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Beyond financial inclusion: re-shaping the regulatory landscape for virtual banks
No full textThe digitalisation of banking services, driven by smartphone access and limited physical presence, has transformed bank-customer interactions but introduced challenges, such as a reliance on third-party devices and external software contracts. Based on findings from focus groups held in Hong Kong (2021β2022), this paper identifies three critical gaps: (i) the absence of a personal touch, (ii) inadequate digital dispute resolution channels, and (iii) insufficient regulatory intervention. These gaps hinder digital adoption and undermine the role of banks as public utilities. The study calls for a global alignment of regulatory frameworks, advocating for a technology-centric approach to ensure effective governance and safeguard the integrity of virtual-only banking platforms
Examining the sensitivity of ECMWF IFS weather forecasts to seaβice coupling for the summerβtime Arctic and cyclones
Get PDFIn recent years there has been an advance towards coupled Earth-system models for weather forecasting. For example, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts now implements oceanβice coupling with dynamic sea ice in the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) at all time ranges. This has the potential to improve weather forecasts in the polar regions, where sea ice influences the overlying atmosphere directly by turbulent exchange, especially in the rapidly warming summer-time Arctic where thinner and more mobile ice is susceptible to rapid change. In this study, we investigate the sensitivity of IFS (cycle 47r1) weather forecasts to sea-ice coupling representation in the summer-time Arctic by comparing three sets of forecasts that are coupled with (i) dynamic sea ice in operational configuration, (ii) static sea ice, and (iii) dynamic sea ice with additional thermodynamic (surface temperature and albedo) coupling. It is found that dynamic sea ice improves predictions of sea ice and the ice edge compared with persistence, especially in the vicinity of Arctic cyclones. The dynamic sea-ice forecasts exhibit lower near-surface temperatures (up to 0.5βΒ°C) compared with static sea-ice forecasts where ice loss has occurred, and differences in near-surface winds of up to 0.5βm/s, consistent with changing surface roughness over the marginal ice zone. The forecasts with additional thermodynamic coupling have near-surface temperatures that are up to 1βΒ°C cooler over ice than the operational configuration (correcting a known warm bias), consistent with a more stable boundary layer (BL) and weaker near-surface winds. The influence of sea-ice coupling above the BL is small, with differences in cyclone forecasts being smaller than the spread of the operational ensemble. This study highlights the influence of oceanβice coupling in weather forecasts for the summer-time Arctic, and the potential gains from improving its representation
Learning satisfaction in virtual reality: the role of persuasive design
Get PDFGiven the positive impact of virtual reality learning environments on studentsβ learning satisfaction, it is imperative to identify the key features within these environments that contribute to such satisfaction. This study examined how persuasive features enhance studentsβ learning satisfaction via psychological outcomes within a persuasive immersive virtual reality learning environment (IVRLE). Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, quantitative data obtained from 115 IVRLE users were analyzed. The results show that by leveraging persuasive features such as unobtrusiveness, design aesthetics, primary task support, credibility support, dialogue support, and perceived persuasiveness, educators can create immersive learning environments that effectively engage students cognitively and emotionally, thereby enhancing learning satisfaction. Among the direct determinants of studentsβ learning satisfaction, perceived enjoyment exhibited the strongest impact. These results underscore the relevance of designing virtual reality learning environments as persuasive educational environments that shape learning behaviors and also caters to the psychological needs of students
Fintech development and corporate misconduct
No full textThis study examines the influence of fintech development in a region on the likelihood of corporate misconduct. The fintech has the potential to mitigate information asymmetry, provide financial resources, and enhance monitoring, thus deterring corporate misconduct. Data from publicly listed firms in China indicates that firms located in regions with advanced fintech development are less likely to engage in financial misconduct. Additionally, this study delves into the interplay between formal and informal institutions, revealing that in regions with higher levels of social trust, the effect of fintech on corporate misconduct will be less pronounced. Moreover, institutional ownership, as a prominent governance mechanism, moderates the relationship between fintech development and corporate misconduct
Visual representations of silence
No full textThis contribution focuses on visual representations of silence. Rather than considering works of art, it is concerned with more mundane visual discourse reflected in photographs deposited on the Shutterstock database of pictures that can be used, e.g., for the purposes of creating marketing material. This means that we can expect a lower degree of idiosyncratic and a higher degree of (stereo-)typical visual representations of silence that might reflect common perceptions of, and references to, different types of silences. By using both German and English search words in the database, pictures that have been tagged as representing silence/Schweigen will be included in the analysis. The results show that the pictures relate to different forms of silence that have been distinguished in previous research related to silence, mainly a) silencing and obstruction, b) introspection and relaxation, c) stillness and absence of sound. Some visual representations also seem to d) refer to previously noted qualities of silence, such as vagueness, ambiguity, and, as far as conceptualisation is concerned, fuzziness.
While it can be interesting to relate such visual representations of silence to the existing scholarship about silence, the images on the database are de-contextualised. From the perspective of multimodal discourse analysis, they do not show us much about how such representations of silence as per a)-d) above might figure and function in discourse contexts. To follow the previously identified patterns of visual representations of (different types of) silences at least to some extent into specific discourse contexts, I provide examples of recurrences of these visual patterns of representation, using the example of book covers. I will study the covers of books involving silence/Schweigen in the title and relate the above findings of patterns a)-d) to different genres such as self-help advice and thrille
What is life? An operational definition
Get PDFOne way of defining life is via a real definition, which gives the essence of life. Another approach is an operational definition, which shows how living things can be tested or measured in a way that is distinctive of the biological. Although I give a real definition elsewhere, in this paper I provide an operational definition, echoing Canguilhemβs dictum that life is what is capable of making mistakes. Biological mistakes are central to the behaviour of organisms, their parts and sub-systems, and the collections to which they belong. I provide an informal definition of a biological mistake. I contrast mistakes with mere failures and malfunctions. Although closely related phenomena, each is distinct. After giving some brief examples of mistake-making and how it can be tested, I reply to some objections to the very idea of a biological mistake
Intraseasonal synchronization of extreme rainfalls between North India and the Sahel
Get PDFThe Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the West African Monsoon (WAM) are dominant drivers of boreal summer precipitation variability in tropical and subtropical regions.
Although the regional precipitation dynamics in these two regions have been extensively studied, the intraseasonal interactions between the ISM and WAM remain poorly understood.
Here, we employ a climate network approach based on extreme rainfall events to uncover synchronously occurring extreme rainfall patterns across the two monsoon systems.
We reveal strong synchronization of extreme rainfall events during the peak monsoon period in July and August, linking heavy rainfall over North India to that over the Sahel with a lag of around 12 days.
We find that La NiΓ±a-like conditions in combination with the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation and an enhanced Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) foster the synchronization between the ISM and the WAM.
The northward propagating BSISO triggers African Easterly Wave activity, bounded between a reduced African Easterly Jet and the TEJ. These induce westward traveling anomalous deep convection over the Sahel which causes extreme rainfall events to occur
Limited asset market participation and monetary policy in a small open economy
Get PDFLimited asset market participation (LAMP) and trade openness are crucial features that characterize all real-world economies. We study equilibrium determinacy and optimal monetary policy in a model of a small open economy with LAMP. With low enough participation in asset markets, conventional wisdom concerning the stabilizing benefits of policy inertia can be overturned, irrespective of the constraint of a zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate. In contrast to recent studies, trade openness can play an important stabilizing role in LAMP economies. Optimal monetary policy is derived as a robust timeless rule, where the optimal level of interest-rate inertia depends on the degree of trade openness. The optimal rule is shown to be super- inertial for standard economies, whereas the degree of inertia is significantly lower and not super-inertial for LAMP economies