The journal Asia and the Global Economy is a new journal sponsored by the Asia Economic Community Forum (AECF) and published by Elsevier (www.journals.elsevier.com/asia-and-the-global-economy/). The journal will publish rigorous research that has clear policy implications for the Asian economies, or for their mutual cooperation or for the role of Asian economies in the global economic system. To this end we are soliciting papers for a special issue devoted to Blockchain Technologies and Asian Economic Cooperation. For papers accepted and published in 2021, the open access fee will be waived, allowing authors to have the widest possible exposure for their contributions.

Blockchain currencies are gaining in importance both as assets and as a means of payment. Although Asian countries account for a large part of global trade and investment, no Asian currency has become a dominant currency for invoicing global trade or as a major international asset, which suggests that blockchain currencies may prove attractive to traders and investors in Asian counties. While there has been extensive technical research on blockchain currencies, the broader implications of risk, the possibility of bubbles and of the need to regulate theses currencies remains under-researched. Thus, we are seeking papers that examine how the emergence and growing utilization of blockchain currencies like Bitcoin will affect economic relations among Asian economies and their financial systems, will aid in Asian economic integration, raise regulatory issues that Asian economies would have to address, and what problems and opportunities their use poses for Asian economies. We invite both empirical papers and papers with broad conceptual approaches. All papers should have a conclusions section that identifies clear policy implications for Asian economies. Interested contributors should contact Professor Ali Kutan , the editor of the special issue. Deadline for submissions is August 15, 2021. Professor Ali M. Kutan (akutan@siue.edu) will serve as the Guest Editor for this Special Issue of Asia and the Global Economy. Interested authors should contact him with proposals.