Innovative Finance for Technological Progress

Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary is an associate professor of economics at Tokai University in Japan. In addition, he is a vice-president and co-founder of the International Society for Energy Transition Studies (ISETS). He is a recipient of the Excellent Young Researcher status from the Ministry of Education of Japan (MEXT). He is also a visiting professor at Keio University (Japan), the Technology Studies Institute (Iran), Chiang Mai University (Thailand), and a distinguished research fellow at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). Currently, he serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management and as an associate editor/board member of several scholarly journals. His research credits include authoring more than 250 academic journal papers and book chapters and editing 15 books published by Springer Nature, Routledge, World Scientific, and Asian Development Bank Institute. Dr. Taghizadeh-Hesary holds a PhD in economics from Keio University with a scholarship from the government of Japan (MEXT).Roohallah Aboojafari is an assistant professor of science and technology policy and director of the knowledge-based economy department at the Technology Studies Institute of Presidency in Iran. He is also an advisor on knowledge-based economy to the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Iran. He has taught as an assistant professor at various universities in Iran, including Amirkabir University and Imam Sadiq University. His research area includes innovation economics, financing innovation, and science and technology policy. He is a referee of several journals in Iran, including Innovation Management (ISC) and Technology Development Management (ISC). He has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed academic journal papers and book chapters published by academic publishers, including Routledge and Asian Development Bank Institute. Dr. Aboojafari is the founder of Etemad Co., a knowledge-based credit rating company in Iran as well as a vice-chairman of the board of a fintech company under Iran’s stock exchange regulations. Dr. Aboojafari holds a PhD in sciences and technology from Tarbiat Modares University in Iran.Naoyuki Yoshino is professor emeritus of Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, and Director of the Financial Research Center (FSA Institute, Government of Japan). He obtained a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1979, where his thesis supervisor was Sir Alan Walters (United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s economic adviser). He worked as an assistant professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States), visiting scholar at the Central Bank of Japan, and visiting professor at the University of New South Wales (Australia) and Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (France). He was the dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo (2014–2020). Dr. Yoshino received honorary doctorates from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). He was also conferred the Fukuzawa award from Keio University for his contribution to research.

• Introduction SECTION 1 Opportunities, challenges, and solutions 1. What are the risks associated with innovative finance and how to cope with them? 2. Financial inclusion, financial innovation, and macroeconomic stability 3. Role of national innovation financing agencies in promoting startups: A comparative study 4. Innovation financing challenges from the perspective of structural barriers and business environment of Iran: Case of the Iran national innovation fund SECTION 2 Regulatory and policy framework 5. Regulatory frameworks of crowdfunding for startups in Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam 6. Institutional and regulatory requirements for innovative Fintech market in Bangladesh: Why do they matter? 7. The role of government in digital innovations: Case of Turkish startup ecosystem SECTION 3 Innovations in institutions, products, and processes: Best practices and policies 8. Deploying machine learning and big data to promote MSMEs’ access to finance in Japan and its application to other countries 9. National Credit Bureau: An institutional financial innovation boosting SME financing in Thailand 10. Role of credit guarantee schemes in funding technology-based firms in Iran 11. The role of capital market in innovation finance 12. Financial innovations and Fintech solutions for migrant workers in the MENA region 13. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on innovative Fintech in India 14. Fintech approach to assessing innovative SMEs’ credit risk