Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies

1. Background of the Special Issue

Since the end of the great crisis from 2007 to 2010, the financial services industry has undergone rapid innovations due to technological developments including advancements in Big Data, cloud computing, and other forms of IT (Lucey et al. 2018; Li et al. 2020). This contributed to a new financial model appearing, which was the digital finance. We can see that nowadays digital finance is challenging the status quo of a long-established a traditional industry (Ketterer and Juan A., 2017), which brings not only the opportunities for development but also the challenges.

With the perspective of opportunities, Digital finance can be used to achieve financial inclusion (Yue et al., 2022; Lu et al., 2021), improving financial efficiency (Wang et al., 2020), supporting innovation and entrepreneurship (Li et al., 2022; Estrin, 2022), developing a green economy (Wu and Huang, 2022; Li et al, 2022), optimizing the economic structure and other aspects to promote the high-quality development of a country's economy (Liu et al, 2021; Chen and Zhang,2021; Feng and Zhang,2021)。

Digital finance improves the liquidity efficiency of the financial market, expands the industry boundary of the financial market, and enhances the value connotation of the financial market (Chen, 2016; Lin and Ma,2022; Soto-Acosta,2020; Chen and Zhang, 2021). It can help banks and other financial institutions broaden customer acquisition channels and carry out precision marketing, while these financial institutions also can use fintech to improve risk management (Mishchenko et al., 2021).

Digital finance decreases the degree of information asymmetry, increase trust between borrowers and savers, reduce borrowing costs, improve the availability of financial services, and narrow financing gaps (Yue, et al. 2022). For example, studies have shown that SMEs are easier to get financing through digital finance (Ketterer and Juan A., 2017). Meanwhile, access to digital finance can significantly increase market individual’s consumption and relaxing liquidity constraints (Song et al. 2020; Li et al. 2020; Wang, et al.,2022; Gomber et al, 2017). Thus, digital finance has brought more convenience, fashion and happiness to people's lives, and has become an indispensable part of people's lives (Gryglewicz et al., 2022; Keister and Sanches,2022; Andolfatto,2021).

However, there exists challenges for the digital finance. As a new type of financial format, new problems will inevitably arise in the process of its emergence and development. For example, the development of digital finance may have a negative impact on financial stability, especially when financial systemic risks occur, and cause many regulatory challenges (Ozili, 2018; Risman et al.,2021; Syed et al.,2021; Kammoun,2020; Singh, 2020), in addition to various financial risks such as the vulnerability of borrowers to debt trapping, and pseudoscience brought about by digital neutrality (Yue et al., 2022; Bollaert et al,2021; Zhao and Yan,2022; Arner et al,2019; Wang,2021)。

In this context, this conference aims to call on global scholars to jointly explore the opportunities and challenges of digital finance and try to help policymakers make better decision.

2. Purpose and Scope of the Special Issue

The goal of this special issue is to compile articles that advance theoretical and empirical research related to the development of digital finance and lay the groundwork for a future organized research agenda. We welcome quantitative and qualitative surveys, as well as hybrid approaches. We also consider conceptual or theoretical papers.

The topics of this SI include, but are not limited to:

• Regulation of Digital Finance
• Digital Finance and Sustainable Development
• Digital Finance and Economic Growth
• Digital Finance and Economic Environment
• Digital Finance and Corporate Governance
• The Impact of Digital Finance on Financial Markets
• Financial Risk Management in the Context of Digital Finance
• Digital Finance and Consumption Upgrading
• Inclusive Finance

Possible contributors include researchers and academics with expertise and interest in topics related to digital finance, economic growth, financial inclusion, financial regulation, financial markets, financial risk management, consumption upgrading, and more. and stakeholders interested in digital finance issues.

3. Readership and citation plan

Proposed topics include digital finance, financial inclusion, financial regulation, financial markets, financial risk management, and more. Each of these topics has a large readership, which adds to the fact that special issues receive more citations and readers. Given the timeliness of this special issue, we expect its readership to outgrow academia. For example, the mainstream business media has recently focused on digital finance and fintech enabling the development of the real economy, especially in light of the recent political developments in the Chinese government. In addition, financial institutions can also learn from advanced concepts in business development and risk management. Guest editors, all working in finance and economics, intend to spread the word before and after the completion of the special issue in order to expand their readership.

4. Conference

Scholars interested in developing and contributing to the special issue will be invited to attend international finance conference (IFC) at Nanchang University on August 25, 2023 and August 26, 2023. All papers presented at the conference will have a discussant assigned. Each presenter will have 30 minutes to present their paper including 10 mins allocated for the discussions and questions. All presenting authors (at least one author per paper) need to register and pay the registration fee of USD 150, which includes a hard copy of the conference programme booklet, conference proceedings, networking lunch/dinner and coffee break refreshments etc.

5. Publication opportunity

Through the invitation of Nanchang University, participants are encouraged to submit papers to the special issue of JCEBS with the theme on “Opportunities and Challenges in the Digital Finance Era”. All papers will go through the journal's double-blind review process following the journal’s review policy. Please note that presentations at the conference do not guarantee final publication. We hope that the feedback received at the conference will help authors improve the quality of their manuscripts.

Post-conference submission

Submissions are not limited to meeting participants. Academics can of course submit their work directly via a journal link. Please use ScholarOne manuscript system following the instructions for authors:https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=rcea20

When submitting your paper to ScholarOne, please select the title of the special issue " Opportunities and Challenges in the Digital Finance Era".

Submissions and important dates

1st June 2023 Submission Portal Open

1st July 2023 Deadline for full Paper Submission to conference

25-26th Aug 2023 Conference Date

31st Dec 2023 Deadline for full Paper Submission to SI

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article