Promises and pitfalls of digital credit: Empirical evidence from Kenya.

Digital credit is a recent innovation that raises hopes of improving credit access in developing countries. However, up until now, empirical research on the extent to which digital credit actually reaches people who are otherwise excluded from conventional credit markets and whether increased credit access is sustainable or threatened by high default and blacklisting rates is very scarce. Using representative data from Kenya, this article shows that digital credit increases borrowing opportunities, including for people less likely to otherwise have credit access in the conventional credit markets. However, we find that digital credit borrowing is also responsible for 90% of all blacklistings, which is partially driven by higher default rates in the digital credit market but also by a higher probability that digital credit defaults lead to blacklisting of the borrower, compared to defaults in other credit markets.

How the banking system is creating a two-way inflation in an economy.

Here we argue that due to the difference between real GDP growth rate and nominal deposit rate, a demand pull inflation is induced into the economy. On the other hand, due to the difference between real GDP growth rate and nominal lending rate, a cost push inflation is created. We compare the performance of our model to the Fisherian one by using Toda and Yamamoto approach of testing Granger Causality in the context of non-stationary data. We then use ARDL Bounds Testing approach to cross-check the results obtained from T-Y approach.

Identification of risk factors of diabetes mellitus in bank employees of selected banks in Ndola town.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus, a lifelong disease is achieving pandemic proportions. The prevalence of diabetes is on the rise and is expected to be worlds 7th leading cause of death by 2030. Studies have associated a number of risk factors like obesity, lack of physical activity, sedentarism, diet, and stress to diabetes mellitus. The job of bank employees is both sedentary in nature and involves high levels of stress. These people spend almost all their working hours seated as they carry out their work. With this background, the primary objective study of this project is to identify risk factors of diabetes mellitus among bank employees of selected banks in Ndola town. This study also aims to find the prevalence of diabetes among bank employees in the selected nine banks. METHODS: A cross-section study was conducted on 121 bank employees from nine (9) selected banks of Ndola town center. Information about their biosocial characteristics, their weight, height, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose was measured and recorded and a questionnaire on physical activity of participants was administered. Data was analyzed by SPSS 20.0 for Windows. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis were conducted to ascertain any correlation between the dependent variables and independent variables. RESULTS: Prevalence of diabetes mellitus was found to be 15%. The risk of developing Diabetes mellitus was high in obese participants (OR 5.1 [cl95%] p = 0.000). And in physical inactive participants it was also high (OR 7.6 [cl95%] p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: and recommendations: Diabetes mellitus shows significant correlation with physical inactivity, body mass index, blood pressure, age and sex. Findings in this study support the need for programs to promote employee health, to help prevent and monitor the enormity and temporal trends of these factor as well as asses the actions that are directed toward this population group.

Strategies to avoid blacklisting: The case of statistics on money laundering.

Financial and legal entities (e.g. banks, casinos, notaries etc.) have to report money laundering suspicions. Countries' engagement in fighting money laundering is evaluated-among others-with statistics on how often these suspicions are reported. Lack of compliance can result in economically harmful blacklisting. Nevertheless, these blacklists repeatedly become empty-in what is known as the emptying blacklist paradox. We develop a principal-agent model with intermediate agents and show that non-harmonized statistics can lead to strategic reporting to avoid blacklisting, and explain the emptying blacklist paradox. We recommend the harmonization of the standards to report suspicion of money laundering.

Microfinance Participation, Control Over Resources, and Justification of IPV: Results From a Nationally Representative Sample of Women.

A high percentage of men and women are purported to justify intimate partner violence (IPV) in countries that are steeped in patriarchy even in the presence of programs such as microfinance that aim to address gender equity. This article examines two assertions that emerge from the literature on microfinance and its potential for positive outcomes for women who participate in it: (a) Microfinance participation is associated with reduced justification of IPV, and (b) microfinance participants with control over their own resources are less likely to justify IPV when compared with microfinance participants who do not have control over their resources. Couples data from a nationally representative survey, the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, were used in the present study. Propensity score matching and logistic regression analyses were conducted to reveal that (a) microfinance participation was not associated with justification of IPV and that (b) women who participated in microfinance were less likely to justify IPV when they had no control over their resources. Implications for practitioners and policymakers are discussed.

How age affects the relation between personality facets and work values of business and private bankers / Cómo afecta la edad a la relación entre las facetas de personalidad y los valores del trabajo de empleados de banca comercial y privada

Personality traits and work values are important characteristics in personnel selection. Studies on their associations show limited agreement. In order to clarify, this paper investigates their association on a personality facet level. Work values are differentiated in intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This paper adds the role of age to the association. Earlier studies on traits and values about the influence of age on their development and associations are reviewed. Then the moderating influence of age in the association between facets of the Five-Factor Model and work values of the Universal Values Model of 465 Dutch bankers is studied. The results elucidate the association between personality facets and work values and the role of age in their associations. Considering this in personnel selection might contribute to sustainable employability of both the young as well as the older worker. Therewith, the study contributes to the debate of ageing in recruitment and selection

Los rasgos de personalidad y los valores laborales son características importantes en la selección de personal. Los estudios sobre sus asociaciones muestran un acuerdo limitado. Para clarificarlo, este artículo investiga su asociación en el nivel de facetas de la personalidad. Los valores laborales se diferencian en factores intrínsecos y extrínsecos. Además este trabajo añade el papel de la edad en esta asociación. Se revisan estudios previos de rasgos y valores sobre la influencia de la edad en su desarrollo y asociación. También se estudia la influencia moderadora de la edad en la asociación entre las facetas del modelo de los cinco factores y los valores laborales del modelo de valores universal en una muestra de 465 empleados de banca holandeses. Los resultados elucidan la asociación entre aspectos de personalidad y valores laborales, y el papel de la edad en dicha asociación. La consideración de esta asociación en selección de personal podría contribuir a la empleabilidad sostenible de los empleados jóvenes y de los de más edad. Por lo tanto, el estudio contribuye al debate de la edad en el reclutamiento y la selección

Evolutionary dynamics of cryptocurrency transaction networks: An empirical study.

Cryptocurrency is a well-developed blockchain technology application that is currently a heated topic throughout the world. The public availability of transaction histories offers an opportunity to analyze and compare different cryptocurrencies. In this paper, we present a dynamic network analysis of three representative blockchain-based cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Namecoin. By analyzing the accumulated network growth, we find that, unlike most other networks, these cryptocurrency networks do not always densify over time, and they are changing all the time with relatively low node and edge repetition ratios. Therefore, we then construct separate networks on a monthly basis, trace the changes of typical network characteristics (including degree distribution, degree assortativity, clustering coefficient, and the largest connected component) over time, and compare the three. We find that the degree distribution of these monthly transaction networks cannot be well fitted by the famous power-law distribution, at the same time, different currency still has different network properties, e.g., both Bitcoin and Ethereum networks are heavy-tailed with disassortative mixing, however, only the former can be treated as a small world. These network properties reflect the evolutionary characteristics and competitive power of these three cryptocurrencies and provide a foundation for future research.

Dynamical selection of Nash equilibria using reinforcement learning: Emergence of heterogeneous mixed equilibria.

We study the distribution of strategies in a large game that models how agents choose among different double auction markets. We classify the possible mean field Nash equilibria, which include potentially segregated states where an agent population can split into subpopulations adopting different strategies. As the game is aggregative, the actual equilibrium strategy distributions remain undetermined, however. We therefore compare with the results of a reinforcement learning dynamics inspired by Experience-Weighted Attraction (EWA) learning, which at long times leads to Nash equilibria in the appropriate limits of large intensity of choice, low noise (long agent memory) and perfect imputation of missing scores (fictitious play). The learning dynamics breaks the indeterminacy of the Nash equilibria. Non-trivially, depending on how the relevant limits are taken, more than one type of equilibrium can be selected. These include the standard homogeneous mixed and heterogeneous pure states, but also heterogeneous mixed states where different agents play different strategies that are not all pure. The analysis of the reinforcement learning involves Fokker-Planck modeling combined with large deviation methods. The theoretical results are confirmed by multi-agent simulations.

Network-based risk measurements for interbank systems.

This paper focuses on evaluating the systemic risk in interbank networks, proposing a series of measurements: risk distance, risk degree and m-order risk degree. The proposed measurements are formally proven to have good basic and extended properties that are able to reflect the effect of bank size, liability size, liability distribution, and the discount factor on the default risk, not only of a single bank, but also of the entire system. Additionally, the abovementioned properties and the relationship between risk distance and financial contagion indicate the rationality embodied in the proposed measurements. This paper also provides some implications on how to decrease or prevent the systemic risk in an interbank system.

The Dynamics of Wealth Inequality and the Effect of Income Distribution.

The rapid increase of wealth inequality in the past few decades is one of the most disturbing social and economic issues of our time. Studying its origin and underlying mechanisms is essential for policy aiming to control and even reverse this trend. In that context, controlling the distribution of income, using income tax or other macroeconomic policy instruments, is generally perceived as effective for regulating the wealth distribution. We provide a theoretical tool, based on the realistic modeling of wealth inequality dynamics, to describe the effects of personal savings and income distribution on wealth inequality. Our theoretical approach incorporates coupled equations, solved using iterated maps to model the dynamics of wealth and income inequality. Notably, using the appropriate historical parameter values we were able to capture the historical dynamics of wealth inequality in the United States during the course of the 20th century. It is found that the effect of personal savings on wealth inequality is substantial, and its major decrease in the past 30 years can be associated with the current wealth inequality surge. In addition, the effect of increasing income tax, though naturally contributing to lowering income inequality, might contribute to a mild increase in wealth inequality and vice versa. Plausible changes in income tax are found to have an insignificant effect on wealth inequality, in practice. In addition, controlling the income inequality, by progressive taxation, for example, is found to have a very small effect on wealth inequality in the short run. The results imply, therefore, that controlling income inequality is an impractical tool for regulating wealth inequality.

Older Adults' Coping With the Stress Involved in the Use of Everyday Technologies.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the frequency of reported use of everyday technologies (EDT) and its associations with self-efficacy, stress appraisal, and coping strategies. DESIGN AND METHODS: Cross-sectional data were collected from 150 participants (aged ≥ 65 years), measuring use of EDT by means of self-report questionnaires and a computerized simulator of an automatic teller machine (ATM), and EDT-related self-efficacy, stress appraisal, and coping strategies questionnaires. RESULTS: Structured equation modeling analysis showed that EDT-related self-efficacy was related to higher use of EDT, through the mediation of EDT-related stress and coping strategies. Logistic regression showed that use of ATM simulator was predicted by self-efficacy, younger age, and female gender. IMPLICATIONS: Enhancing EDT-self efficacy is suggested to increase the use of EDT among elder adults. The use of simulators may be an efficient mean to promote EDT self-efficacy and use.

Characteristics of Venture Capital Network and Its Correlation with Regional Economy: Evidence from China.

Financial networks have been extensively studied as examples of real world complex networks. In this paper, we establish and study the network of venture capital (VC) firms in China. We compute and analyze the statistical properties of the network, including parameters such as degrees, mean lengths of the shortest paths, clustering coefficient and robustness. We further study the topology of the network and find that it has small-world behavior. A multiple linear regression model is introduced to study the relation between network parameters and major regional economic indices in China. From the result of regression, we find that, economic aggregate (including the total GDP, investment, consumption and net export), upgrade of industrial structure, employment and remuneration of a region are all positively correlated with the degree and the clustering coefficient of the VC sub-network of the region, which suggests that the development of the VC industry has substantial effects on regional economy in China.