The 25th Frontier Forum for Digital Technology and Finance

Abstract：

Using a novel dataset comprising 1,515,409 verdicts from China, along with an index that measures the extent of mobile payment usage, we find that a one standard deviation increase in mobile payment use leads to an 11% decrease in theft rates. Furthermore, this effect is more pronounced in areas with a higher prevalence of cash transactions. These findings suggest that reduced cash circulation in society due to mobile payment use may decrease incentives for stealing. However, we find no evidence to suggest that mobile payment usage influences other crimes like robbery, arson, brawling, homicide, and serious injury by vehicle.

Speaker Introduction:

Leng Ling, Ph.D., is a tenured professor of finance at Georgia College & State University. His research interests include corporate finance, mutual funds, behavioral finance, etc. He received her bachelor's degree in economics from Wuhan University in 1995, his master's degree in business administration (finance) from Georgia State University in 2002, and his Ph.D. in finance from Georgia State University in 2008. His papers have been published in Review of Financial Studies, China Economic Review, Accounting and Finance, The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Journal of Financial Markets, Research in International Business and Finance, Finance Research Letters, and other foreign academic journals.