Journal articles on the topic 'TECHNOLOGICAL MUTUAL FUND'

The transformations in internet technology and financial innovation have led to the prevalence of direct finance, causing indirect finance to contract and concerns among traditional banks and insurance channel operators to seek transformation to innovate traditional services with advanced technology applications. The research compares the sales revenue flows of traditional banks, insurance companies, and mutual fund institutions, using quantile regression methods with five mutual fund factors: Jensen’s indexes, expenses, risks, sizes, and turnover rates. The sample statistics from 2001 to 2016 were evident, showing the results that sales revenue flows of bank and insurance companies did not decrease when compared to institutional fund investors, but instead, grew substantially, owing to the significant relationship of better technological services and financial innovation by banks and insurance companies. The research contribution is to point out that financial industry should focus, review and strengthen its most competitive core services inside, which are less challenged by outside competitors. By adhering to financial innovation and internet technology, it is still possible for traditional banks and insurance channels to gain substantial market shares with concentration on their core competitive services.

The paper focuses on the performance appraisal of Philippine mutual fund industry from 1999-2003 using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) – Malmquist productivity index. It calculates efficiency and productivity growths in a sample of bond and stock funds, balanced funds, and in the industry. DEA is a mathematical programming technique to evaluate the relative efficiency of production units and can accommodate multiple inputs and outputs. Malmquist productivity index has decomposed total factor productivity (TFP) into two components: technological change and technical efficiency change. Results show that bond and stock funds have the highest TFP growth, owing much to technical efficiency change. Bond and stock funds are technically efficient units in the production frontier as compared with balanced funds. Our findings reveal that the Philippine mutual funds industry is technologically and technically efficient. These findings have an important policy implication. Despite that the Philippine mutual funds are found to be technologically and technically efficient, they are still underdeveloped due to poor public perception, lack of information about investment funds, and the absence of proper legislative framework.

Capital market companies are currently developing, one of which is the spread of Islamic mutual funds which is facilitated by technological advances, namely the availability of platforms to make it easier for the users. PT. Takjub Teknologi Indonesia is an agent selling mutual fund securities, which carries the Ajaib application for mutual fund transactions. Companies that act as intermediaries for investors and investment managers. The formulation of the research problem is: What is the role and perspective of the sharia application of Ajaib as an agent selling mutual fund securities? This study aims to determine the role of the Ajaib application and review it in Sharia studies. The method used is a descriptive qualitative approach. This research resulted in several points as follows: 1). The role of the Ajaib application has the main task of marketing the securities of Islamic mutual funds to investment managers. Supported by the function of investor complaints and operating standards in writing, 2). Based on the Sharia review of the role of the Ajaib application, it fulfills the pillars and requirements of the samsarah contract, is following the sharia maqashid, and meets the existing fikhiyah rules, and in its application, this application meets muamalah etiquette.

The significant growth of retail investors in Indonesia between 2020 and 2022 is partly attributable to technological advancements that have made it easier to access investments through a variety of applications. Previous studies in developing nations like Indonesia, India, and Pakistan suggested that perception biases have influence on retail investor decision making. However, given the capabilities of current investing applications like the display of historical stock/mutual fund price data, retail investors should ideally be able to make more rational investment decisions. This study employs partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the role of overconfidence, representativeness, and loss aversion biases that affect rational investment decision making. As an application feature, historical price data serves as the moderating variable of the interaction between them. The result of this study indicates that overconfidence influences rational investment decision making in a positive and significant manner, while representativeness and loss aversion do not have a significant effect. Price historical data as application feature also does not have significant effect in moderating the relationship between them.

There is a model of agriculture being implemented in regions of the European Union, which comes close to the global strategy of sustainable intensification of agriculture. The aim of this paper is to identify problems connected with realization of this strategy in family-run agricultural holdings based in Opole Province. The primary source material was collected in 2014 by means of a questionnaire survey conducted in 100 agricultural holdings selected on purpose. Their size exceeds 10 hectares of arable land and they are situated in sub-regions that are representative of the agriculture in Opole Province. On the basis of the research it was concluded that the farmers most often choose a trajectory of development, which consists in enlarging the area of land in their possession. This is realized together with simultaneous provision of additional services for the local environment. In the opinion of the examined farmers, the intensification of production, which is regulated by environmental norms, gives rise to the need of constant learning, as well as optimization of technological potential of specialization. The research confirmed also the farmers’ readiness to participate in institutions of risk management, chiefly in the fund of mutual insurance, in case of natural calamities occur.

We consider a new biannual liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship routing and scheduling problem and a stochastic extension under boil-off gas (BOG) uncertainty while serving geographically dispersed multiple customers using a fleet of heterogeneous vessels. We are motivated not only by contract trend changes to shorter ones but also by technological advancesin LNG vessel design. The mutual coincidence of both transitions enables developing a new LNG shipping strategy to keep up with emerging market trend. We fi rst propose a deterministic LNG scheduling model formulated as a multiple vehicle routing problem (VRP). The model is then extended to consider BOG using a two-stage stochastic modeling approach in which BOG is a random variable. Since the VRP is typically a combinatorial optimization problem, its stochastic extension is much harder to solve. In order to overcome this computational burden, a Monte Carlo sampling optimization is used to reduce the number of scenarios in the stochastic model while ensuring ggood quality of solutions. The solutions are evaluated using expected value of perfect information (EVPI) and value of stochastic solution (VSS). The result shows that our proposed model yields more stable solutions than the deterministic model. The study was made possible by the NPRP award [NPRP 4-1249-2-492] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation).

The article analyzes the systematic strategy of transition of rural territories to the ecologically friendly way of development and production of organic agricultural products, which will solve a number of acute socio-economic and environmental problems and is one of the most difficult stages of reforms in Ukraine. The essence of the ecological mechanism, which is a set of tools, the ultimate goal of which is the achievement of positive results in the environmental sphere, is disclosed. Attention is drawn to the fact that in some regions about 250 kinds of various wastes are produced. It is determined that the presence of different types of productions in the region causes the diversity of qualitative composition of wastes. It is stressed that at the expense of the regional fund of environmental protection in the region a number of environmental protection measures are being implemented, for which the regional budget is planning to allocate 115.2 million UAH. According to the data of the Main Directorate of Statistics in Vinnytsia region, it was investigated that in 2017 Trostyanets district is showed the largest indicator of waste generation, which was 26651.0 tons, Orativ district ranked second, with the total amount of wastes 14313.8 tons, the third – Khmilnyk district, the amount of waste in which equals to 10386.5 tons. A detailed analysis of waste management in Vinnytsia region in 2017 shows that the largest amount of waste utilization was carried out in Kryzhopil district, the total amount of which was 156613.5 tons. It is emphasized that the funds of the Environmental Fund are aimed at implementing the following 69 measures, among which: - treatment of solid household and chemical wastes – 28 projects worth 36.6 mln; - preservation of nature reserve fund (parks) – 4 projects in the amount of UAH 1.0 million; - preservation of water reservoirs and rivers – 12 projects in the amount of UAH 9.7 million; - completion of re-stocking and storage of unsuitable pesticides – 1 measure in the amount of 0.1 million UAH; - measures related to the technogenic situation in the regions (sewage treatment facilities and sewage networks) – 14 projects worth 42.4 mln; - wildlife preservation – 3 projects for UAH 1.0 million; - other – 7 projects worth 24.4 mln. SWOT analysis was carried out – the establishment of key interconnections between the strengths and weaknesses of the parties with potential and threats of further development of the Vinnytsia region. Strategic objectives of environmental safety of Vinnytsia region are determined depending on the mutual influence of individual factors of the external and internal environment. Conclusions are made that it is necessary to raise the level of ecological awareness of the society; to carry out measures on ensuring environmental safety and reducing the technogenic load on the environment. It is determined that the strong sides of the region are the presence of significant reserves of mineral raw materials, fertile agricultural land, the absence of powerful environmental pollutants and ecological districts. The weak side of Vinnytsia region is the insufficient dynamics of growth of small and medium business. On the base of the SWOT analysis, it was determined that among the key problems in the development of Vinnytsia region that impede the harmonious development of the region is the lack of development of innovation policy and, as a result, the lack of innovation infrastructure, the insufficient use of scientific, technological and production potential available in the region.

Technological developments can present a financial system that is increasingly developing, effective, practical and transparent. From these developments, crowdfunding was born from a social aspect, namely helping each other and mutual cooperation that develops following technological developments. Crowdfunding is not a new concept but has been around for a long time. This article wants to study how relevant equity crowdfunding is used as a funding instrument in sharia Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). This study uses library research with secondary data obtained from several books, journals, news articles, and other publications with similar research topics. Equity crowdfunding is considered relevant to be a funding system for sharia MSMEs. It is because the equity crowdfunding system does not charge interest on the part of the user of the fund, in line with sharia MSMEs that require a sharia-based funding system. This study reveals that from an Islamic perspective, equity crowdfunding is following the principles of Islamic sharia, namely avoiding MAGHRIB (maysir, gharar, haram, riba and batil); it is relevant as a funding instrument for MSMEs that produce halal products. Even so, the implementation of equity crowdfunding as a sharia MSME funding system still needs supervision from the Sharia Supervisory Board so that activities in it are monitored and do not go out of sharia principles. Keywords: Equity Crowdfunding; MSMEs; Sharia MSMEs; Funding. Abstrak: Perkembangan teknologi mampu menghadirkan sistem keuangan yang semakin berkembang, efektif, praktis dan transparansi. Dari perkembangan tersebut menjadikan crowdfunding yang lahir dari aspek sosial yaitu tolong menolong dan gotong royong ikut berkembang mengikuti arus perkembangan teknologi. Crowdfunding sebenarnya bukanlah konsep baru tetapi telah ada sejak dulu. Artikel ini ingin mengkaji bagaimana equity crowdfunding relevan digunakan sebagai instrument pendanaan dalam Usaha Mikro Kecil Menengah (UMKM) syariah. Kajian ini menggunakan penelitian kepustakaan (Library Research) dengan data skunder yang diperoleh dari beberapa buku, jurnal, artikel berita serta publikasi lainnya yang memiliki kesamaan dengan topik penelitian. Equity crowdfunding dianggap relevan menjadi sebuah sistem pendanaan bagi UMKM syariah. Hal itu disebabkan karena pada sistem equity crowdfunding tidak mengenakan bunga pada pihak pengguna dana. Senada dengan UMKM syariah yang membutuhkan sistem pendanaan berbasis syariah. Kajian ini mengungkap bahwa dari perspektif Islam, equity crowdfunding sesuai dengan prinsip-prinsip syariah Islam yaitu terhindar dari MAGHRIB (maysir, gharar, haram, riba dan batil), ia relevan sebagai instrument pendanaan UMKM yang memproduksi produk halal. Meskipun demikian, penerapan equity crowdfunding sebagai sistem pendanaan UMKM syariah tetap perlu pengawasan dari Dewan Pengawas Syariah agar aktivitas di dalamnya tetap terpantau dan tidak keluar dari prinsip-prinsip syariah. Kata Kunci: Equity Crowdfunding; UMKM; UMKM Syariah; Pendanaan.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of rapid changes in financial technologies and their impact on the financial services industry of India. A descriptive study has been made on the implementation of financial technologies in modern-day financial services Industries. An intensive literature review has been done from the existing most recent available journals, newspaper articles, government websites, and magazines. We have discussed the effects of the financial technologies on the existing financial system of India, the threats and challenges faced by the regulators in regulating the novel disruptive technologies. We have also discussed potential threats, challenges and future prospects of upcoming technologies in the mutual funds industry in India. Based on the literature review, it is found that financial technologies (FinTech) have a positive and important effect on the financial services industry of India. The AUM (Asset Under Management) has seen a tremendous jump in the recent past. It has also increased the customer experience with better access to the back office, even from remote places. In addition, the paper has also discussed the challenges faced by the regulators, who are yet to fully understand the implication of the fast-changing technological environment around us. Finally, this article contributes to the knowledge building and understanding of financial technologies and its impact on the financial industry, challenges, and future prospects.

The author looks at how universities and industry are collaborating within the European Union. National governments have only restricted resources to support pure academic research and universities have learned to attract outside funds through working with industry and other partners on joint projects of mutual interest. Academic staff also apply to the European Commission (EC) for research funds. The aim of the EC's Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development has been to strengthen the scientific and technological bases of European industry, enabling it to become more competitive at an international level — this explains in part the thematic and transnational requirements of the Programme. Such constraints may deter or exclude some potential applicants. However, for others, EC funding has provided an additional source of financial support through which, as well as achieving their research and development objectives, they have expanded their working relationship with partners in other countries.

This study aims to determine the influence of knowledge investment, perceived return and risk and technological advances on investment interest of students Medan City in the capital market. The population in this study were active students from universities of Medan city who have currently investing in the capital market, either in the form of stocks or mutual funds. The sample in the research were 100 respondents. The research method used is quantitative method. Data collection techniques used questionnaires. The analysis technique used multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS. The results of this research shows that knowledge investment, perceived return and risk and technological advances have a positive and significant effect on investment interest of students Medan City in the capital market.

In the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, as it is now, digitizing the banking and financial sector is important, considering that technological disruption has touched almost all aspects of life. In the world of investment and banking, the system used is already digital-based. The financial literacy level of the Indonesian people in 2022 will increase to 49.68%. This means that people are now smarter when it comes to choosing the financial products they will use. Currently, many financial institutions offer the advantages of each product by offering quite competitive returns. As an effort to increase public literacy, this study intends to compare the two financial products, namely mutual funds in seed applications and financial products at Bank Neo Commerce (BNC). The methodology used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The results of this study state that mutual funds and money savings at BNC both have advantages in terms of features and convenience. However, both have differences in the returns offered and the risks borne. Where digital banks offer greater returns with a lower level of risk. Interestingly, investment activities have the concept of compounding interest which has the possibility of obtaining much greater returns on the condition that the investment period is extended.

Technological innovation is an important driving force for a country’s sustainable economic development and social progress, and can be achieved through R&D investment, which would lead to sustainable economic growth. This process is one of the important steps for China to realize the transformation of the economic growth mode and the development from extensive to intensive type. Since R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth are mutually influential and inseparable, it is particularly important to understand the interrelationship between the three. By collating data from China from 1995 to 2016, this paper established an indicator system of R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth as research variables. Vector autoregression model, impulse response function, and variance decomposition function were adopted. A long-term stable dynamic interrelationship among the three was revealed. The empirical analysis showed that in recent years, the growth of R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth stagnated or even slowly declined, which indicated that the economic development had insufficient stamina. The conversion efficiency of R&D investment was not high, and R&D investment for short-term profit was ubiquitous. The innovation ability of scientific and technological achievements was not strong, the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements was not high, and the market integration process was relatively slow. Overall, a good circular mechanism has not been established among R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth. Based on this, China should improve the mutual influence and interrelationship among R&D investment, technological innovation, and economic growth. The transmission mechanism among the three should be optimized and stable economic growth promoted, for example, by increasing R&D investment, enhancing the efficiency of R&D funds, improving the incentive system for scientific and technological innovation, and promting the effective use and marketization integration of innovation achievements.

The purpose of the article is developing strategic initiatives on supporting technological startups in Russia. Startups are innovative businesses aimed at such tasks as promotion of new products and services, capitalization growth and earning income for investors; they also contribute to diversification of Russian economy, growth of employment within post-industrial net economy, IT sector and creation of a new country's image worldwide. When developing strategic initiatives the authors relied heavily on the methodology of strategizing suggested by Vladimir Kvint, Foreign member of RAS. The existing trends in changing investment models when more and more corporations are moving from selling products to selling solutions allow optimizing investment by transferring internal processes to outsourcing. It creates additional opportunities for startups as small innovative businesses. Significant opportunities for development appear due to a vast domestic market and fast growth of information technology, and companies and universities' readiness to provide startups with organizational support. It is especially important as unlike sustainable businesses startups have not reached stable sales, do not generate sufficient cash flow and operate on the funds of investors and founders. The authors explain that technological startups can rely on Business Model Canvas that allows flexible transformation of business process in the search for the optimal offer for the consumers as well as provides for development of corporate strategy. Sustainable financing model for small innovative companies is significantly different from standard financial models. The authors conclude that it is essential to create business-accelerators to support startups. They can be founded either by big companies, universities, development institutes or by private foundations. Startup funding sources are not limited to venture investment. They can involve new tools like mutual funds for qualified investors. In addition, the authors present strategic initiatives which can be used by Kaspersky iHub to support startups in information technology and to optimize the performance of a business-incubator.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the likely impact of AI robotics technology on the labor market through the lens of comparative advantage.Design/methodology/approachThe first section reviews the recent success of AI in outperforming humans in cognitive intense activities such as Go, poker and other strategic games, which portends a shift in comparative advantage in human brain power work to machines. It notes the potential for a portfolio of specialized computer algorithms to compete with human general intelligence in work. The analysis contributes to the debate between economists dubious about claims that AI robotics will disrupt work and futurists who expect many jobs to be fully automated in coming years. It advances three “laws of robo-economics” to guide thinking about the new technologies and presents evidence that growing robot intensity has begun to impact the job market.FindingsThe paper finds that the case for AI robotics substantially changing the world of work and the distribution of income is more compelling than the case that it will have similar impacts on wages and employment as past technological changes. It advances an ownership solution to spread the benefits of AI robot-driven automation widely.Originality/valueTo the extent that who owns the robots rules the world, it argues for a concerted social effort to widen the “who” in ownership from the few to the many. It reviews policies to expand employee ownership of their own firm and of the stream of revenue via profit-sharing and gain-sharing bonuses. But the paper notes that ensuring that growth of AI robotics benefits all through ownership will require expansion of workers’ and citizens’ stake in business broadly, through collective investment via pension funds, individual investment in mutual funds and development of sovereign wealth funds.

The article deals with external sanctions and Russia’s response in connection with the conduct of a special military operation. The subject of the study is mutual measures to restrict the movement of capital, their adjustment by the Russian side as the economy adapts. Particular attention is paid to the problem of the withdrawal or suspension of activities of foreign companies in Russia: the initial scale of the exodus and their possible consequences are assessed, strategies for the behavior of foreign investors are given, as well as response measures from the Russian government in order to protect the economic interests of the country. It is noted that under the current conditions, Russian business is also forced to sell and regroup its foreign assets, look for new markets and stock platforms to place its securities and invest in foreign ones. An analysis of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation for 2022 indicates a sharp reduction in accumulated liabilities. At the same time, the outflow of capital from the private sector continued, amounting to a record 10 % of GDP, which is a deduction from the country’s investment potential. In conclusion, the consequences and risks for the Russian economy from the adoption of mutual restrictions on the cross-border movement of capital are indicated. Including: an increase in the volatility of the ruble due to a decrease in the infl uence of the fi nancial account, as well as the withdrawal of funds abroad from the sale of foreign assets; an increase in the debt burden on the corporate sector; falling stock market liquidity; problems with enterprise management and reconfiguration of technological processes after the transition to Russian owners, etc.

This article reviews Russian legislation in science and innovation field adopted between October and December 2019. It is divided into the following topics: • science, technology and innovation policies; • integration of science and education; • intellectual property rights in science and innovation. One of the noteworthy elements in the implementation of the country’s innovation policy is the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 490 dated 10.10.2019 “On the Development of Artificial Intelligence in the Russian Federation” and the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence adopted in the country, which are aimed at ensuring the accelerated development of artificial intelligence in Russian Federation, conducting research in the field of artificial intelligence, and increasing the availability of information and computing resources for users. It is also planned to create two research and technology centers: Sirius and Mendeleev Valley in accordance with the Decree No. 1805 of 24.12.2019 and the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1428 of 08.11.2019. Their adoption is Abstract. the attractiveness of research field, expanding the access of citizens and legal entities to participate in promising scientific and engineering projects. Another important event is the ratification of the agreement between the Government of Russia and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) on scientific and technological cooperation by Federal Law No. 366 of 12.11.2019. The agreement should contribute to the development of scientific and technological cooperation between the parties in areas of mutual strategic interest. Cooperation is conducted in the form of provision of human resources, information, know-how, equipment, materials, services, funds or any combination thereof. The documents were adopted in the forms of federal laws and subordinate acts, particularly, in the form of presidential decrees, government resolutions and ministerial decrees.

Kazakhstan has a remarkable ability to become the core of food security in the Eurasian region. Obviously, the advantages of Kazakhstan in natural and climatic conditions help strengthen the agricultural sector’s position in its economy. In particular, the positive factors of agricultural sector production are enormous land resources, inland geographical location, and historical background (nomadic cattle breeding, crop production). The agricultural sector is one of the riskiest sectors and manifests itself in climatic, political, technological, financial, corruption, and other issues. It is noted that investments in the industry are mainly represented by state funds (budget, extra-budgetary). Such massive public and private financial investments generate a corruption component effect. The opinion of importance to manage the corruption risk in agriculture is shown. The authors also give the corruption risk concept to analyze the corruption risk features in agriculture. Within the framework of the agricultural specifics, the classification of corruption risks is given. The authors also investigate this risk category’s prerequisites, features, and types. The article presents the internal and external analysis of Kazakhstan’s agriculture corruption risk. Modeling the corruption risk in agriculture as a matrix is proposed as one of the methods of its managing. Forming a standard matrix template with examples of its application shows the significance of preventing measures. In conclusion, there is the need for mutual goals to combat corruption risks both for the state and for agribusiness entities.

Collaboration between universities, business and government is important in creating innovation, but often they face barriers which block the successful cooperation among institutional spheres. To improve and strengthen collaboration and overcome existing barriers were created hybrid organizations (like university science parks, research centres or incubators) to address innovation blockages. With the growing popularity of this tool among regional policy makers, there is a need to specify their roles and functions in regional innovation systems. The main goal of our paper is to examine the contribution of university science parks and research centres in Slovakia, which were built thanks to financial support from European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). University science parks (USPs) and research centres (RCs) are tools for connecting the university, industry and government sector in a Triple helix framework. They create a suitable space for generating innovation with existing resources at universities, research institutes, research departments of companies and governments, and improve them through mutual interactions. We applied the method of quantitative research – an online questionnaire survey complemented with interviews, which we used to collect basic data on all science parks in Slovakia. The key question in the article is whether research infrastructures represent effective investment with long-term sustainability. We evaluated the current functioning of the parks in terms of fulfilling the functions that contribute to innovation creation, because quality and modern infrastructure is a prerequisite for the implementation of research, the results of which have a high development and innovation potential. We found that the research infrastructure doesn’t perform the required functions, which were declared during their creation. The main barriers to development include insufficient funding for research, technological infrastructure and long-term financing of professional staff. Unclear conditions for the continued operation of parks and uncertain position of government support shows that these investment projects financed by the European Funds are not independently viable after the end of the sustainability period.

Technological advances can be said to be one of the causes of the rapid demand for online loans . Online loan services that we may often hear is Peer to Peer Lending (P2P) . P2P has become the people's choice to borrow money on the grounds of easy conditions . the use of P2P loans is not free from risk . With the size of the managed funds and risks that accompany P2P, savings and loan cooperatives on the other hand can provide other options in terms of providing funds for primarily the needs of members of the cooperative itself and the general public outside the membership of the cooperative. This research uses research methods juridical normative through positive law and this normative legal research data uses primary legal materials . The results of this study are to provide an alternative other than P2P loans, namely the use of savings and credit cooperative financial institutions that are run in accordance with the principles of cooperatives, namely kinship and mutual cooperation , community welfare is prioritized not only to pursue profit alone.Keyword: Peer to Peer, Loan, Cooperation, savingsABSTRAKKemajuan teknologi bisa dikatakan menjadi salah satu penyebab pesatnya permintaan pinjaman online. Layanan Pinjaman Online yang mungkin sering kita dengar adalah Peer to Peer Lending (P2P). P2P menjadi pilihan masyarakat untuk meminjam uang dengan alasan syarat yang mudah. penggunaan pinjaman P2P tidak lepas dari risiko. Dengan besarnya dana kelolaan dan risiko yang menyertai P2P maka koperasi simpan pinjam di lain sisi bisa memberikan pilihan lain dalam hal penyediaan dana bagi terutama bagi kebutuhan anggota koperasi itu sendiri maupun masyarakat umum diluar keanggotaan koperasi tersebut. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian yuridis normatif melalui hukum positif dan Data penelitian hukum normatif ini menggunakan Bahan hukum primer. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah memberikan alternatif lain selain pinjaman P2P yaitu penggunaan lembaga keuangan koperasi simpan pinjam yang dijalankan sesuai dengan asas koperasi yaitu kekeluargaan dan gotong royong, kesejahteraan masyarakat sangat diutamakan tidak hanya mengejar profit semata.Kata Kunci: Peer to Peer, Pinjaman, Koperasi, Simpanan

This study aims to describe and analyze the Social Dynamics Towards an Advanced and Prosperous Acehnese Community After the Implementation of Law No. 18 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Province of the Special Region of Aceh and to describe and analyze what factors support and hinder the Social Dynamics Towards Acehnese People Forward and Prosperous After the Implementation of Law No. 18 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for the Province of the Special Region of Aceh To reveal this reality, qualitative research methods are used where the data obtained is processed by organizing and sorting the data into patterns or categories and descriptions of the basic units so that they can be read and interpreted more. Based on the facts and phenomena obtained in the field, the following research results are obtained: Characteristics of the Social Dynamics of the Acehnese Society include the process of interaction in society that is well established in the form of mutual cooperation, Order in social groups that always strives to maintain Acehnese values, and Changes in Norms in society due to exposure to technological advances. Types of Social Dynamics of the Acehnese People in the form of Social deviations caused by material factors (money), sex, and individualistic attitude factors where social changes due to the influence of foreign customs and culture are caused by world globalization and Westernization, so that government social control is needed by making early programs and there is motivation from the hamlet head carries out his role as a guide in the lives of adolescents. Supporting factors The social dynamics towards an advanced and prosperous Acehnese society are supported by special autonomy given considering the historical background of Aceh's greatness in the past, the existence of local political parties is considered more able to pay attention to and fight for the interests of the Acehnese people, the existence of foreign institutions and regulation of revenue funds that are obtained. Inhibiting Factors There is a long impact of the Acehnese people's disappointment with the central government, the misappropriation of Aceh special autonomy funds occurs because there is no special supervisory system, Obstacles in developing investment in Aceh include the quality of human resources, and inadequate regulations and The impact of globalization has penetrated various social value systems and culture become obstacles to the social dynamics of the people of Aceh.

Limited by ecological conditions, in order to improve the innovation efficiency concerning energy, a change from “extensive” to “green” is required. The development of sustainable technology is the most important productive force. Economic development is centered on finance. Only by mutual penetration and interaction can China’s energy innovation be effectively promoted. “Green GDP (Gross Domestic Product)” is the main direction of China’s current economic development. A sustainable green digital economy is the primary condition for promoting energy efficiency, and it is the key to improving energy efficiency in China to achieve a green transition. Green finance for sustainable development refers to economic finance centered on energy conservation, environmental protection and technological innovation. Attention is constantly paid to the financial industry in China, and we are trying to combine the concept of environmental protection with financial development to promote the continuous development of China’s environmental protection economy. A company’s economic and environmental benefits will be improved from the point of view of improving resource conservation and reducing the environmental impact of equipment and processes. To achieve this goal, the “efficiency effect” of the financial system needs to be fully exploited to maximize energy efficiency. An empirical study about the relationship of financial performance and energy efficiency in the green sector is carried out while considering the environmental constraints. The results show that the expansion of the financial scale and the adjustment of the financial structure have increased the energy utilization efficiency by more than 15% from the past to the present and reduced the pollution of the ecological environment by more than 10% nationwide, realizing the effective allocation of resources. Digital finance is a new generation of financial services that combines the Internet and information technology with traditional financial service formats. Including Internet payment, mobile payment, online banking, financial service outsourcing and online loans, online insurance, online funds and other financial services. Therefore, the sustainable development of all aspects of finance has a huge catalytic effect on the doubling of energy utilization efficiency.

The purpose of our article is to review and analyze the main areas, projects and developments in the management of promising research projects of the US Department of Defense DARPA. The dynamics of funding revealed an increase in interest in such areas as materials technology and biotechnology, promising aerospace systems, technology centric armed struggle, etc. The object of the research is – the development of the DARPA agency, and its influence on world scientific activity. As a subject of research in the article the possibilities of the DARPA Biological Technology Department and the perspective directions of research are considered. The Agency for Advanced Defense Research Projects DARPA (USA) was established in 1958. Over the past decade, success has led to the creation of analogues of this organizational structure in other countries: DRDO (India), MAFAT (Israel), SASTIND (China), GDA (France). DARPA Technology Priorities for 2020: 1. human technology; 2. technology of robotics; 3. network technologies; 5. technologies of automatic switching of events of real and virtual worlds; 6. technologies of integration and mutual empowerment of human and computer networks; 7. integrated network technologies for the transformation of the real world through the interaction of man and robots. In 2014, DARPA announced the creation of a new department – Biological Technology. The Department of Biological Technologies (DBT) is created to study the complex mechanisms of natural processes, and to implement their use in solving the problems of national defense. The task of DBT is to put biology at the service of national security. Among the priorities of the new department: 1) Survivability and ability to survive military service; 2) Synthetic biology of animals and living systems; 3) Integration of biochemical and omics data on human health. A feature of the direct line will be the overcoming of moral and ethical constraints on the way to improving the physical and intellectual abilities of a person. The appearance in Ukraine of the DARPA analogue is of the utmost importance for future technological development. Such a structure, called GARDA, should become a platform that brings together developers, startups, investment funds and military. The GARDA project was developed last year, but it requires professional expertise, resources, and serious political support at the government level.The creation in Ukraine of the domestic prototype of the DARPA Agency has a number of prerequisites: 1) the presence of high-tech institutions in the areas of defense and dual use; 2) the need for technological advantages of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other armed formations of the state; 3) the importance of high-tech export on the world market of armaments and consolidation of the image of Ukraine as a high-tech state.

The main directions of development of Ukrainian-Polish trade relations are considered in the article. The positive and negative effects of cross-border cooperation in trade and investment are substantiated, as well as a number of recommendations for building mutually beneficial relations on the basis of national interests.The purpose of this article is to assess the Ukrainian-Polish trade and economic relations in modern conditions in order to form scientifically sound recommendations for the development of mutually beneficial cross-border cooperation, taking into account national interests.Research methods. Methods of scientific analysis are used in the critical assessment of the concept of free market and free trade; comparison in the study of the dynamics of Ukrainian-Polish trade relations; graphical method for displaying and comparing trade in goods and services and investment between Poland and Ukraine; method of generalization in the development of proposals to improve the efficiency of cross-border trade and investment between countries, taking into account national characteristics and interests.Results. An assessment of Ukrainian-Polish trade and economic relations over the past ten years is given. It is proved that Ukrainian-Polish relations in the field of trade in goods do not have significant benefits for the Ukrainian economy, as their balance is negative during the period under study. Emphasis is placed on mutual exits in the field of trade in services, where the Polish side actively uses Ukrainian enterprises to order services for processing material resources through cheap labor, which stimulates the inflow of funds into Ukrainian business, job creation and more. There is a significant predominance of Polish investment in the national economy over Ukrainian investment in the Polish economy, due to the higher development of the Polish economy and interest in building branches and subsidiaries of Polish enterprises.A number of measures have been proposed to increase the economic complexity of the domestic economy in order to increase technological exports to Poland and equalize the trade balance between the countries; the directions of development of trade in services (in particular medical services in the conditions of COVID-19), as well as measures to increase the volume of Polish investment are substantiated.

Basing on the strategic approaches, the article investigates the role of innovative entrepreneurship in forming the knowledge economy. The importance of intensifying the development of the knowledge economy in the context of global changes and modern challenges has been substantiated. The need for the formation and development of the country’s knowledge economy, taking into account the deepening development of innovative entrepreneurship, is considered. The expediency of accelerating the commercialization of the results and discoveries of scientific research works is noted. Strategic directions of mutual activities of universities, research institutions, investment funds, industrial enterprises and other subjects of innovative entrepreneurship are given. The necessity of ensuring the effective and efficient application of the results, developments and innovations is substantiated. The progressive world experience in ensuring the development of the national innovation system and the formation of an innovationoriented economy of the country is considered. An objective approach is considered the creation and commissioning of modern technological parks, industrial parks and high-tech parks for an intensive transition to innovative development of the economy and deepening the basic principles of the knowledge economy. The essence and effectiveness of innovative entrepreneurship is revealed, which covers intellectual resources, more productive inventions and discoveries. The importance of developing the market for research services and thereby ensuring the dynamism of the market for science, technology and innovation was noted. The processes and approaches to the development of important elements of the knowledge economy and to strengthening the role of innovative entrepreneurship in this direction are analyzed. The multiplicative effect of targeted measures and the use of state support mechanisms for deepening the development of innovative entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan were assessed. The need to improve and develop organizational and economic factors, the institutional framework for accelerating the creation of an innovation system and multifunctional innovation zones in the country is considered. The role of digitalization and the use of elements of information and communication technologies for strengthening the processes of creating a knowledge economy is shown. Recommendations and proposals were prepared on the strategic role of innovative entrepreneurship in the formation of the knowledge economy in Azerbaijan.

Introduction. National economic development depends on many conditions – economic, political, legal, socio-cultural etc. However, a special role is assigned to the real sector, where goods and services are created and banking, which provides servicing of business entities, accumulation of temporarily free funds, formation and flow of capital, stabilization of the national currency. Therefore, the article is devoted to the analysis of indicators of the real and banking sectors development of Ukrainian economy. Purpose. The purpose of the research is disclosure the current state of the real and banking sectors as key components of the national economic development of Ukraine. Methods. In the article methods of data’s collecting and systematizing, analysis and comparison, as well as graphing method were used. Results. Based on the analysis, the main problems of the national economic development have been identified and the causes of their emergence have been revealed. The mutual and cause-effect dependence between the development of the banking system of Ukraine and the real sector of the economy has been showed. The structure and dynamics of development of the national economy of Ukraine across industries have been analyzed. The main sources of financing of fixed capital of business entities have been disclosed. The low component of innovation development of domestic enterprises has been revealed. The problems of reducing the incomes of the population and reducing their purchasing power, and hence the capabilities to form savings have been highlighted. Main problems of the banking sector development, which are related to the capitalization of banks, decrease of their liquidity, deterioration of the structure of the loan portfolio, reduction of the resource base for lending to business entities, and significant reduction of deposits have been revealed. The dynamics of reduction of gold and foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine has been analyzed. The main reasons for the devaluation of the national currency of Ukraine relative to the US dollar have been considered. The monetary instruments of the National Bank of Ukraine aimed at regulating the economy have been reviewed. The problem of application of the targeting policy with the purpose of stabilization of the exchange rate of the national currency of Ukraine had been revealed. Discussion. The necessity of structural reformation of national production and formation of balanced economy with the observance of the relevant principles has been substantiated: export of finished goods; state incentives to create a closed production cycle; technological and innovative production development. In order to stabilize the national economy and ensure its further development, the necessity of maintaining constant coordination, inter coherence and interaction between the Government, the National Bank and business entities has been substantiated.

With the exhaustion of the extensive factors of economic growth and the shift of development goals towards the quality of life, the quality of growth becomes the main condition for the further development of the country’s economy and social progress. This article addresses the multifaceted concept of the quality of economic growth and its content not only on the part of growth characteristics as dynamism, stability, consistency, efficiency, and progressiveness but also results of social development and inclusiveness of growth, as well as their determining factors. The interconnection, mutual support, and competitiveness of selected components of growth and its factors, including dynamism and growth inclusiveness are reviewed. The authors focus on the importance of understanding inclusiveness as creating equal, non-discriminatory conditions for the development of all population groups and economic entities, and not just the even distribution of development results. It is noted that the quality of growth is relevant as a link between current growth and sustainable development in the long term. It is essential to consider the quality of growth not only as a result of development but as a factor and condition for further progress, which is not yet fully reflected in the modern systems of development indices used by international organizations. A system of indicators of the quality of economic development should be developed according to the expansion of the concept of quality of growth. Using the advancement of the theory of endogenous growth makes it possible to assess the role of individual factors in economic growth. Along with fixed asset investments, the leading role in modern conditions is taken on by the quality of human capital, in the formation of which participate education, healthcare, science, and culture, while education, taking into account its vital role in the emergence of a new (VI) technological paradigm, deals with raising and nurturing the creative generation of young people who will shape the new order. The contribution of these industries to the long-term growth of the economy significantly exceeds their development costs. Considerable attention is paid to the study of factors determining the quality of education in general, especially at the regional level. It is noted that amidst the development of modern technologies responsible for the transfer of data and knowledge, as well as standardization and regulation of the processes of providing services, it is necessary to maintain the content of education services, their focus on the shaping of a creative personality and transferring creative work skills. Only this will ensure the country’s participation and its benefits in the creation of a new technological structure.The article examines factors that most affect the level and quality of education, and touch upon differentiation of regions according to these indicators. Among them: the state of the material and technical base, personnel availability and qualifications, terms for the provision of services, and others. The authors delve into the influence of region resource provision factors, remoteness from labour force centers of gravity and emerging research centers, as well as national particularities and historical background of the regions. The data on the “personnel migration” of young people of educational and post-educational age are presented. Relevant conclusions are made about some depletion of this resource in several remote regions. The efforts of the regions and the redistribution of funds through the federal budget, as well as business eff orts, are not enough to reduce the regional differentiation in education quality. This requires tailored solutions allowing to use the potential of young people from remote regions and regions not affected by scientific centralization, as an important human development factor. The paper considers directions for solving this problem.

Purpose Usage of updated technology is continuously empowering customer relationship management (CRM) to be convenient and user friendly, where customers are kept engaged with knowledge and information. This enables them on decision-making and managing their portfolio, especially in mutual fund investments. To improve toward a positive decision, certain quality related variables needed to be considered. Thus, this study aims to estimate the mediation effect of relationship quality and outcome (RQO) between CRM and investment decision-making in mutual funds (MFD). Design/methodology/approach The descriptive study adopted the constructs from existing empirical literatures to conceptualize the model with three higher order constructs with 12 dimensions. Survey method is used, and with a structured questionnaire, a total of 323 mutual fund investors were approached using nonprobability criterion sampling technique, of which 262 relevant responses were considered for estimating the structural model. Smart PLS was used to establish the relationship of the constructs. Findings The result emphasizes a significant direct and indirect relationship indicating that investors are more inclined to MFD through technology-enabled CRM and RQO plays a vital role in explaining the direct relationship between CRM and MFD. The results of the study are in-line with the existing literature. Practical implications The study highlights that financial institutions must focus not only on technological diffusion but also needs to ensure quality service by providing knowledge and information during every access of transactions by customers, making them independent and confident during investments. Originality/value This study indicates how capacity efficiency, which is a part of service productivity, can be managed without affecting the outcome efficiency by incorporating technology in the place of human interaction during relationship acquiring and retaining process.

PurposeThe paper aims to help enterprises gain valuable knowledge about big data implementation in practice and improve their information management ability, as they accumulate experience, to reuse or adapt the proposed method to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approachGuided by the theory of technological frames of reference (TFR) and transaction cost theory (TCT), this paper describes a real-world case study in the banking industry to explain how to help enterprises leverage big data analytics for changes. Through close integration with bank's daily operations and strategic planning, the case study shows how the analytics team frame the challenge and analyze the data with two analytic models – customer segmentation (unsupervised) and product affinity prediction (supervised), to initiate the adoption of big data analytics in precise marketing.FindingsThe study reported relevant findings from a longitudinal data analysis and identified some key success factors. First, non-technical factors, for example intuitive analytics results, appropriate evaluation baseline, multiple-wave implementation and selection of marketing channels critically influence big data implementation progress in organizations. Second, a successful campaign also relies on technical factors. For example, the clustering analytics could promote customers' response rates, and the product affinity prediction model could boost efficient transaction and lower time costs.Originality/valueFor theoretical contribution, this paper verified that the outstanding characteristics of online mutual fund platforms brought up by Nagle, Seamans and Tadelis (2010) could not guarantee organizations' competitive advantages from the aspect of TCT.

The article is devoted to the study of the mutual influence of crises and innovationsin production and economic systems, in particular transport. It is shown that crises constantly accompany economic activity and, first, are manifested in a decrease in production volumes, deterioration of key indicators of financial and economic activity and provoke the emergence of various types of deficit conditions or interruptions in the functioning of enterprises. The withdrawal of the production and economic system from the crisis is possible due to changes in the economic process due to the creationand implementation of innovations.The change of approaches to the scientific understanding of the impact of crises on the development of production and economic systems is considered. A critical analysis of two classifications of crises (unexpected (random) and expected (regular), managed and unmanaged) is performed. An analysis of the crises in Ukraine, the "gasoline crisis", and the war as a manifestation of the crisis is carried out. It is shown that the way out of the crisis requires appropriate managerial decisions, which must be innovative in nature. They can be, firstly, organizational, and economic, technical, technological, managerial, etc., and secondly, timely.The gradual exhaustion of the potential of any idea and the innovation based on it isan objective process and is caused by moral wear. This determines the need to reserve funds from current income to prevent crises, to look for other sources of financing innovations and to constantly be concerned with the birth of new ideas for the development of theenterprise. A model definition of the term of the onset of the limit of the effectiveness of the innovation is proposed for forecasting the next crises.The relationship between crisis phenomena and innovations in the transport sector is considered, and the manifestations of the crisis state in the functioning of various types of transport are highlighted. Anti-crisis management measures are proposed, namely forecasting of crisis situations and adaptive management, prevention of technological backwardness and development of innovative solutions, ensuring technological novelty and efficiency of innovations both in the national economy as a whole and in transport.

Introduction. China has long been a member of the prestigious Space Club and is now the most powerful space power in some respects, having managed not only to develop a strategic plan for the conquest of space but also to strictly follow it step by step. According to official documents adopted by the State Council of China, the space program is an extremely important area of national development. This is especially true of China's ambitious goal of becoming a leader in the world's science-intensive industry. The more specific goals of the space program are defined by the country's five-year development plans, as well as the national development strategy. Many scientific publications are devoted to the problems of economic cooperation between Ukraine and China. However, most issues concern the intensification of Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation in trade, economic, scientific, technical, investment and industrial spheres. At the same time, researchers are ignoring issues related to cooperation in such a science-intensive field as space, which objectively actualizes this area of research and requires additional study. Accordingly, the purpose of the study is to analyze and evaluate the Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation in space in order to determine the prospects for their further development. Particular attention will be paid to the capabilities of Ukraine's space industry and China's interests. Materials and methods. Theoretical and methodological base of research consists of scientific works, methodological research of leading Ukrainian and foreign scientists. Research on scientific issues related to the intensification of Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation in space was conducted using critical and scientific analysis, methods of scientific generalization and systematization, induction and deduction in determining the causal relationship between internal and external factors affecting bilateral cooperation in the space industry. The results of the research, conclusions and recommendations are substantiated on the basis of an integrated approach. Results and discussion. Ukraine is one of the few countries in the world that has a closed technological cycle of rocketry, starting with rocket fuel and ending with launch vehicles and spacecraft, there are problems in the industry that need to be solved. This is, first of all, a significant disproportion between the level of space potential and its impact on the solution of urgent national and social problems. The main reasons for the problems are related to the long-term lack of effective state support in the field of space activities, as well as the need to reform it. One of the directions of deepening international cooperation in the field of space activities was the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the People's Republic of China on cooperation in the study and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, signed in 1995. Among the main areas of such cooperation are: research, manufacture, production and testing of spacecraft; research, manufacture, production and testing of media (delivery); ground-based control and measuring devices, control and measuring complexes and objects of the experimental base for modelling and testing of space technology in ground conditions; environmental research, space materials science, remote sensing of the Earth and other areas of mutual interest. It is proved that the deepening of international cooperation in the field of space activities with China is promising for both Ukraine and China. This is due to the fact that today Ukraine has all the components in the space sphere – scientific, technological, production and human resources – for the implementation of fullscale space projects. Conclusions.In order to deepen Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation in space, it is proposed to be actively involved in supporting Chinese companies by increasing the number of commercial orders for space activities; creating preferential taxation for space companies and those who invest in the development of science; creating conditions for reducing the payback period of investment projects in the space industry by introducing project financing; to increase the efficiency of using the space potential of Ukraine to solve urgent problems of socio-economic, environmental, cultural, informational and scientific-educational development of society; to introduce a transparent system of information openness of space activities, on the distribution of investment funds, to inform investors about the prospects and expected results of activities, to publicly set the financial performance of science-intensive enterprises.

Depending on your perspective, Non-Fungible Token (NFT) artworks are inaugurating an exciting new chapter in the history of art, or a dangerous new chapter in the history of online market bubbles. NFTs index artworks, and are typically strings of characters stored on a blockchain such as Ethereum. NFTs are not exclusively used to index artworks, and have been used to index a range of collectibles, but it is the sale of NFTs associated with artworks that has launched the phenomenon into public consciousness. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the digital artist Beeple’s sale of an NFT for the equivalent of $69 million (Krastrenakes). For some, such staggering prices suggest NFTs are poised to become the next Beanie Babies—i.e., commodities without utility that sell at vastly inflated prices. Despite such cynicism, some argue that NFTs have revolutionary technical import, such that they could overturn many common and unequal practices within the contemporary art market (Rennie et al.). Chief among these is the supposed disposability of digital artworks, which are viewed as difficult to sell, resell, and protect from piracy. Such issues are thought to be ameliorated by NFTs, since they function as a token that is understood to stand as a “definitive indicator of ownership” of digital artworks (Mackenzie and Bērziņa 2). Or, as Rachel O’Dwyer has summarised, NFT art auctions like the Ethereal Summit held in New York in 2018 allow individuals to bid for the “ownership and provenance details of the works of art encrypted in the Ethereum blockchain and represented by a token” (O’Dwyer). Unlike a more conventional artwork, such as a painting, NFT artworks typically take the form of JPEGs or GIFs, and therefore circulate the Internet widely, regardless of who owns the token that designates ownership. While reproductions and printed documentations of traditional artworks are commonplace—e.g., art gallery giftshops will often sell relatively low-cost posters of masterpieces like Picasso’s Guernica, or coffee table books showcasing the masterworks of influential movements like post-impressionism—there are obvious material differences between the reproduction and the original. In the case of the typically digital NFT artworks, this distinction does not apply. Accordingly, the academic and popular discussions that surround NFT artworks have reignited theoretical questions around the ontological status of artworks, and the source of their economic value. For some, the NFT market is a financial bubble and the prices attracted by particular NFT-linked artworks have no underlying value (BBC News). For others, the value of NFTs can be explained through an appeal to the value subjectively attributed to the image or animation by the purchaser (Nguyen), while for others the value of NFTs should be understood in terms of digital scarcity and provenance (Rennie et al.; Joselit) or as a technological means for artists to maintain a greater share of their artwork’s value (Kugler). While the NFT market is novel, and is worthy of study in terms of its specific technological and economic forms, this article will argue that NFTs can be placed in a longer history of the emergence of what Luc Boltanski and Arnauld Esquerre have called the “enrichment economy”. In their Enrichment: A Critique of Commodities, Boltanski and Esquerre argue that, since at least the last quarter of the twentieth century, a new site of valorisation has emerged in post-industrial economies. According to Boltanski and Esquerre, globalisation and deindustrialisation provoked many economies to embrace tourism, luxury good production, and the commodification of heritage and culture as new sites of extraction. As the viability of the mass production of commodities has receded, the production of unique commodities and transient yet “unforgettable” experiences have become more economically significant. For Boltanski and Esquerre, enrichment refers both to the often-discursive refining and redefining of existing commodities—such that they fetch greater prices—and a greater emphasis on an economy for those with disposable income—such as tourists, art collectors, and the wealthy more generally (3-4). Often, Boltanski and Esquerre argue, the enrichment economies of art and luxury tend to mine and exploit the “underlying substratum that is purely and simply the past” (2). For this reason, the enrichment economy requires the production of new forms of authenticity, “aura”, and belief, such that the overlooked or taken-for-granted objects of the past can be reframed as unique and worthy of investment or consumption. The interesting question, then, is not necessarily that of why someone would pay a large sum of money to own a piece of code on a blockchain, but, instead, that of how a particular piece of contemporary art or an NFT comes to be “enriched” with authenticity and aura. While a thoroughgoing discussion of this topic would require a longer piece, this article will nevertheless attempt to open up connections between art history, debates around the production of artistic value during and after Modernism, and the newly emerging NFT art market. While many have declared that NFTs are “disrupting the art market” (Tripathi)—supposedly evinced by the staggering growth of the NFT market, and emerging institutional recognition, such as ArtReview’s decision to place an NFT at the top of their Power 100 List for 2021—this article seeks to locate the NFT explosion within a slightly longer timeframe, one in which NFTs would feature as a continuation—albeit a non-linear one—rather than a disruption of ongoing cultural and economic logics. Value and Void Despite the incredulity that commonly meets NFT artworks, the contemporary art market similarly flaunts conventional understandings of aesthetic and economic value. While many would surely agree with journalist Amy Castor’s claim that “it’s hard to justify that a Bored Ape NFT is worth $300,000 based on the art” (quoted in Artnet), almost identical criticisms have been raised around the contemporary artist Maurizio Cattelan’s 2019 work Comedian. Released in an edition of three, Comedian consisted of a banana duct-taped to a wall, with two of the three selling for $120,000 each. As Sara Callahan puts it, works like Comedian reignited debates around “what makes something a high-priced artwork when another, seemingly identical, object is not?” (Callahan). While NFTs are reawakening interest in the question of artistic value, the financialisation of cheaply made and mass-produced artworks has a much longer history. Indeed, by the 1960s, a booming secondary art market that traded in increasingly expensive, yet cheap-to-produce avant-garde works—often requiring relatively small amounts of time and inexpensive materials—raised suspicions that art was becoming indistinguishable from more traditional financial assets. In response, in 1968 the influential art critic Leo Steinberg argued that, “avant-garde art, lately Americanized, is for the first time associated with big money. … Another decade, and we shall have mutual funds based on securities in the form of pictures held in bank vaults” (quoted in Beech 300). As Dave Beech has shown, in the ensuing period, “art’s relationship to finance capital has outstripped Steinberg’s worst fears” (Beech 301). By the 1980s, banks allowed individuals to borrow large sums of money against the value of their art collections, and investment in artworks became a normal practice of portfolio diversification (Beech 299–300). When interest rates are low, investments in productive capital offer low levels of liquidity, and international markets appear vulnerable to shocks, artworks—whether physical or in the form of an NFT—offer a means of hedging against future losses. Furthermore, in both the contemporary art market and the NFT market, purchases of artworks at inflated prices often allow an individual to prevent “the bottom from falling out of a market they have already invested in” (O’Dwyer). The fact that artworks could hold a value well in excess of the cost of the materials or labour time required to produce them, was not solely recognised by art collectors and investors. Instead, this period saw a great number of artists explicitly playing with the aporia that had emerged around art’s economic value—insofar as ready-made artworks could now fetch prices typically reserved for laboriously produced and unique masterpieces. Take, for example, Yves Klein’s project Zones of Immaterial Pictorial Sensibility, which he developed over the late 1950s and early 1960s. In these works, Klein offered collectors the opportunity to purchase a void or “immaterial zone” for varying quantities of gold, with “20 grams (3/4 ounce) of pure gold for the Zones of series no. 1, the least expensive, to 1,280 grams (27/8 pounds) for those of series no. 7, the most expensive” (Cras 24). In exchange for the gold, the void-owner would receive a receipt as proof of purchase. However, for the work to be completed, Klein requested that the receipt be burned by the collector, and in response Klein would throw half of the received gold into the river Seine (Cras 24). By destroying the proof of purchase, and by releasing some of the gold into the river, the collector would receive “the full authentic immaterial value of the work” (Klein quoted in Cras 24). We see some resemblances here between Klein’s Zones and NFTs—and here Klein is no exception, since, as Cras has documented, the 1960s were replete with artists experimenting with the production of artworks as novel financial assets. For Cras, it was a time in which “the problem of attaching a price to works of art and offering them for sale, traditionally considered to be external to creation in this domain, was now incorporated in artistic practice” (Cras 3). If artists were increasingly embracing the artwork’s status as an asset, and if the price of artworks became divorced from luxurious materials or skilled production, how were artworks able to assert themselves as valuable and worthy of collection and investment? How is that, rather than the decoupling of artworks from some secure material base of value diminishing their market value, such decoupling has instead led to immense growth in the art market? In order to pursue this question, in the next section we will turn to Beech’s rethinking of the Marxist labour theory of value in the context of the art market. Value and Labour Here, it is worthwhile to turn to Beech’s distinction between the price of the artwork and the value of the artwork. For Beech, an artwork’s price is whatever sum of money it can be exchanged for in the market. Most neoclassical economists treat price and value as being synonymous, and, from this position, it makes no sense to ask if an artwork is worth—or if its value is equivalent—to its current price. As Beech writes, “neoclassical economics claims to be able to treat the sale of artworks as a standard transaction with prices determined entirely by demand and the subjective perception of utility by wealthy purchasers” (Beech 291). Against this view, Beech offers a Marxist interpretation of artistic value, one that emphasises labour-time in the production of artistic reputation. Reputation is key here, as Beech dismisses the notion that an increase in artistic labour-time increases the value of an artwork. Against neoclassical economists, Beech (311) writes that “the increase or decrease in the price of artworks is not ‘a floating crap game’, but is determined by the changing circumstances of the artwork itself vis-à-vis the esteem it is held in by the art community”. Accordingly, Beech states that the prices of artworks are seriously affected—perhaps even driven—by the non-purchasing “consumers” of art, namely academics, commentators, and other artists, who determine the general reputation of artworks. Accordingly, if we want to understand the prices of artworks at the marketplace, we need to focus our attention on art’s evaluative discourses, the production of knowledge, and the practices of producing objects that provide an assessment and legacy for a work or body of work, such as photographic reproductions and monographs. Artistic value as reputation is not only expressed through the economic consumption of products, but in the activities of learning from them, asking questions of them, reconfiguring them in new products, combining them and rejecting them. The high prices of art derive from the high status of the work within the discourses of art (Beech 312). Whereas the conventional Marxist labour theory of value focusses on the socially necessary labour time for the production of a commodity, Beech emphasises the labour of the consumer rather than that of the producer. As we have shown, an artwork that takes very little time to produce—such as Cattelan’s Comedian—can attract a much larger price than a painting by a lesser-known artist who spends months in the studio. Nevertheless, Beech argues that the greater the labour time of the non-purchasing consumers of art, the greater the artwork’s value. By maintaining a distinction between price—the quantity of money an artwork can be exchanged for—and value—the total of labour-time expended in discussing, viewing, and reproducing an artwork—Beech provides us with a framework for understanding how prices emerge, without exaggerating the predictive powers of such a framework. If an artist’s work is priced relatively low, but the discourse around their work is expanding rapidly, there is the potential to make a purchase below value, even if this investment is still speculative. By contrast, the neoclassical perspective renders this approach to the price/value relationship unthinkable. What, then, distinguishes artistic—or artworld—discourse from marketing? Beyond the simple observation that marketing teams are directly employed by capitalists in order to push a message that is directly related to increasing surplus-value, Beech argues that “it is a condition of the contribution of art discourse to the inflation of the value of art that it is independent from the economic interests at stake” (Beech 313). Though Beech does not put it this way, we could argue that the gap between artistic discourse and those who stand to financially benefit from the inflation of an artwork’s value produces the “aura” of the artwork. Coca-Cola’s marketing team is unlikely to change its opinion about its famous product, whereas art discourse is produced—for the most part—by a decentralised “artworld” of curators, critics, museologists, historians, philosophers, artists, and viewers, all of whom gravitate towards certain works at certain times—and it is arguably the uncertainty and uncoordinated nature of these shifts in reputational favour that make certain works feel miraculous. While, in the short term, a Bored Ape, and an artwork like Comedian, can attract a high price, it is unlikely that these artworks will maintain that price overtime—for this to happen, one would have to imagine an ongoing process of enrichment, one that would find new conversations to have about such works beyond the novelty of their unlikely price tags. Enriching the Blockchain While recent years have seen the publication of impressive and sophisticated quantitative studies of the NFT market, such studies have focussed on the quantifiable aspects of value and reputation (Vasan et al.; Nadini et al.). While such research has shown that connection to prominent collectors, and visibility on popular crypto-platforms, is an indicator of the expected price of an NFT, Beech’s research suggests that a range of difficult-to-quantify factors must be taken into consideration. While quantifiable forms of influence are of course important, the capacity for an artwork—linked to an NFT or not—to be discursively enriched, such that its status as historically and culturally significant appears independent from the testimony of those who would financially benefit from its revaluation, appears vital for its long-term enrichment and accrual of value. Some have attempted to articulate the emerging value of the NFT market in such terms. For example, Paul Dylan-Ennis claims that in order to understand CryptoPunks—one of the older artistic series to be linked to NFTs, and which can sell for up to $1.6 million—we must appreciate that they “are sought after because of their age, like blockchain antiques” (Dylan-Ennis). For Dylan-Ennis, NFTs like Cryptopunks are valuable insofar as they are “the oldest NFTs”, and, accordingly, it is “their ‘metadata’” or their “longevity on the blockchain” that is desired (Dylan-Ennis). In Dylan-Ennis’s account, NFTs are worth investing in because their past will one day be historically significant, hence his injunction for us to “look past the art and look at the medium to get what is going on” (Dylan-Ennis). But rather than looking at the medium, perhaps it is more fruitful to look to the institutional forms that nurture, generate, and circulate the reputational discourses that modify artistic value. In doing so, we will not only avoid the conservative move of denouncing NFT artworks on the basis of an arbitrary aesthetic standard, but also the utopian move of associating NFTs with the fantasy of a future “in which the subject is free from coercive mediating institutions, the state chief among them, wielding data certainty as a means of freedom and social transformation” (Jutel 4). Rather than NFTs freeing the digital artist from the problems imposed by ease of reproduction, we can see that the reputational value of the artwork linked to a non-fungible token requires the fungibility of reproduction, circulation, commentary, and discussion. NFT boosters have been quick to critique the institutions that have traditionally provided the training that fosters such discourse and expertise—in the form of the non-purchasing consumers discussed by Beech— as gatekeepers that exploit artists. While we should acknowledge the gross inequities of the artworld and academia, such institutions have nevertheless been relatively historically successful in their attempt to produce large audiences that can participate in the enrichment of past objects, and the connection of new objects to that past. The challenge that the cryptoworld will face, is whether, like the artworld, it can marshal similar long-term discursive labour in the process of enrichment. If it cannot, we may ironically see the same “gatekeeping” institutions of the artworld invoked to bolster the value of the NFT market. References Artnet. “‘They’ve Created Perceived Value Out of Thin Air’: The Whole Bored Ape Yacht Club Phenomenon, Explained.” 8 April 2022 <https://news.artnet.com/multimedia/the-art-angle-podcast-bored-ape-yacht-club-2094073>. BBC News. “What Are NFTs and Why Are Some Worth Millions?” 23 Sep. 2021. <https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56371912>. Beech, Dave. 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