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on Payment Systems and Financial Technology |
| By: | Alfonso Echazarra |
| Abstract: | In the growing world of digital technology everything is about speed: computer processors have doubled their performance every two years for decades; the future 5G mobile phone generation is predicted to be about 100 times faster than the current 4G and 20 000 times faster than the “ancient” 3G; and, according to the International Telecommunication Union, the share of the world population using the Internet increased from 34% to 48% in just the past five years. Is this digital revolution changing adolescents’ lives at the same frenzied rate? Are 15-year-olds more and more connected to the Internet? And are these changes closing the digital divide? |
| Date: | 2018–04–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:83-en&r=pay |
| By: | Marco Alberto Javarone; Craig Steven Wright |
| Abstract: | In the last years, Bitcoins and Blockchain technologies are gathering a wide attention from different scientific communities. Notably, thanks to widespread industrial applications and to the continuous introduction of cryptocurrencies, even the public opinion is increasing its attention towards this field. The underlying structure of these technologies constitutes one of their core concepts. In particular, they are based on peer-to-peer networks. Accordingly, all nodes lay at the same level, so that there is no place for privileged actors as, for instance, banking institutions in classical financial networks. In this work, we perform a preliminary investigation on two networks, i.e. the Bitcoin network and the Bitcoin Cash network. Notably, we aim to analyze their global structure and to evaluate if they are provided with a small-world behavior. Results suggest that the principle known as 'fittest-gets-richer', combined with a continuous increasing of connections, might constitute the mechanism leading these networks to reach their current structure. In addition, further observations open the way to new investigations into this direction. |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1804.02350&r=pay |
| By: | Roel Vos; Aloys Borgers; Astrid Kemperman |
| Abstract: | The stagnant economy and increasing popularity of the internet has changed shopping behavior. Consumers can use several channels simultaneously when reviewing and purchasing products. Consequently, consumers spend less time in a shopping center. This study investigates the acceptance and influence of mobile promotions on shopping behavior in a shopping center. Specifically, the effect of mobile promotions on consumers’ tendency to visit farther away located stores and their visit duration was measured.An experiment was conducted as part of a survey amongst 731 respondents in three Dutch district shopping centers during Dec.2015-Feb.2016. Respondents were presented on an IPad with three promotions from different store categories (differing in value) at different positions in the shopping centers. They were asked if they would visit each of the promotion stores of which the location was shown to them on a map. Their reactions to these promotions in combination with their shopping behavior (stores that they had visited and planned to visit) were used to measure the distance they covered during their shopping visit as well as the change in this distance when including a promotion store.For the analyses first, a Geographic Information System was used to measure the various distances. Secondly, Logistic regression models were estimated to predict consumer’s reaction to mobile promotions for five store categories (grocery, fashion, personal care, jewelry, and catering) based on the explanatory variables including personal characteristics and aspects of their shopping visit.Results showed that promotions are most effective for personal care and catering stores and least effective for jewelry stores. Also, consumers are unlikely to accept mobile promotions from grocery, fashion and catering stores if they have to increase the distance they had planned to cover during their visit to reach the promotion store. Mobile promotions therefore seem ineffective in order to achieve longer distances by the consumer in a shopping center. However, consumers may visit promotion stores located along their planned route, consequently increasing the number of stores visited and the duration of their stay in the shopping center. Other variables affecting the acceptance of a promotion are age, shopping motivation, education level, interest in a mobile app, promotion channel preference, and whether the promotion was shown just when the consumer arrived at the shopping center. |
| Keywords: | Experiment; mobile promotions; omni channel; shopping behavior; shopping center |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2017–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2017_26&r=pay |
| By: | Sanyal, Romola; Ferreri, Mara |
| Abstract: | The ‘sharing economy’ has become a new buzzword in urban life as digital technology companies set up online platforms to link together people and un- or underutilised assets with those seeking to rent them for short periods of time. While cloaked under the rhetoric of ‘sharing’, the exchanges they foster are usually profit-driven. These economic activities are having profound impacts on urban environments as they disrupt traditional forms of hospitality, transport, service industry and housing. While critical debates have focused on the challenges that sharing economy activities bring to existing labour and economic practices, it is necessary to acknowledge that they also have increasingly significant impacts on planning policy and urban governance. Using the case of Airbnb in London, this article looks at how these sharing or platform economy companies are involved in encouraging governments to change existing regulations, in this case by deregulating short-term letting. This has important implications for planning enforcement. We examine how the challenges around obtaining data to enforce new regulations are being addressed by local councils who struggle to balance corporate interests with public good. Finally, we address proposals for using algorithms and big data as means of urban governance and argue that the schism between regulation and enforcement is opening up new digitally mediated spaces of informal practices in cities. |
| Keywords: | Data; governance; housing; planning; sharing economy; technology/smart cities |
| JEL: | J1 L81 |
| Date: | 2018–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:87473&r=pay |
| By: | Sinelnikova-Muryleva, Elena (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)) |
| Abstract: | This workpaper is devoted to the study of payment systems development implications to the monetary authorities’ possibility to conduct effective monetary policy. The first section of the paper is devoted to the review of theoretical models connecting the development level of payment instruments and such macroeconomic indicators as demand for money, consumption, output and agents’ welfare. The analysis of “money” transformation due to evolution of new payment innovations. The second section is devoted to the overview and analysis of international experience in the sphere of payment systems research, in particular, their effect on money demand. The third section contains model estimations showing that the level of retail payment systems development significantly influences the monetary sphere of the country. The conclusion summarizes the main results of the workpaper. |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:wpaper:031813&r=pay |
| By: | Alia Gizatulina (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Olga Gorelkina (University of Liverpool) |
| Abstract: | We study the division of trade surplus in a natural field experiment on German eBay. Acting as a seller, we offer Amazon gift cards with face values of up to 500 Euro. A random selection of buyers, the subjects of our experiment, make price offers according to the rules of eBay. Using a novel decomposition method, we infer the offered shares of trade surplus from the data and find that the average share proposed to the seller amounts to about $30 \%$. Additionally, we document: (i) insignificant effects of stake size; (ii) poor use of strategically relevant public information; and (iii) differences between East and West German subjects. |
| Keywords: | Field experiment, surplus division, bargaining, Internet trade, eBay |
| JEL: | C72 C93 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2104&r=pay |
| By: | Marius Cristian Frunza (LabEx ReFi; Schwarzthal Kapital, France); Dominique Guégan (University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne; Ca' Foscari Unversity Venice; IPAG Business School; LabEx ReFi) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this research is to explore the econometric features of Bitcoin-USD rates. Various non-Gaussian models are fitted to daily returns in order to underline the unique characteristics of Bitcoin when compared to other more traditional currencies. Market efficiency hypothesis is tested further, and the main reasons for breaches in efficiency are discussed. The main goal of the paper is to assess the presence of bubble effects in this market with customized tests able to detect the timing of various bubbles. The results show that the Bitcoin prices had two episodes of rapid inflation in 2014 and 2017. |
| Keywords: | Bitcoin, crypto-currencies, bubbles, market efficiency, timeseries modeling |
| JEL: | C2 C4 C5 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2018:10&r=pay |
| By: | Svetlana Chekhovskaya (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper continues to investigate legal corporate governance issues. Over the last decade few topics in corporate law have proven as alluring and as elusive as the connection between information technologies (IT), corporate governance (CG) and corporate law. The dynamics of the development of modern law are determined by many factors, one of which is the rapid involvement of IT in all spheres of life. Everything in physical life can become a digital sign. We are in the era of successful "small" firms whose business models are built on a combination of software platforms, telecommunications technology and commercial transactions conducted "outside the firm". IT allows them to remotely carry out various business transactions, including corporate actions, providing participation in the governance of the corporation. The term IT covers a large array of electronic vehicles from software to artificial intelligence. Due to technological development, IT has quickly entered corporate governance structures in a large number of corporations. Some scholars argue that artificial intelligence will also be the new reality of corporate life in the very near future. Several questions are raised in connection with this. For example, do current laws need any changes? What are the prerequisites for modern corporate law. There has been a progressive revision of the fundamentals of corporate law over the last few decades, considering that key provisions of corporate law were created during and after the industrial revolution. I explore two paths of legal research in CG and corporate law: using IT for CG procedures, and an adjustment of CG rules for e-corporations. In addition the question is raised whether a virtual corporation has to have a corporate structure similar to the structure of a modern corporation. This new outline of corporate law is a new understanding of current corporate law. |
| Keywords: | corporate law, corporate governance, corporate e-governance, blockchain, decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) |
| JEL: | K29 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:82/law/2018&r=pay |
| By: | Ali Palali (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Bas Straathof (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Rinske Windig (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) |
| Abstract: | The rise of online trade alters the role of distance between (potential) buyers and sellers. We use data from eBay subsidiary Marktplaats.nl, one of the largest online trading platforms in the Netherlands, to estimate how distance affects the probability of a transaction between small geographical regions. We find that distance negatively and modestly affects the probability of having a transaction between two regions, and that the distribution of this probability is highly skewed: ranging from a change of 0.000 to -0.008 percentage points per marginal kilometer. The unconditional probability of a transaction is 27 percent. Distance is less influential for: advertisements with more photos advertisements placed by high-frequency advertisers for new goods in comparison to second hand goods. This suggests that information frictions might be the driving force behind the distance effect on online trade in the Netherlands. |
| JEL: | D44 R12 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:362&r=pay |
| By: | Marek Kordík (Comenius University in Bratislava); Lucia Kurilovská (Comenius University in Bratislava) |
| Abstract: | The contribution deals with national risk assessment of the money laundering and the terrorism financing at the national level. The contribution shows what are decisive criteria to evaluate the national system of anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing examining the legal frame, the institutional frame, the competency of the personnel, the infrastructure to prevent, avoid and respond such a threat. It identifies how every product, sector and all designed non-financial business and professions should be evaluated. It elaborates on the factors that may aggravate or mitigate the risks of the proposed variables. The contribution tries to draw a complexity of conducting the national risk assessment as well it hints what may be the data sources for the evaluating process. It compares the variables, its risks and description with the FATF recommendations, FATF methodology and FATF risk assessment as the main open sources but goes further and tries to adjust it to the local level and makes it "more customizing". |
| Keywords: | statistics,effectiveness,criminal proceeding,confiscation of assets,sanction,vulnerability |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01705759&r=pay |
| By: | omarini, anna |
| Abstract: | New trends are constantly appearing in the market. Given that, there are many dynamic changes for retail banking to look at and be ready to face. Retail banks have to reinvent their business model and in doing that, they need to make a selection, with a strong focus on the market needs. The future opportunities for retail banks lie in the needs of their customers. Sometimes banks have seemed schizophrenic. They have not always operated in the market with a clear strategy that is a synthesis of their internal and external vision, while consistency and order are both a prerequisite for good functioning. The danger is that certain strategies in some ways lag behind the present, leaving the market without adequate leadership. |
| Keywords: | retail banking, digitalization, strategy |
| JEL: | G21 O32 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85229&r=pay |
| By: | Quarles, Randal K. (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)) |
| Date: | 2018–04–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgsq:991&r=pay |
| By: | Verstappen, Ksenia |
| Abstract: | Hundreds of new papers on big data are released every month and at times it is difficult to distinguish between them in terms of quality and practical use. The purpose of this monthly review is to highlight the findings in the most relevant papers in Economics of big data to help readers identify the most important new developments in the field. The review for January 2018 includes a study of social networks in truancy, a paper on consumer privacy and data collection and three NBER papers on applications of Artificial Intelligence in Economics. |
| Keywords: | big data in economics, literature review |
| JEL: | C80 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85520&r=pay |
| By: | Prescott, Edward C. (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis); Wessel, Ryan (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | Businesses hold large quantities of cash reserves, which have average returns well below their investments in tangible capital. Businesses do this because these monetary assets provide services. One implication is that money services is a factor of production in capital theoretic valuation equilibrium models. Our aggregate production function is consistent with both the classical demand for money function relationship and with extended periods of near zero short-term nominal interest rates. In our model economy, there is a 100 percent reserve requirement on all demand deposits. Demand deposits are legal tender. We find (i) money services in the production function necessitates revisions in the national accounts; (ii) monetary and fiscal policy cannot be completely separated; (iii) for a given policy, equilibrium is either unique or does not exist; and (iv) Friedman’s monetary satiation is not optimal. We make quantitative comparisons between interest rate targeting regimes and between inflation rate targeting regimes. The best inflation rate target was 2 percent. {{p}} This paper is related to but fundamentally different from Staff Report 530: "Fiat Value in the Theory of Value.” |
| Keywords: | 100 percent reserve banking; Money in production function; Interest rate targeting; Inflation rate targeting; Friedman monetary satiation; zero lower bound |
| JEL: | E0 E4 E5 E6 |
| Date: | 2018–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmsr:562&r=pay |
| By: | Robert Grundke (OECD); Luca Marcolin (OECD); The Linh Bao Nguyen (Bocconi University); Mariagrazia Squicciarini (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper sheds light on the extent to which different types of skills are rewarded as industries go digital. It relies on information from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills on labour market participation and workers’ skills for 31 countries as well as on a novel OECD index on the digital penetration of industries. It investigates how cognitive and non-cognitive skills are rewarded in digital vs. less digital intensive industries and assesses the extent to which skills bundles matter. The results indicate that digital intensive industries especially reward workers having relatively higher levels of self-organisation and advanced numeracy skills. Moreover, for workers in digital intensive industries, bundles of skills are particularly important: workers endowed with a high level of numeracy skills receive an additional wage premium, if they also show high levels of self-organisation or managing and communication skills. |
| Date: | 2018–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2018/09-en&r=pay |
| By: | Milena Tsvetkova (Sofia University) |
| Abstract: | This research defends the thesis that digital books reduce the characteristics of the communication medium “book” and are transforming into “non-books”. Two aspects are traced: the foredoom to failure of the commercial (paid) digital book and the end of the digital book in the “book” category. Symptoms for the failure of the commercial digital book are the drop of growth in the market of e-books, the transformation of the book from goods into service, being free of charge, parental and teacher’s resistance. Key factors in this resistance are compromising knowledge and teaching and violating readers’ rights. The reason for the failure of the digital book in the “book”category is determined – the factor of manipulating the content as well as the formats. The conclusion is that investment policies should be directed at publishing of printed books, the designed innovations should be orientated towards the physical issue and to be introduces in the paper and the printing. |
| Abstract: | Исследование защищает тезис, что дигитальные книги производят редукцию характеристик коммуникационного средства „книги“ и превращают себя в „не-книги“. Здесь прослежены два аспекта: первый, это обреченность провала коммерческой (платной) дигитальной книги; второй относится к концу дигитальной книги как категории „книги“. Симптомы неуспеха коммерческой дигитальной книги проявляют себя в снижении рыночного прироста е-книги, в изменении определения книги от товара в услугу, в ее бесплатности, в родительском и читательском отпоре. Ключевые факторы этого отпора мы видим в компрометировании познания и учебы и в нарушении читательского права. Можно указать и на причину провала дигитальной книги как категории „книги“ – фактор манипулируемости и содержанием, и форматами. Вывод таков: инвестиционние политики нужно направлять к изданию печатных книг, а дизайнерские инновации нужно ориентировать на физические издания и выложить их на бумагу и в печать. |
| Keywords: | digital book,ebook,book publishing,e-publishing,future of books,marketing,Librarianship,Reading monitoring,Publishing strategies,будущее книг,дигитальная книга,электронная книга,издательское дело,электронное издательство |
| Date: | 2016–08–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01687962&r=pay |
| By: | Kaifeng Zhao; Seyed Hanif Mahboobi; Saeed R. Bagheri |
| Abstract: | This paper re-examines the Shapley value methods for attribution analysis in the area of online advertising. As a credit allocation solution in cooperative game theory, Shapley value method directly quantifies the contribution of online advertising inputs to the advertising key performance indicator (KPI) across multiple channels. We simplify its calculation by developing an alternative mathematical formulation. The new formula significantly improves the computational efficiency and therefore extends the scope of applicability. Based on the simplified formula, we further develop the ordered Shapley value method. The proposed method is able to take into account the order of channels visited by users. We claim that it provides a more comprehensive insight by evaluating the attribution of channels at different stages of user conversion journeys. The proposed approaches are illustrated using a real-world online advertising campaign dataset. |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1804.05327&r=pay |
| By: | Albert, Jose Ramon G.; Reyes, Charina Cecille M.; Reyes, Celia, M. |
| Abstract: | In response to the effects of super typhoon Yolanda, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) implemented an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program that provided emergency relief to 10,000 vulnerable families in Tacloban City and neighboring areas. This paper describes and assesses the design of the UCT program. It evaluates the UCT based on data collected from three survey rounds from a sample of UCT household beneficiaries, as well as other primary data sourced from focus group discussions with beneficiaries as well as interviews of key stakeholders. The evaluation suggests that the cash transfer was able to help the beneficiaries smooth their food consumption as well as address some of their other needs such as medicines, housing repair, livelihood, and education-related expenses. More than half of the cash was spent on food and this led to a decline in the malnutrition prevalence among children. Some households used part of the money to start or expand livelihood activities. The amount of the cash was very significant compared to their usual income and allowed them to purchase items that they would not ordinarily be able to purchase. Majority of the beneficiaries recovered, either partially or fully, from the devastation of Yolanda after the six-month program. Recommendations for future emergency cash programs and emergency responses are also provided. |
| Keywords: | monitoring and evaluation, unconditional cash transfer, UNICEF, Typhoon Yolanda, Emergency Response |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2018-04&r=pay |
| By: | Krzysztof Kość (Quantitative Finance Research Group, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Labyrinth HF); Paweł Sakowski (Quantitative Finance Research Group, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Labyrinth HF); Robert Ślepaczuk (Quantitative Finance Research Group, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Labyrinth HF) |
| Abstract: | We report the results of investigation of the momentum and contrarian effects on cryptocurrency markets. The investigated investment strategies involve 100 (amongst over 1200 present as of date Nov 2017) cryptocurrencies with the largest market cap and average 14-day daily volume exceeding a given threshold value. Investment portfolios are constructed using different assumptions regarding the portfolio reallocation period, width of the ranking window, the number of cryptocurrencies in the portfolio, and the percent transaction costs. The performance is benchmarked against: (1) equally weighted and (2) market-cap weighted investments in all of the ranked assets, as well as against the buy and hold strategies based on (3) S&P500 index, and (4) BTCUSD price. Our results show a clear and significant dominance of the short-term contrarian effect over both momentum effect and the benchmark portfolios. The information ratio coefficient for the contrarian strategies often exceeds two-digit values depending on the assumed reallocation period and the width of the ranking window. Additionally, we observe a very significant diversification potential for all cryptocurrency portfolios with relation to the S&P500 index. |
| Keywords: | cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, blockchain, momentum effect, contrarian effect, investment strategy, efficiency of financial markets, new asset class, asset allocation |
| JEL: | C15 G11 F30 G12 G13 G14 G15 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2018-09&r=pay |
| By: | Daniel W. Elfenbein; Raymond Fisman; Brian McManus |
| Abstract: | We study the use of and response to cheap talk by firms and their consumers, focusing on unverifiable promises of charitable donations on eBay. For transactions during March 2005 – May 2006, cheap talk listings have lower sales probabilities but sell at higher prices when they are successful. The negative relationship between cheap talk and sales is concentrated in the months following Hurricane Katrina, a time when both verifiable and unverifiable charity-related listings increased dramatically. Finally, we show that cheap talk sellers have significantly lower quality ratings than sellers who make verifiable donations. Collectively, our results suggest that most buyers (justifiably) avoid cheap talk listings when credible quality signals are available, thus limiting the extent of cheap talk under these conditions. |
| JEL: | D83 K2 L15 M37 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24437&r=pay |
| By: | Lefebvre, Germain; Nioche, Aurélien; Bourgeois-Gironde, Sacha; Palminteri, Stefano |
| Abstract: | Money is a fundamental and ubiquitous institution in modern economies. However, the question of its emergence remains a central one for economists. The monetary search-theoretic approach studies the conditions under which commodity money emerges as a solution to override frictions inherent to inter-individual exchanges in a decentralized economy. Although among these conditions, agents' rationality is classically essential and a prerequisite to any theoretical monetary equilibrium, human subjects often fail to adopt optimal strategies in tasks implementing a search-theoretic paradigm when these strategies are speculative, i.e., involve the use of a costly medium of exchange to increase the probability of subsequent and successful trades. In the present work, we hypothesize that implementing such speculative behaviors relies on reinforcement learning instead of lifetime utility calculations, as supposed by classical economic theory. To test this hypothesis, we operationalized the Kiyotaki and Wright paradigm of money emergence in a multi-step exchange task and fitted behavioral data regarding human subjects performing this task with two reinforcement learning models. Each of them implements a distinct cognitive hypothesis regarding the weight of future or counterfactual rewards in current decisions. We found that both models outperformed theoretical predictions about subjects' behaviors regarding the implementation of speculative strategies and that the latter relies on the degree of the opportunity costs consideration in the learning process. Speculating about the marketability advantage of money thus seems to depend on mental simulations of counterfactual events that agents are performing in exchange situations. |
| Keywords: | Money, Speculative Behaviours, Reinforcement Learning |
| JEL: | C91 D83 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85586&r=pay |