The Impact of Modern Financial Technologies on Social Trust Among Financial Managers
Keywords:
Financial technologies; social trust; information asymmetry; agency costs; financial management; blockchain; transparencyAbstract
The objective of this study is to investigate how modern financial technologies influence social trust among financial managers through mechanisms of transparency, information asymmetry reduction, and agency cost reduction. This applied research employed a mixed-methods design combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative phase utilized a descriptive-survey method, collecting data from 300 financial managers, senior accountants, and board chairpersons of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange through a researcher-developed questionnaire assessing financial technology adoption, social trust, information asymmetry, and agency costs. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 20 senior financial managers selected purposively to capture experiential insights into the effects of financial technologies on trust and organizational dynamics. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS through descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM), while qualitative data were examined via thematic analysis to extract contextual patterns. The inferential results indicated that modern financial technologies significantly increased social trust among financial managers (β = 0.71, p < 0.001). The technologies also had strong positive effects on reducing information asymmetry (β = 0.66, p < 0.001) and lowering agency costs (β = 0.58, p < 0.001), both of which further contributed to higher social trust (β = 0.32 and β = 0.28, respectively, p < 0.001 for both). Financial technology usage showed strong correlations with social trust (r = 0.69), information asymmetry reduction (r = 0.63), and agency cost reduction (r = 0.61). The structural model demonstrated excellent fit (χ²/df = 2.14, CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.056), explaining 68% of the variance in social trust. The study concludes that modern financial technologies significantly enhance social trust among financial managers by creating transparency, reducing information imbalances, and minimizing agency-related inefficiencies, thereby shifting trust from interpersonal dependence to system-based reliability.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Zahra Zeidabadi nezhad, Seyed Musa Raeisi (Author)
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