The Asian International Financial Centres (IFC) are growing in importance within the global economy. Increasingly they are becoming the control centres of financial flows and innovation. In...Show moreThe Asian International Financial Centres (IFC) are growing in importance within the global economy. Increasingly they are becoming the control centres of financial flows and innovation. In particular, the aspiring IFCs of Shanghai and Seoul have remarkably increased in status and competitiveness. This research discusses a possible explanation for their increase in competitiveness. Both cities have large systemic differences from the well-established Western IFCs, as government control and policies have been predominant in the East-Asian region. Nevertheless, they are flourishing in the international financial system based on market mechanism. During the Asian Financial Crisis, Asian centres have undergone many changes and multiple government reform policies have been carried out to enhance the financial sectors. Within this research, the influence of the crisis and changes in the determining factors for competitiveness are scrutinized. The four main determinants constituting an IFC set the parameters for the two case studies of Shanghai and Seoul. The results suggest that the government focus on rapid technological and infrastructural developments have contributed the most to the increase in competitiveness. Moreover, these developments are a part of a shift towards high-end technology industries and services and the overarching government-driven transition towards a knowledge economy.Show less
The intention of this thesis is to research the successfulness of microfinance initiatives (MFIs) at alleviating poverty in Ghana. The correlation between poverty alleviation and microfinance has...Show moreThe intention of this thesis is to research the successfulness of microfinance initiatives (MFIs) at alleviating poverty in Ghana. The correlation between poverty alleviation and microfinance has been researched before, but all of these examinations had case-selection bias. Even though they tried to make suggestions for improvement, these suggestions did not seek for development of a fact-based risk scoring framework. Most scholars make a convincing argument that MFIs do help alleviate poverty. They are not able to provide absolute data on the level of improvement, which made it impossible to give a quantitative answer to how successful microfinance is at helping alleviate poverty. Therefore, this thesis objectively analyses the positive and negative aspects of MFIs and the possibilities to improve the functioning of MFIs by creating a framework to further alleviate poverty in Ghana.Show less
In November 2017, the Chinese Vice Finance Minister announced the government's intention to remove the limits on foreign ownship in commercial banks, asset management firms, securities firms, and...Show moreIn November 2017, the Chinese Vice Finance Minister announced the government's intention to remove the limits on foreign ownship in commercial banks, asset management firms, securities firms, and fund management firms. A few months later, the Governor of the People's Bank of China offered what can be considered a timeline for implementation. Although subsequent information has been very scarce and no specific rules have been issued, yet, the author's interest was so much piqued that he has written a thesis that speculates about the government's motivations to decide in this manner. With speculation as the driving force, in order to establish what foreign ownership may mean for a national banking sector in general and the Chinese one in particular, the author presents an overview of seminal research into this field as it has been published in the first decade of the century and has not been published since. Comparative studies on countries that show similarities with China also are presented. The Chinese banking sector, much like the political system, is like a black box. Few studies have appeared that describe the state of the financial sector in a non-partisan way. Nonetheless, the author has identified a number of existing problems that might be assuaged by allowing foreign ownership, by testing them against a number of hypotheses that have been distilled from the general literature. Again, speculation is the defining word, but on the basis of rational arguments, a number of very convincing reasons are presented why the Chinese government may decide to open up its financial sector to outside ownership.Show less
The thesis addresses the growing role of strategic Chinese investments among European economies. More specifically, it focuses on the case of Germany, a country which has been one of the highest...Show moreThe thesis addresses the growing role of strategic Chinese investments among European economies. More specifically, it focuses on the case of Germany, a country which has been one of the highest beneficiaries of Chinese capital over the last decade. Investments from Chinese enterprises span across pivotal German industries (such as automotive, heavy engineering, and financial services). As a result, the research aims to investigate why the German economy and its industrial sector is a strategically important investment channel for Chinese companies on the basis of four identified hypotheses. The parameters for gauging the aforesaid framework would include technological know-how, credit risk, macroeconomic synergies, and ease of conducting business over a selected sample of European case studies in juxtaposition with Germany’s. The objective is to measure Germany’s economic competency in relation to its European counterparts, which can partially explain the behaviour of Chinese firms in regards to their expansive financial footprint in Berlin vis-a-vis other European economiesShow less
This research deals with the question what the economic system based on precious metals (the natural situation) looked like in the Muslim world and if the evolution toward fiat money violated the...Show moreThis research deals with the question what the economic system based on precious metals (the natural situation) looked like in the Muslim world and if the evolution toward fiat money violated the commandments of the sharia concerning riba, particularly riba al-fadl and riba nasi’ah? These two forms of riba apply specifically to gold and silver, designated in the Quran and Sunnah as natural money. The evolution of money described by Fox and Ernst consists of five different stages, namely the natural situation where gold and silver are valued by their intrinsic value. This situation is sharia compliant but in the next stage coins were valued at face or nominal value, a violation of riba al-fadl which prescribes the exchange of weight for weight. Bank money is seen as the next stage, and this is problematic regarding riba nasi’ah as the exchange of gold and silver is deferred whereas the sources prescribe exchange being done on the spot. Paper money convertible to gold is the fourth stage. This again constitutes deferred exchange of metals, but also riba al-fadl as there is no 100% backing of the notes brought in circulation. Fiat money is totally divorced from gold and silver and is always brought into existence as a loan with interest. Islamic finance hasn’t really engaged with the topic of the permissibility of fiat money, but it appears interest in the subject is gaining traction as most Muslims feel that from an Islamic perspective there is something fundamentally wrong with the current financial system.Show less
