Randall E. Duran and Paul Griffin
This paper aims to examine the risks associated with smart contracts, a disruptive financial technology (FinTech) innovation, and assesses how in the future they could threaten…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the risks associated with smart contracts, a disruptive financial technology (FinTech) innovation, and assesses how in the future they could threaten the integrity of the global financial system.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach is used to identify risk factors related to the use of new financial innovations, by examining how over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives contributed to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) which occurred during 2007 and 2008. Based on this analysis, the potential for similar concerns with smart contracts are evaluated, drawing on the failure of The DAO on the Ethereum blockchain, which involved the loss of over $60m of digital currency.
Findings
Extensive use of bilateral agreements, complexity and lack of standardization, lack of transparency, misuse and speed of contagion were factors that contributed to the GFC that could also become material concerns for smart contract technology as its adoption grows. These concerns, combined with other contextual factors, such as the risk of defects in smart contracts and cyberattacks, could lead to potential destabilization of the broader financial system.
Practical implications
The paper’s findings provide insights to help make the design, management and monitoring of smart contract technology more robust. They also provide guidance for key stakeholders on proactive steps that can be taken with smart contract technology to avoid repeating the types of oversights that contributed to the GFC.
Originality/value
This paper draws attention to the risks associated with the adoption of disruptive FinTech. It also suggests steps that regulators and other key stakeholders can take to help mitigate those risks.
Details
Keywords
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
MAURICE B. LINE and A. SANDISON
The term ‘obsolescence’ occurs frequently in the literature of librarianship and information science. In numerous papers we are told how most published literature becomes obsolete…
Abstract
The term ‘obsolescence’ occurs frequently in the literature of librarianship and information science. In numerous papers we are told how most published literature becomes obsolete within a measurable time, and that an item receives half the uses it will ever receive (‘half‐life’) in a few years. ‘Obsolescence’ is however very rarely defined, and its validity, interest, and practical value are often assumed rather than explained. Before reviewing studies on ‘obsolescence’, therefore, it is necessary to look at the concept and to identify the reasons why it should be of interest.
Jorge Alejandro Silva Rodríguez de San Miguel, Mara Maricela Trujillo Flores and Fernando Lambarry-Vilchis
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the measures taken by both the federal government of Mexico and its municipalities in relation to the country’s urban water supply and its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the measures taken by both the federal government of Mexico and its municipalities in relation to the country’s urban water supply and its management to improve it.
Design/methodology/approach
The PRISMA guidelines were chosen as the framework for this systematic review of the available literature on urban water supply in Mexico, considering the most important and relevant legal and institutional considerations. They were paired with critical qualitative review. Overall, 21 main documents, between 2000 and 2016, were acceptable for inclusion.
Findings
The review closes by proposing that the approach, at present, is excessively rigid, and that greater flexibility would permit municipalities to identify more suitable means of managing their own water supplies with minimal support from the federal government.
Originality/value
Several research articles have been written about the general nature of Mexico’s urban water supply and management at present. However, no attempt has been made to synthesise the evidence and arguments made in this significant body of research. Thus, the key purpose of this review is to do that with the intention of proposing a shift in the country’s approach to urban water management.