| Technological development has resulted in a digital and information rcevolution,and has brought unprecedcented changes to variorus industries,including financial services.The intersection and integration of finance and technology,or,to put it another way,financial technology,is what the current buzzword "FinTech" means.FinTech describes a business field that aims to maximize profits by lowering the costs and increasing the efficiency of financial services through the use of software and modern technology.Therefore,FinTech is considered a force for creative destruction that renews and further promotes financial services,as well as opening up new opportunities for countries to develop and grow in the 21st century.Since the current global economy is experiencing weak development and lacks stimulus,it is of great significance to research on FinTech,which can provide vitality to a countries' lagging financial sectors.As FinTech becomes increasingly important and attracts more attention,research into this new industry is also on the rise.However,current research is mostly focused on theoretical explanations,analysis,and forecasts for future profitability,but there is a lack of empirical studies.In addition,current research has concentrated more on how technology promotes finance,instead of their mutually dynamic relationship.This thesis,in contrast,aims to deconstruct the current term "FinTech" into its separate components,in order to conduct an empirical study of the endogenous relationship between "Fin" and "Tech."This thesis will use the term "financial services" to represent the "Fin" part of "FinTech," which covers banking,securities,insurance,trusts,and funds;the term."ICT" will be used to represent the "Tech" part of "FinTech," ICT refers to Information,Communications,and Technology,which is a combination of IT(information technology)and CT(communications technology).In chapter of the thesis that will present the empirical testing,we adopt the two-stage least squares(2SLS)method and build a simultaneous equations model to analyze the endogenous relationship between financial services and ICT;that is,to figure out if there is a two-way mutual influence between these two variables or just a one-way directional influence.Data from 36 countries will be used,ranging from the year 2001 to 2011.A pooled OLS regression will be run first,and then a fixed-effect regression will be run by inserting dummy variables.Because the significance of the two results are the same,but the fixed-effect result incorporates factors that do not vary with time and thus is more accurate,the result of fixed-effect regressions will be used for further analysis.The empirical result will show that the development of ICT can significantly promote the development of financial services,and this result is consistent with the available theoretical.However,financial services have no significance for explaining the efficiency of ICT,which means there is no evidence that the development of financial services can influence the development of ICT.As a matter of course,technological development requires financial supports such as funding and financing,but for an area like ICT,human capital has much greater importance than financial services.Based on the above-mentioned result,this thesis provides policy recommendations.At the corporate level,traditional financial institutions need a fundamental shift in identity and purpose to adapt to the new financial services business models that have arisen through the arrival of ICT by making use of their existing advantages.At the national level,governments need to combine policies for supports and regulations,and find a balance between the two strategies.In the digital age,the downsides of FinTech cannot be ignored.In addition,human capital should be laid much emphasis on if a country aims at developing ICT industry.However,there are some limits to this thesis' contribution in terms of data and modeling,and suggestions will be made for further improvements and additional studies. |
PDF Full Text Request