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on Payment Systems and Financial Technology |
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Issue of 2020‒10‒26
forty papers chosen by |
| By: | Berdibayev, Yergali; Kwon, Youngsun |
| Abstract: | The first goal of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the absence of poverty to be achieved by 2030. Thus, access to and usage of financial services play an important role in achieving this, where ICT and digital technologies are the main tools, that describe it as a digital financial service (DFS). It defines the provision of financial services and products through digital channels (mobile phone, cards, Internet etc.), and where DFS can be used remotely. DFS inclusion means to increase an access and usage of DFS through digital channels. We collected data for two years (Findex, 2014 & 2017) in 120 countries, overall 240 observation, and with depended variable as DFS inclusion, and independent 12 variables, such as GDP per capita, ATMs per adults, basic skills, Internet usage, mobile subscription, mobile 3G & 4G coverages (separately), mobile internet tariffs, handset prices, political stability, control of corruption and cybersecurity. In general, the regression yielded good results. Factors such as GDP per capita, political stability, control of corruption, mobile 4G coverage, ATMs per adults and mobile Internet tariffs are statistically significant factors for DFS inclusion. In addition, the r-squared value shows more than 0.8 in all models (running with 3G coverage, 4G coverage, both and also with dummy variable). |
| Keywords: | Digital financial service inclusion,Mobile money services,Financial services,Digital finance,Financial inclusion,Digital payments,Mobile money |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224847&r=all |
| By: | Butler, Caroline |
| Abstract: | As the reach of mobile technology grows, it is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for access to welfare-enhancing information and services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, digital inclusion remains far from universal. Across LMICs, 14 per cent of adults still do not own a mobile phone, 39 per cent do not use mobile internet, and 38 per cent do not own a smartphone. Among other characteristics, these digitally excluded individuals are predominantly female. This study seeks to better understand the key drivers of mobile ownership, mobile internet, and smartphone use, with a particular focus on gender. Discrete-choice models, including logit, probit and linear models, are used to estimate the probability of adoption of these three types of technology. By including a suite of control variables for observable drivers of mobile adoption (e.g. education levels, age, employment, rural-urban location), the coefficient for gender represents non-observable effects which could be a product of discrimination and cultural norms. Furthermore, importance is placed on the inclusion of interaction terms in the regressions (for example, gender interacted with rural location), in order to isolate different degrees of marginalisation across the female population. In addition to the focus on gender, the marginal effects of the dependent variables for other factors (such as geography, education, employment, and age) will aid understanding of the key predictors of mobile use more generally. This research also shows how these predictors might vary by country and region, how they relate to each other, and which are the most important. This will provide relevant and important information for policy-makers. The research makes use of multiple years (2017, 2018, and 2019) of data from face-to-face consumer surveys sourced from the GSMA, which includes nationally representative samples of at least 1,000 respondents for 31 low- and middle-income countries. The wide geographic scope, and multi-year nature of the survey data results in a unique contribution to the literature, and the substantial number of observations allows for novel analysis of intersections of the female population. In summary, the initial results find that: women are 5 percentage points (pp) less likely to own a mobile phone then men, 6pp less likely to use mobile internet, and 4pp less likely to own a smartphone, even when other relevant socioeconomic and demographic factors are controlled for. This unobservable gender effect is more pronounced in certain regions, especially South Asia, but with no significant link in Latin America and Caribbean. The marginal effects of the interaction variables indicate that the negative impact is enhanced for women that live in rural areas, have low levels of literacy, and are not working. In addition, this study finds that the probability of mobile technology adoption increases (with varying magnitudes by technology type and region) with income, education, urban location, literacy, and employment. Adoption of mobile technology largely declines with age, but the impact generally does not appear to start until age 45 and above for mobile ownership. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224848&r=all |
| By: | Simon Trimborn; Wolfgang Karl H\"ardle |
| Abstract: | The cryptocurrency market is unique on many levels: Very volatile, frequently changing market structure, emerging and vanishing of cryptocurrencies on a daily level. Following its development became a difficult task with the success of cryptocurrencies (CCs) other than Bitcoin. For fiat currency markets, the IMF offers the index SDR and, prior to the EUR, the ECU existed, which was an index representing the development of European currencies. Index providers decide on a fixed number of index constituents which will represent the market segment. It is a challenge to fix a number and develop rules for the constituents in view of the market changes. In the frequently changing CC market, this challenge is even more severe. A method relying on the AIC is proposed to quickly react to market changes and therefore enable us to create an index, referred to as CRIX, for the cryptocurrency market. CRIX is chosen by model selection such that it represents the market well to enable each interested party studying economic questions in this market and to invest into the market. The diversified nature of the CC market makes the inclusion of altcoins in the index product critical to improve tracking performance. We have shown that assigning optimal weights to altcoins helps to reduce the tracking errors of a CC portfolio, despite the fact that their market cap is much smaller relative to Bitcoin. The codes used here are available via www.quantlet.de. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2009.09782&r=all |
| By: | Jurva, Risto; Matinmikko-Blue, Marja; Niemelä, Ville; Hänninen, Tuomo |
| Abstract: | Digitalization activities have been in process for several years covering most business areas. Enterprises around the globe have been preparing their digital transition by the deployment of novel ICT and IoT systems to strengthen their operational functions on many levels. It is envisioned that most businesses will benefit largely from digitalization. This applies also to research and education sector, where the universities are in role to show the way forward. Specifically, the campuses with ICT, cellular network technology and software research units are probably in the frontline to innovate and pilot sophisticated education and research environments. Utilization of data collected from specific surroundings by sensors, devices, machines, vehicles and individuals is increasingly in the focus of developing new services and applications in campuses. The discussion of data based services and applications has been increasing in recent years and emergence of specific data operators has been anticipated. Prior to the development of services and applications, it is important to specify the platforms for data management process for appropriate handling of data. A proper data management process consists of collection, warehousing, processing, refining and sharing of data while not forgetting privacy and security. Stakeholders like universities, business parks or cities are considering to initiate data operator activity by bringing open data available for service and application developers. Subsequently, another aspect with the data operator is the operation of network infrastructure. The campus discussed in this article has deployed 5G and IoT-sensor test network with edge and cloud computing functionality for research purposes. Complementary functionality like network management will be integrated in the next phase of network infrastructure development. In this paper we define the requirements on how to develop digital smart campus environment for data management and network infrastructure operations to establish an operative 5G/IoT network for research purposes. The requirement evaluation is done based on practical campus network use case in progress. Establishment of experimental 5G/IoT operative functions on campus enables to accelerate procreation of research based innovations specifically when the environment is open for enterprises, developers and innovators like the in the campus presented here. The innovations are piloted in the campus surroundings and the most promising ones are up-scaled to develop city governance or to offer services for smart city inhabitants. The most successful innovations will be scaled nationally and globally. Subsequently, a locally operated experimental 5G/IoT network infrastructure on campus advances to find novel approaches in telecom regulation and models for future telecom market which is foreseen to change significantly. |
| Keywords: | 5G,IoT,data management,network management,smart campus |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224860&r=all |
| By: | Park, Keeyeon; Kim, Hye-jin |
| Abstract: | Since the prevalence of smartphones, the smartphone application (app) industry has penetrated rapidly. Such growth encourages a deeper understanding of mobile user behavior. Using contextual information, previous studies have attempted to understand when users launch different types of app categories. However, most were limited to the number of apps and categories. This study aims to contribute to the general understanding of mobile app usage in a wider range of categories. We analyzed contextual information that influences smartphone users' anxiety, such as the battery state and Wi-Fi network. We empirically examined a distinctive data set that contains mobile log data across a panel of users. As a result, our findings demonstrate that contextual features such as battery charging duration and Wi-Fi connection are highly related to the choice probability of app category usage. It reveals the importance of dynamic conditions incurred from the battery state and Wi-Fi connection when users choose which app to launch. Our findings have practical implications for smartphone app companies who seek app-targeting strategies or marketers who use mobile apps as a means of advertising to interact with potential customers. |
| Keywords: | mobile industry,battery state,choice model,mobile app usage |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224871&r=all |
| By: | Kim, Yongwon; Kim, Yongkyu |
| Abstract: | As the usage of mobile data is significantly increasing, the demand for free public Wi-Fi also continues to grow. The ministry of science & ICT (MSIT) and some municipalities in Korea have been constructing free Wi-Fi networks on mass transportation for the benefit of users. In this study, we estimate the economic value of Wi-Fi for leisure based on demand function, which considers the time cost of using the internet. By using the 2016-2019 Korean Media Panel (KMP) data, we estimated the yearly consumer surplus of Wi-Fi and that of Wi-Fi in city buses. In this way, we showed the cost-benefit analysis could be carried out in public Wi-Fi projects. |
| Keywords: | Wi-Fi,Internet,Consumer Surplus,Panel Analysis |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224863&r=all |
| By: | Dasgupta, Kalyan; Williams, Mark |
| Abstract: | This paper casts the economic and regulatory debate around digital platforms in a broader and more historical context. We emphasise that despite the considerable theoretical and policy-making discussion that focuses on the specific attributes of platforms-the presence of indirect network effects, economies of scale and difficulties of consumer coordination-that the challenge confronting policy-makers is an inherent tension between the desire to see "competitive" markets characterised by entry or by multiple competing firms, and other economic objectives such as efficiency and incentives to innovate. We note that similar challenges have been confronted in areas such as innovation policy and in network industries where sunk set-up costs and the resulting scale economies potentially limit the scope for efficient entry. Recent work by Weyl and White (2014; 2016) in fact emphasises the similarities between digital platforms and natural monopolies, and argues that even though unregulated platforms will not provide the socially optimal level and quality of service, any distortions created by platforms' profit-maximising behaviour are not efficiently corrected by introducing more competition. They argue that such competition is likely to inefficiently fragment platforms and reduce the level of network effects that they deliver to consumers, and propose that a natural monopoly philosophy of regulation may be more appropriate. In this paper, we focus on the historic experience of the telecommunications industry and its regulators in attempting to balance the desire to introduce competition with the natural constraints posed by the production technologies used in the industry. Telecom regulation has, at various times, had a "marketmitigating" character and at other times has had a "market-shaping" character. The former type of regulation is familiar natural monopoly regulation, which attempts to protect consumers against the consequences of a concentrated market structure, while recognising or accepting that the market structure may be difficult to change and may even have efficiency benefits. The latter type of regulation has involved regulatory efforts to affect market structure through tools such as wholesale access regulation justified by reference to "stepping stone" or "ladder of investment" theories, or vertical unbundling of incumbents. Examining the regulatory history of the US and UK we find that marketshaping intervention has had limited success in creating new entry, and that in both countries, the most important long-term driver of competition appears to be competition from new technologies, e.g., cable and mobile networks in the past and new fibre-based entrants in the present. The experience of telecoms regulation-which we plan to expand to include the experience of additional jurisdictions besides the US and the UK-suggests that the production technology of an industry remains a powerful determinant of market structure. In the case of platform industries, network effects and scale economies may limit the extent of competition in the efficient delivery of platform services. If the experience of telecoms is anything to go by, efforts to engineer more competition in the primary platform market may encounter a high chance of failure or irrelevance in the face of underlying economic forces and technological progress. There may be merit in exploring a regulatory approach that attempts to mitigate market failures that result from concentrated market structures, as proposed by Weyl and White, and competition policy may play an important role in preventing the leveraging of market power from primary platform markets to adjacent services markets. However, policies aimed at increasing direct competition to existing digital platforms may encounter difficulties similar to those encountered by market-shaping policies in telecoms regulation. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224850&r=all |
| By: | Bauer, Johannes M.; Prado, Tiago S. |
| Abstract: | This paper relates to current concerns about the high concentration of digital platform markets and the effects of large companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, on innovation. Several stakeholders and analysts assert that digital platforms have become so dominant that they slow the speed of innovation and that regulatory and antitrust intervention is needed to protect the public interest. Despite the strong claims, few systematic studies have examined the positive and negative effects of digital platforms on innovation. This paper seeks to contribute to closing this gap by pursuing three overarching objectives. First, it develops a theoretical framework to deepen our understanding of the multi-faceted relations between digital platforms and innovation. Second, it discusses which empirical evidence could be used to examine the multitude of potential, positive and negative, impacts. Third, the paper discusses the implications of these largely conceptual arguments for the design of policies toward digital platforms. In contrast to traditional regulatory theory and practice, which often uses static economic optimization models, much of innovation economics emphasizes that incentives to introduce new processes, create new products, services, designs, and business models are strongest in out-of-equilibrium processes. However, there are conditions under which market power and the interests of large companies do not align well with the broader goals of vibrant innovation. The paper argues that the most promising instruments to address these issues affect the constitution of digital markets. |
| Keywords: | Digital platforms,innovation economics,innovation ecosystems,market power,regulation,competition policy |
| JEL: | L86 L96 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224846&r=all |
| By: | Claire Greene; Joanna Stavins |
| Abstract: | Why do US consumers pay their bills the way they do? Using data from a recent diary of consumer payment behavior, we find that the type of bill consumers are paying and how they are paying (online or automatically) are important factors in determining the payment method, in addition to the dollar value of the bill and the demographic and income profile of the individual who is paying. In contrast, dollar value and demographic attributes are found to be the most important factors determining the payment instrument chosen for purchases. Consumer choices for bill payments are somewhat constrained by requirements imposed by merchants, while the choice of payment instrument for purchases is not constrained by such requirements. The convenience and speed provided by automatic and online payments are not benefitting all US consumers equally. Unbanked consumers lack access to most payment methods and, hence, use cash or prepaid cards to pay their bills. Low-income consumers pay their bills differently from the rest of the sample: They are more likely to pay in person, use significantly more cash, and are less likely to set up automated or online bill payments, regardless of whether they have a bank account. Although consumers specify in the diary which methods they prefer to use to pay their bills, in practice they are not likely to act consistently with their stated preferences. We find that consumers who pay their bills online are less likely to deviate from their preferred payment method, while those who pay their bills automatically are more likely to deviate, after we control for income, demographic attributes, the dollar amount of the bill, and the merchant type. We find no evidence of the salience effect of automatic bill payments that Sexton (2015) finds for energy consumption. Rather, we find that consumers who pay their bills automatically have higher incomes and spend more on bills than lower-income consumers do, but that automatic bill payments are lower in value on average, which is the opposite of the finding by Sexton (2015). |
| Keywords: | bill payments; payment choice; payment preferences; consumer payments |
| JEL: | D12 D14 E42 |
| Date: | 2020–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:88884&r=all |
| By: | Olivier Accominotti (LSE); Stefano Ugolini (LEREPS) |
| Abstract: | This chapter presents a history of international trade finance - the oldest domain of international finance - from its emergence in the Middle Ages up to today. We describe how the structure and governance of the global trade finance market changed over time and how trade credit instruments evolved. Trade finance products initially consisted of idiosyncratic assets issued by local merchants and bankers. The financing of international trade then became increasingly centralized and credit instruments were standardized through the diffusion of the local standards of consecutive leading trading centres (Antwerp, Amsterdam, London). This process of market centralization/product standardization culminated in the nineteenth century when London became the global centre for international trade finance and the sterling bill of exchange emerged as the most widely used trade finance instrument. The structure of the trade finance market then evolved considerably following the First World War and disintegrated during the interwar de-globalization and Bretton Woods period. The reconstruction of global trade finance in the post-1970 period gave way to the decentralized market structure that prevails nowadays. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2009.08668&r=all |
| By: | Ai Jun Hou; Weining Wang; Cathy Y. H. Chen; Wolfgang Karl H\"ardle |
| Abstract: | Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin (BTC), which comprise a new digital asset class, have drawn extraordinary worldwide attention. The characteristics of the cryptocurrency/BTC include a high level of speculation, extreme volatility and price discontinuity. We propose a pricing mechanism based on a stochastic volatility with a correlated jump (SVCJ) model and compare it to a flexible co-jump model by Bandi and Ren\`o (2016). The estimation results of both models confirm the impact of jumps and co-jumps on options obtained via simulation and an analysis of the implied volatility curve. We show that a sizeable proportion of price jumps are significantly and contemporaneously anti-correlated with jumps in volatility. Our study comprises pioneering research on pricing BTC options. We show how the proposed pricing mechanism underlines the importance of jumps in cryptocurrency markets. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2009.11007&r=all |
| By: | Wei Zhou (Eller College of Management, University of Arizona); Zidong Wang (Alibaba Group) |
| Abstract: | E-commerce platforms guide consumers’ search traffic toward online retailers that are classified into different product categories. An online retailer can either list itself under a broad category to reap larger search traffic, or choose a narrow category, often a subcategory of a broad category, to target a niche audience. In collaboration with Taobao.com, China’s largest e-commerce platform, we exploit a change in the platform’s search algorithm to study online retailors’ location decisions in the digital world. In our framework, each market is defined by a search query, which matches an online retailer’s product either closely or distantly. The platform allocates search traffic into different categories, and online retailers compete for the search traffic in each product category with heterogeneous abilities to convert search traffic into revenue. Using detailed data on search queries, search exposure, and seller revenue, we find that an online retailer faces a tradeoff between market size and competition intensity, and a retailer is better at converting closely matched search traffic into revenues. By refining a broader category into narrow subcategories, the e-commerce platform gives retailers the flexibility to forgo higher volumes of search traffic in order to gain a better conversion rate. Eliminating category refinement would lead to about 17% revenue losses for sellers in product categories we study, with incidence mostly on sellers that specialize in niche products. Our results suggest that e-commerce platforms as entrepreneurial incubators can help small business owners thrive on the platform through targeted search traffic allocation. |
| Keywords: | E-commerce, Search, Entry, Platform Design, Entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | D83 L11 L26 L81 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2012&r=all |
| By: | Oskar KOWALEWSKI (IESEG School of Management & LEM-CNRS 9221); Paweł PISANY (Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the determinants of fintech company creation and activity using a cross-country sample that includes developed and developing countries. Using a random effect negative binomial model and explainable machine learning algorithms, we show the positive role of technology advancements in each economy, quality of research, and more importantly, the level of university-industry collaboration. Additionally, we find that demographic factors may play a role in fintech creation and activity. Some fintech companies may find the quality and stringency of regulation to be an obstacle. Our results also show the sophisticated interactions between the banking sector and fintech companies that we may describe as a mix of cooperation and competition. |
| Keywords: | fintech, innovation, start up, developed countries, developing countries |
| JEL: | G21 G23 L26 O30 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ies:wpaper:f202007&r=all |
| By: | Qi Zhao |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a deep learning framework based on Long Short-term Memory Network(LSTM) that predicts price movement of cryptocurrencies from trade-by-trade data. The main focus of this study is on predicting short-term price changes in a fixed time horizon from a looking back period. By carefully designing features and detailed searching for best hyper-parameters, the model is trained to achieve high performance on nearly a year of trade-by-trade data. The optimal model delivers stable high performance(over 60% accuracy) on out-of-sample test periods. In a realistic trading simulation setting, the prediction made by the model could be easily monetized. Moreover, this study shows that the LSTM model could extract universal features from trade-by-trade data, as the learned parameters well maintain their high performance on other cryptocurrency instruments that were not included in training data. This study exceeds existing researches in term of the scale and precision of data used, as well as the high prediction accuracy achieved. |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2010.07404&r=all |
| By: | Kivekäs, Tuomo; Hämmäinen, Heikki; Niemelä, Jarno |
| Abstract: | From the perspective of an access network operator, the smart home is an interesting opportunity. Operators have established customer relationships with their existing mobile and fixed broadband offering and view the smart home as an opportunity to create value-added services. Interoperability of smart home devices enables the full potential of smart homes as users are willing to use a single application for all their home control needs. Automation rules are one of the core benefits of smart home and requires interoperability between the devices. Interoperability and the single application as a control method can be achieved with a smart home hub and an integration service. One possible strategy for operators is to provide such hub and service. To provide a smart home hub and an integration service, operators have to choose how to partner with the hub manufacturers. The paper identifies three alternative ways for the partnership using Value Network Configuration method. To compare those three alternatives, called value network configurations, a techno-economic model is created, focusing especially on costs. Three value network configurations are compared with the model using example input data and a single value network configuration is recommended based on the economic results such as net present value, internal rate of return and payback period in combination with sensitivity analysis. The article also introduces a simple approach for modeling the effect of development time when comparing the value network configurations. With the used input data, the results of the techno-economic model indicate that the operator should choose a value network configuration in which the operator deploys their application but utilizes the hub manufacturer's backend. |
| Keywords: | Smart Home,Value Network Configuration,Techno-Economic Model |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224864&r=all |
| By: | Romero Reyes, Ronald; Bauschert, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an approach for the estimation of the cost contribution that FTTx broadband access networks make to the total service long-run incremental costs (LRIC) of the information services carried on these networks. The approach is applicable to the analysis of the techno-economic efficiencies of the business models enabled by the disaggregation/unbundling of the access network infrastructure. This is achieved by dimensioning first the access network for an expected service demand. The corresponding capital and operational expenditures are then calculated and apportioned to the services. The goal is to quantify the dependency of the LRIC on the architecture and the technologies used to deploy the access network. For selected business models, results are discussed for a case study that considers the provisioning of IPTV, VoIP and Internet services over FTTx networks implemented by active and passive optical networking technologies. The results show that the disaggregation of the access network may result in service cost savings compared to the traditional vertically integrated business model. Furthermore, different FTTx solutions based on active and passive technologies attain similar service costs. |
| Keywords: | Fixed broadband access networks,FTTx,Lon-Run Incremental Cost,Cost Allocation to Services |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224873&r=all |
| By: | Stanis{\l}aw Dro\.zd\.z; Jaros{\l}aw Kwapie\'n; Pawe{\l} O\'swi\k{e}cimka; Tomasz Stanisz; Marcin W\k{a}torek |
| Abstract: | Social systems are characterized by an enormous network of connections and factors that can influence the structure and dynamics of these systems. All financial markets, including the cryptocurrency market, belong to the economical sphere of human activity that seems to be the most interrelated and complex. The cryptocurrency market complexity can be studied from different perspectives. First, the dynamics of the cryptocurrency exchange rates to other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies can be studied and quantified by means of multifractal formalism. Second, coupling and decoupling of the cryptocurrencies and the conventional assets can be investigated with the advanced cross-correlation analyses based on fractal analysis. Third, an internal structure of the cryptocurrency market can also be a subject of analysis that exploits, for example, a network representation of the market. We approach this subject from all three perspectives based on data recorded between January 2019 and June 2020. This period includes the Covid-19 pandemic and we pay particular attention to this event and investigate how strong its impact on the structure and dynamics of the market was. Besides, the studied data covers a few other significant events like double bull and bear phases in 2019. We show that, throughout the considered interval, the exchange rate returns were multifractal with intermittent signatures of bifractality that can be associated with the most volatile periods of the market dynamics like a bull market onset in April 2019 and the Covid-19 outburst in March 2020. The topology of a minimal spanning tree representation of the market also used to alter during these events from a distributed type without any dominant node to a highly centralized type with a dominating hub of USDT. However, the MST topology during the pandemic differs in some details from other volatile periods. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2009.10030&r=all |
| By: | Edquist, Harald; Goodridge, Peter; Haskel, Jonathan |
| Abstract: | This paper finds that the shift from buying music as a physical product towards subscribing to music services implies a decrease of 85 percent in the price paid per song. We estimate that in 2019 the global quality adjusted value from streamed music was $76 billion compared to current revenues of $11.4 billion. Thus, the shift from consuming music in physical form towards subscribing to music services creates an enormous consumer surplus that is not recorded in GDP. |
| Keywords: | Streaming,price index,mobile broadband |
| JEL: | O31 O33 O34 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224851&r=all |
| By: | Lukasz Grzybowski (Telecom ParisTech, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, 46 rue Barrault, 75013 Paris, France); Frank Verboven (University of Leuven and CEPR (London), Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium); Frank Verboven (University of Leuven and CEPR (London), Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | We conduct incentive compatible choice experiments to measure the economic value of social media data. We focus on the value that users place on their personal data related to the three biggest social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We find that the median Willingness to Accept (WTA) of users for the entire ``stock'' of data for Facebook and Instagram is $300 each which is 20% higher than Twitter valued at $250. We use data valuations from a recent data breach settlement by Facebook to provide information interventions. We find that reducing these information frictions about the value of data can make users revise their valuations upwards. They do not reduce their valuation if the amount is less than their initial WTA. Finally, a framing which makes the users think about giving their data up immediately makes them value it much higher. We do not find a significant impact of a potential `present bias' in users' decisions, especially relative to the immediate data sharing intervention. |
| Keywords: | value of data; choice experiments, privacy |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2013&r=all |
| By: | Luca P. Merlino; Paolo Pin; Nicole Tabasso |
| Abstract: | We study the diffusion of a true and a false message (the rumor) in a social network. Upon hearing a message, individuals may believe it, disbelieve it, or debunk it through costly verification. Whenever the truth survives in steady state, so does the rumor. Online social communication exacerbates relative rumor prevalence as long as it increases homophily or verification costs. Our model highlights that successful policies in the fight against rumors increase individuals' incentives to verify. |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2010.01018&r=all |
| By: | Aavakare, Milla; Nikou, Shahrokh |
| Abstract: | Educational environments, such as universities, have been deeply affected by technologically driven change. In fact, educational technologies are becoming progressively common, and scholars have stated that there is an expectation for these technologies to be a part of formal learning environments. Hence, university staff are expected to use digital technologies in their work activities. These expectations, however, rely on university staff's capabilities to use such technologies, thus highlighting the importance of literacy skills. This paper aims to explore the impact of information literacy (IL) and digital literacy (DL) on university staff's intention to use digital technologies in their work activities. To support this aim, a conceptual model is composed of constructs such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy and habit from the UTAUT2 framework, while incorporating the dimensions of information literacy and digital literacy. The conceptual model is then assessed with data obtained from 100 university employees thorough partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate there is a direct and significant relationship between information literacy and intention to use digital technologies, whereas the relationship between digital literacy and intention to use is mediated through performance expectancy and habit. Furthermore, performance expectancy and habit possess a direct impact on intention to use technology. |
| Keywords: | Digitalisation,digital literacy,digital tools,higher education institutions,information literacy,university staff,UTAUT,UTAUT2 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224840&r=all |
| By: | Abate, Serafino; Bahia, Kalvin; Castells, Pau |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impact of competition on quality, innovation and price in Europe's mobile communications market during the 4G era (2011-18). Our results indicate that European mobile users in more concentrated markets benefitted the most from higher network quality, particularly with regard to download speeds. We find that dispersion of fixed costs and assets among a greater number of players can result in diseconomies of scale and a less efficient use of resources, which translates into lower network performance, to the detriment of consumers. We also find evidence of investment per operator being greater in markets with higher profit margins, which are also typically more concentrated markets. |
| JEL: | K20 L10 L40 L96 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224841&r=all |
| By: | Hans-Eggert Reimers; Friedrich Schneider; Franz Seitz |
| Abstract: | We analyze for the first time cash holdings of private households in all euro area countries from 2002 to 2019 within a panel cointegration framework. Besides the traditional determinants of cash demand like transactions balances and opportunity costs, we concentrate on cashless payments media as substitutes to cash payments and the role of the shadow economy. Moreover, we take due account of country-specific repercussions of the financial and economic crisis of 2008/09, time series properties and distinguish between small and large countries. We find a significant and positive relationship among households' cash holdings, the volume of transactions and the size of the shadow economy irrespective of country size for all euro area countries over our sample period. Additionally, there is a substitution relationship between the accessibility and availability of cashless payments media and cash demand. And a decreasing number of ATMs reduces cash holdings. These results have important political and financial implications. |
| Keywords: | cash, cashless payments, shadow economy, cash demand function, panel cointegration |
| JEL: | C23 E41 E58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8574&r=all |
| By: | Basaure, Arturo; Benseny, Jaume |
| Abstract: | Successful adoption of urban cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) services by consumers requires high-density network coverage and a diverse and vibrant community of service providers. This work analyses the economic and technological requirements for a successful smart city platform adoption for such services by modelling the interaction of different sides of the platform and related network effects by means of system dynamics. This work suggests that the adoption of such a platform is a long-term process. Its success depends on the ability of stakeholders (i.e., operators, service providers, the city, etc.) to collaborate in achieving data compatibility, allowing its sharing and efficient usage, which in turn increases the quality of the offered services and accelerates consumer adoption. In addition, this study suggests some pricing and investment strategies which may be helpful for a successful deployment of such a platform. Overall, a smart city platform for C-V2X services involves high uncertainty; however, it may potentially create new sources of large societal benefits. |
| Keywords: | smart city,connectivity and data platform,connected vehicles,adoption,critical mass,network effect,low latency and ultra-reliable requirements,system dynamics |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224845&r=all |
| By: | Queder, Fabian; Lehr, William; Haucap, Justus |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224872&r=all |
| By: | Ahokangas, Petri; Matinmikko-Blue, Marja; Yrjölä, Seppo; Hämmäinen, Heikki |
| Abstract: | Data and connectivity platforms play a key role in the digitalization of different sectors of our society. The availability of new services that are specialized to the needs of a given vertical sector in a specific location can significantly boost the business opportunities of that ecosystem. 5G in particular is aiming at offering new building blocks to digitalization by enabling fast exchange of increasing amounts of data between different entities. This paper presents a case study of the digitalization of a port which presents an intriguing example of future 5G platform ecosystems. We identify the key stakeholders of the port ecosystem and characterize their interactions in the current situation. We depict and analyze alternative configurations for connectivity and data platforms encompassing centralized, hybrid and fragmented approaches. Finally, we propose three consecutive steps for managing the service roadmap of the converged connectivity and data platforms in the port: fragmented data - fragmented connectivity phase, fragmented data - hybrid connectivity phase and the optimally hybrid data - optimally centralized connectivity phase. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224842&r=all |
| By: | Élise Alfieri (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA [2020-....] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2020-....]); Radu Burlacu (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA [2020-....] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2020-....]); Geoffroy Enjolras (CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA [2020-....] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2020-....]) |
| Abstract: | The cyber-space of crypto-currency market is a main issue in terms of security and stability. The novelty and the high volatility of crypto-currencies question their speculative nature. Recently, the crypto-currency price exponentially increased and reached an important burst in the end of 2017. The objective of this article is to detect and test the prediction of this crypto-currency market crash using the Log-Periodic Power Law model (LPPL). We consider 2 main crypto-currencies, Bitcoin and Ether. We find that the LPPL model allows to estimate the date of the crash in the crypto-currency market depending on the window sensitivity. |
| Keywords: | Crypto-Currencies,Bitcoin,Bubble,LPPL,Speculation |
| Date: | 2019–03–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02952123&r=all |
| By: | Kilkki, Kalevi |
| Abstract: | All ecosystem models are just rough approximations of reality. In the case of communications ecosys-tems, numerous actors interact with each other and create an incredibly complex process that tends to depress even the most diligent modeler. In recent decades, various methods have been used to solve this dilemma. This paper provides an account of some of the methods, including system dynamics, agent-based modeling, and value network analysis. In addition, an ecosystem model implemented in a spread-sheet format is discussed in more detail. An ecosystem model can be used to assess the relative im-portance of different factors, such as pricing and service quality on the profitability of service providers. Extensive ecosystem models are useful for enhancing our understanding of the complex processes occurring in ecosystems. In contrast, the models are hardly applicable for predicting how an ecosystem will evolve in the long term, because no ecosystem model can include all the influencing factors. |
| Keywords: | Modeling,ecosystems,mobile services,quality of service |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224862&r=all |
| By: | Nora Brüning (OECD); Patricia Mangeol (OECD) |
| Abstract: | Employers increasingly reach job seekers through online job postings, particularly for jobs requiring a higher education qualification. Job postings available online provide a rich source of real-time and detailed data on the qualifications and skills sought by employers across industries, occupations and locations. Using a sample of over 9 million job postings in four US states (Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington), this paper explores three questions. How does employer demand for graduate skills vary geographically, within and among occupations? For graduates in a general study field without a dedicated career vocational pathway, like sociology, what occupational clusters show evidence of employer demand, and what skills are sought? Given the high demand in the field of information and communications technology (ICT), are employers looking for ICT specialists open to hiring graduates from study fields other than ICT?We find evidence of variation in occupational demand, and to some extent in skill demand, within occupational clusters across the four states. We identify three occupational clusters where sociology graduates are in most demand, with distinct skill profiles. We also find that, when filling ICT positions, a notable share of employers considers recruiting graduates from other fields of study while requiring those graduates have the right technical transferable skills.Job posting data, we conclude, hold promise to complement existing labour market information systems and aid educators and policy makers in aligning labour demand and educational offerings. If analysed and disseminated effectively, such data could also assist students and workers in making learning and career decisions, for instance by identifying opportunities to build their own non-traditional path into high-demand, high-paying ICT occupations. |
| Date: | 2020–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:231-en&r=all |
| By: | Jull, Kenneth |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224859&r=all |
| By: | Pápai, Zoltán; McLean, Aliz; Nagy, Péter; Szabó, Gábor; Csorba, Gergely |
| Abstract: | The rollout of fifth generation mobile networks is progressing around the world, but 5G looks especially expensive compared to previous generations. Network sharing between two or more mobile operators is an obvious way to attain significant cost savings, but may also raise competition concerns. This paper first distinguishes between early and mature 5G, and then discusses the expected changes mature 5G brings to the assessment of active mobile network sharing agreements from a competition policy point of view. We focus on the three main concerns where 5G may bring the most significant changes in the evaluation compared to 4G: service differentiation, cost commonality between the parties and the parties' ability and incentives to grant access to critical inputs to downstream competitors. For each of these concerns, we show that they are not easy to substantiate and in some cases the concerns may even become less grave than under 4G. |
| Keywords: | mobile telecommunications,network sharing,competition policy,competitive assessment,5G |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224870&r=all |
| By: | Oliver Rehbein; Simon Rother |
| Abstract: | This paper provides empirical evidence that banks leverage social connections as an information channel. Using county-to-county friendship-link data from Facebook, we find that strong social ties increase loan volumes, especially if screening incentives are large. This effect is distinct from physical and cultural distances. Physical distance becomes significantly less relevant when accounting for social connections. Moreover, sufficiently strong social ties prevent cultural differences from constituting a lending barrier. The effect of social connectedness is more supply-side driven for small banks but demand-side driven for large banks. To bolster identification, we exploit highway connections, historical travel costs, and the quasi-random staggered introduction of Facebook as instruments. Our results reveal the important role of social connectedness as an information channel, speak to the nature of borrowing constraints, and point toward implications for bank-lending strategies and anti-trust policies. |
| Keywords: | bank lending, social networks, information frictions, culture, distance |
| JEL: | D82 D83 G21 O16 L14 Z13 |
| Date: | 2020–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2020_162v1&r=all |
| By: | Jang, Moonkyoung; Aavakare, Milla; Kim, Seongcheol; Nikou, Shahrokh |
| Abstract: | Digitalisation impacts in the higher education environment and specifically on using digital technologies for learning purposes has increasingly changed such activities. In an informationbased society, where individuals are overloaded with the sheer amount of information and digital tools and devices, literacy skills of an individual play an important role in how activities are being executed. In this paper, we aim to investigate how information and digital literacy of university students impact their decisions to use digital technology for learning. As such, an extension of the UTAUT model is applied on a dataset comprising of 194 and 192 young Korean and Finnish people in their 20s and 30s. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) results show distinct differences between young Korean and Finnish people in multiple path relationships. For example, while digital literacy has no direct impact on the intention to use technology for learning for Finnish people, this path is significant for the Korean people. Based on this, recommendations for prospect research in adopting the proposed model are outlined and theoretical and practical implications are discussed. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224858&r=all |
| By: | Yeguang Chi; Wenyan Hao |
| Abstract: | We test various volatility models using the Bitcoin spot price series. Our models include HIST, EMA ARCH, GARCH, and EGARCH, models. Both of our in-sample-fit and out-of-sample-forecast results suggest that GARCH and EGARCH models perform much better than other models. Moreover, the EGARCH model's asymmetric term is positive and insignificant, which suggests that Bitcoin prices lack the asymmetric volatility response to past returns. Finally, we formulate an option trading strategy by exploiting the volatility spread between the GARCH volatility forecast and the option's implied volatility. We show that a simple volatility-spread trading strategy with delta-hedging can yield robust profits. |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2010.07402&r=all |
| By: | Relihan, Lindsay; Ward, Marvin; Wheat, Chris W.; Farrell, Diana |
| Abstract: | We document a number of striking features about the initial impact of the pandemic on local commerce across 16 US cities. There are two novel contributions from this analysis: exploration of neighborhood-level effects and shifts between offline and online purchasing channels. In our analysis we use approximately 450 million credit card transactions per month from a rolling sample of 11 million anonymized customers between October 2019 and March 2020. Across the 16 cities we profile, consumers decreased spend on the set of goods and services we define as “local commerce” by 12.8% between March 2019 and March 2020. Growth in all 16 cities was negative. Consumers shifted a substantial share of local commerce spend online, such that year-over-year growth in online spend was small, but positive, at 1.5%. With respect to grocery and pharmacy purchases, online spend grew at least three times as fast as offline spend. Overall spend declines were uniform across neighborhoods of differing median household income, though lower-income neighborhoods experienced the highest proportion of extreme negative declines. We also find evidence that many low-income neighborhoods are increasing spend on online grocery slower than others, but increasing their use of online restaurants the fastest. Consumers in low-income neighborhoods also tend to live farther from the grocery stores at which they shop. Compared to their counterparts in higher-income neighborhoods, consumers in low-income neighborhoods have not been more likely to shop at grocery stores closer to where they live since the onset of the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | coronavirus; Covid-19 |
| JEL: | L81 |
| Date: | 2020–06–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:105060&r=all |
| By: | Kamplean, Artima |
| Abstract: | In recent years, fake news has become a worldwide phenomenon. The advancement of technology also plays a critical part in the spreading process since it changes the process and the speed of information spreading. Media consumption trend has shifted toward more online content and therefore, recently fake news report also follows the trend to occur more in an online platform. One of the most significant events in the U.S. presidential election in 2016 which sparks a wide concern that the effect of fake news spreading could lead to further social problems especially in the online platform such as social media (Allcott and Gentzkow, 2017). This study is an empirical study aiming to investigate how people react with different types of fake news focusing on spreading or encountering behavior. The study uses a quantitative approach with international and domestic case studies, in a total of 4 case studies. Most studies focus in the U.S. (especially after the 2016 presidential election) leaving a gap of study from other regions. This study can fill in the academic gap of fake news studies in Asia where the region is a high internet usage and also faces fake news problem. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224861&r=all |
| By: | Noam, Eli M. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224868&r=all |
| By: | Hsu, Wen-Yi |
| Abstract: | The 5G spectrum bidding was finalized, and the total 5G bid had hit a sky-high of NT $142.191 billion ($ 4748.33million). In the month of July, it is expected that there will be two telecom operators launching the 5G services, which is where the 5G era begins in Taiwan. Following Chunghwa Telecom and Far Eastern Telecom, the mobile broadband service security maintenance plan proposed by Taiwan Mobile has also been approved by the NCC on May 6, 2020. Taiwan Mobile is very active in cooperating with other players, including promoting the "5G Super Alliance" using the resource advantages available in the telecommunications industry, which allows cross-domain and cross-country alliance cooperation along with various leadership styles from different fields together with modern operation planning. In Taiwan, there is very few research about evaluating or selecting strategic alliance partners of telecommunications companies in the next generation network era. Taiwan Mobile's core resources and capabilities are different from those of other telecom operators. This research conducts a case study on Taiwan Mobile, using resource-based theory of strategic alliances to analyze its current status of 5G application service operations, "core resources" and 5G application service "strategic alliances" and other planning and development, exploring how Taiwan Mobile establishes its advantages and characteristics to develop its business strategy. Taiwan Mobile's "5G Super Alliance" gathers nearly 100 top teams in the three areas of production, government and research. Taiwan Mobile mainly forms a 5G application development strategic alliance in the form of functional agreements, joint research and development, and diversified integration. However, even with ambitious aspiration for the 5G technology, the real challenge of "network construction" in Taiwan's development of the 5G industry has only just begun. |
| Keywords: | 5G networks,complementary resources,resource-based theory of strategic alliances,spectrum bidding |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itso20:224856&r=all |
| By: | Chaïma Siala (IRG - Institut de Recherche en Gestion - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 - UNIV GUSTAVE EIFFEL - Université Gustave Eiffel); Abdelmajid Amine (IRG - Institut de Recherche en Gestion - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 - UNIV GUSTAVE EIFFEL - Université Gustave Eiffel); Kaouther Saied Benrached |
| Date: | 2020–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02952176&r=all |
| By: | Oluwabunmi Adejumo (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria); Uchenna Efobi (Covenant University, Nigeria); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | Financing sustainable development in Africa requires financing options that is best for development in the region without further escalating other societal problems. This chapter takes stock of financing options previously advocated for financing development in the African region such as development assistance and foreign investment. By considering its implication on development outcomes like poverty, inequality, and aggregate human development, some drawbacks still exist. Therefore, the chapter identifies, reconfigures and reinvents other financial flows such as mutual support networks, agricultural cooperatives, crowd funding, fiscal responsibility, other forms of informal banking, and remittances, among others to African countries for efficient provision of structures that can aid in the sustenance of development. We conclude that these alternative means of financing development could be a viable policy option to bridge income and development gaps; thereby mainstreaming the process for financial inclusion and sustainability. |
| Keywords: | Finance; Sustainable Development |
| JEL: | G20 I00 O10 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:20/071&r=all |