IT and Financial Systems in the 21st Century

在这个研究项目中，我们调查了2003-2006年间“21世纪的信息技术与金融体系”这一主题。我们邀请了外国合作研究人员(Thyler Shumway(密歇根大学和斯坦福大学)、Lucia Christova(国际清算银行)、Jeniffer Corbett(澳大利亚国立大学)、Inchul Kim(Sung Kyun Kwan大学)等)参加2005年3月18日和2007年2月20日在一桥大学举行的两次国际会议，介绍他们自己的论文。此外，我们还收到了他们对我们成员论文的有用意见，以将论文修改为更好的学术论文。作为本研究项目的绩效报告，本文从多个角度阐述了IT革命对金融服务业及其环境的影响。具体地说，本研究采用理论分析和实证分析相结合的方法，考察信息技术的发展对(1)日本金融业环境、(2)消费者行为、企业行为、金融机构行为、以及(3)政策制定者的政策反应的影响。从对金融业周围环境的影响来看，信息技术的发展使金融产品多样化，信息传递速度加快。金融产品的多样化和信息传递速度的加快都提高了作为投资者的家庭、作为借款人的公司和作为金融中介的金融机构在金融交易中的效率。一方面，从行为经济学的角度指出投资者可能采取非经济行为。此外，本研究项目还指出，以市场为基础的货币政策是有效的、信息传递速度加快的金融市场的必要条件。

In this research project we have investigated the main theme on "IT. and Financial Systems in the 21st Century" from 2003 to 2006. We invited foreign collaborating researchers (Thyler Shumway (University of Michigan and Stanford University), Luchia Christova (Bank for International Settlements), Jeniffer Corbett (Australian National University), Inchul Kim (Sung Kyun Kwan University) and others) to the two international conferences that were held on March 18, 2005 and February 20, 2007 at Hitotsubashi University to make presentation of their own papers. Also we received useful comments from them on our members' papers to revise the papers into academically better ones. The papers that we made presentation of as this research project's performance clarify how the IT revolution has effects on financial service industry and its surroundings from a variety of viewpoints. Concretely, the research project used to theoretical and empirical analyses to consider effects developments of IT on (1) surroundings of the Japanese financial industry, (2) consumer behavior, firm behavior, financial institution's behavior, and (3) policy reactions of policy-makers. Regarding Effects on the surroundings around financial industry, the developments of IT are diversifying financial products and accelerating speed of transmitting information. Both the diversifying financial products and accelerating speed of transmitting information enhance efficiency in financial transactions for households as investors, firms as borrowers, and financial institutions as financial intermediaries. On one hand, it is pointed out investors might act in a fashion of non-economic behavior from a viewpoint of behavioral economics. Moreover, this research project pointed out that a market-based monetary policy is necessary for efficient financial markets with accelerating speed of transmitting information.