The Covid-19 – Coronavirus pandemic has rapidly spread around the world, demanding for physical social distancing measures as a strategy to soften contagion. Whereas social closeness proves dangerous, financial proximity is increasingly needed. It can be guaranteed by FinTechs or technological devices and applications, like digital platforms. Exploiting their networking properties, platforms may be represented by bridging nodes like Mobile banking (M-banking) hotspots. M-banking and FinTech applications are fully consistent with physical distance prescriptions, and so presents a Covid 19-compliant strategy that eases financial inclusion, allowing for 24/7 operativity. This is essential in poor environments where healthcare systems are weak, and prompt liquidity is needed for survival. M-banking is also a remedy against bank desertification, caused by many factors that include the decrease of “physical” bank branches. Based on these premises, this study proposes an innovative interpretation of the networking properties of digital platforms and M-banking that represent a new – virtual – stakeholder, showing how they impact on corporate governance interactions among composite stakeholders. Due to their scalability, platforms foster cooperative value co-creating patterns among cooperating stakeholders, with deep albeit still under investigated governance implications. Network governance is a novel approach to the stakeholders' ecosystem, and its value-adding phisical and virtual interactions. The paper shows how to match virtual financial proximity with apparently contradicting social distancing. This study represents an advance in the current corporate governance literature, as it investigates about its smart (digital) extensions that can represent a shield against pandemic adversities, permanently reducing transaction costs and information asymmetries.
Matching Financial Closeness with Social Distancing: Networking Digital Platforms within a Corporate Governance Ecosystem
Maria Cristina QuiriciMembro del Collaboration Group
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2020-01-01
Abstract
The Covid-19 – Coronavirus pandemic has rapidly spread around the world, demanding for physical social distancing measures as a strategy to soften contagion. Whereas social closeness proves dangerous, financial proximity is increasingly needed. It can be guaranteed by FinTechs or technological devices and applications, like digital platforms. Exploiting their networking properties, platforms may be represented by bridging nodes like Mobile banking (M-banking) hotspots. M-banking and FinTech applications are fully consistent with physical distance prescriptions, and so presents a Covid 19-compliant strategy that eases financial inclusion, allowing for 24/7 operativity. This is essential in poor environments where healthcare systems are weak, and prompt liquidity is needed for survival. M-banking is also a remedy against bank desertification, caused by many factors that include the decrease of “physical” bank branches. Based on these premises, this study proposes an innovative interpretation of the networking properties of digital platforms and M-banking that represent a new – virtual – stakeholder, showing how they impact on corporate governance interactions among composite stakeholders. Due to their scalability, platforms foster cooperative value co-creating patterns among cooperating stakeholders, with deep albeit still under investigated governance implications. Network governance is a novel approach to the stakeholders' ecosystem, and its value-adding phisical and virtual interactions. The paper shows how to match virtual financial proximity with apparently contradicting social distancing. This study represents an advance in the current corporate governance literature, as it investigates about its smart (digital) extensions that can represent a shield against pandemic adversities, permanently reducing transaction costs and information asymmetries.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
