one of the most dynamic parts of the financial sector, it provides a solid reference for this exciting discipline. Divided into six parts, Section 1 presents a high-level overview of the technologically-enabled finance space. It also offers a historical perspective on technological finance models and outlines different business models. Section 2 analyses digital currencies including guides to bitcoins, other cryptocurrencies, and blockchains. Section 3 addresses alternative payment systems such as digital money and asset tokenization. Section 4 deals with crowdfunding models from both a theoretical perspective and from a regulatory perspective. Section 5 discusses data-driven business models and includes a discussion of neural networks and deep learning. Finally, Section 6 discusses welfare implications of the technological finance revolution. This collection highlights the most current developments to date and the state-of-the-art in alternative finance, while also indicating areas of further potential. Acting as a roadmap for future research in this innovative and promising area of finance, this handbook is a solid reference work for academics and students whilst also appealing to industry practitioners, businesses and policy-makers.

This new book by two leading economists is a far-reaching analysis of the role and organization of the financial system in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The authors argue that the financial markets, as currently organized, hinder genuine market transactions and therefore harm the economy, along with any chance of sustained recovery. Despite the crisis, the power of the financial markets has continued to grow. Far from being subjected to major restructuring or regulation, they continue to rule largely unchecked - laying down economic policies, deposing governments, disrupting social contracts and reshaping international alliances. The time has come to think through more radical proposals for reform - to save other markets from the overwhelming power of the one market that has come to dominate them all, the financial market. Through a detailed examination of specific measures - from policies aimed at reigning in financial markets to the idea of local currencies that could be used to foster economic development within localities and regions - the authors develop a set of proposals that would help to revitalize markets, free them from the domineering power of finance and re-establish the relationship between creditor and debtor that was severed by the rise of the modern financial system. Building on their very successful work The End of Finance, this new and timely book will appeal to students of economics, politics and sociology as well as to general readers interested in one of the key issues of our time.

This insightful book examines the impact of two competing visions of Asian-Pacific economic growth paths and development governance. It discusses law, development and finance in the context of the Indo-Pacific Strategy versus the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), whilst also comparing parallel development financing systems.