Introduction to Recent Developments in Alternative Finance: Empirical Assessments and Economic Implications

This paper is the introduction to the forthcoming book, Recent Developments in Alternative Finance: Empirical Assessments and Economic Implications, Proceedings of Second International Symposium in Computational Economics and Finance. The conference was held in Tunis, Tunisia, March 15-17, 2012. The volume will appear as volume 22 of the Emerald Press monograph series, International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics. The topic of the conference was alternative approaches to finance.