Technology
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and digitalisaton are now at the forefront of investigative studies seeking to automate and rationalise processes across diverse industries, including property and finance. Fintech has made notable headway through blockchain technology and virtual currencies, and has in turn catalysed developments in proptech such as the tokenisation of real estate.
Our research in this area includes studying how technology impacts consumer behaviour as well as business decisions. We also examine big data to uncover new findings, with the objective of informing policymaking and intervention to achieve desired social outcomes.
The advent of generative AI – exemplified by large language models such as ChatGPT and Gemini – is levelling the playing field in many industries. In their working paper “AI for Fairness? The Role of Generative Tools in Shaping Freelancer Success”, Cao and Li (2025) investigate how ChatGPT eroded structural advantages enjoyed by native speakers of English, helping non-native speakers make deeper inroads into the freelancing industry.
As retail investors increasingly turn to social media, a new study reveals how online “finfluencers” change behaviours, and why their growing reach requires policymakers to rethink the rules of financial advice in this nascent landscape. In their working paper “The Impact of Finfluencers on Retail Investment” Hull and Qi analyse data from a social trading platform in four Nordic countries to study investors’ behavioural patterns and their implications for regulators.
Agarwal, S., Qian, W., Ren, Y., Tsai, H. T., & Yeung, B. Y. (2020) "The Real Impact of FinTech: Evidence from Mobile Payment Technology".
The researchers utilize the introduction of a mobile payment technology by the largest bank in Singapore in 2017 to study how mobile payment technology reshapes economic activities and stimulates business creation.