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on Payment Systems and Financial Technology |
| By: | Bernardo Batiz-Lazo; Gustavo A. Del Angel |
| Abstract: | In this paper we discuss the genesis and early international expansion of the bank issued credit card. Empirical evidence documents the limits of a single firm building a proprietary network, because success came to a constellation of participants that combined three characteristics namely a critical mass of both retail customers and retail merchants; the capacity to adopt and implement new technological solutions; and the ability to forge resilient collaboration across national borders. This evidence provides further support to the importance of collaboration in retail financial services as means to appropriate network externalities. We also argue that initial conditions for this industry had greater implications for long-term success than has been acknowledged by other conceptual and empirical studies (in particular the literature around two-sided markets, which has focused attention on the determinants of the interchange fee). |
| Keywords: | Credit card, payments, cashless, two sided markets, payment tolls, Bank of America, Barclays, Banamex, Bancomer, Banco de Bilbao, British banks, Mexican banks, Spanish banks |
| JEL: | E51 L5 N1 N2 N8 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hoo:wpaper:16107&r=pay |
| By: | Michele Cincera; Lauriane Dewulf; Antonio Estache |
| Keywords: | mobile; fixed; broadband; substitution; speed; econometrics; Europe; deregulation; competition; ICT |
| JEL: | D43 L43 L86 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ict:wpaper:2013/229411&r=pay |
| By: | Manacorda, Marco; Tesei, Andrea |
| Abstract: | Can digital information and communication technology (ICT) foster mass political mobilization? We use a novel geo-referenced dataset for the entire African continent between 1998 and 2012 on the coverage of mobile phone signal together with geo-referenced data from multiple sources on the occurrence of protests and on individual participation in protests to bring this argument to empirical scrutiny. We find that mobile phones are instrumental to mass mobilization during economic downturns, when reasons for grievance emerge and the cost of participation falls. Estimated effects are if anything larger once we use an instrumental variable approach that relies on differential trends in coverage across areas with different incidence of lightning strikes. The results are in line with insights from a network model with imperfect information and strategic complementarities in protest provision. Mobile phones make individuals more responsive to both changes in economic conditions - a mechanism that we ascribe to enhanced information - and to their neighbors' participation - a mechanism that we ascribe to enhanced coordination. Empirically both effects are at play, highlighting the channels through which digital ICT can alleviate the collective action problem. |
| Keywords: | Africa; collective action; geo-referenced data; mobile phones |
| JEL: | D70 L96 O55 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11278&r=pay |
| By: | Marco Manacorda; Andrea Tesei |
| Abstract: | Can digital information and communication technology (ICT) foster mass political mobilization? We use a novel geo-referenced dataset for the entire African continent between 1998 and 2012 on the coverage of mobile phone signal together with geo-referenced data from multiple sources on the occurrence of protests and on individual participation in protests to bring this argument to empirical scrutiny. We find that mobile phones are instrumental to mass mobilization during economic downturns, when reasons for grievance emerge and the cost of participation falls. Estimated effects are if anything larger once we use an instrumental variable approach that relies on differential trends in coverage across areas with different incidence of lightning strikes. The results are in line with insights from a network model with imperfect information and strategic complementarities in protest provision. Mobile phones make individuals more responsive to both changes in economic conditions - a mechanism that we ascribe to enhanced information - and to their neighbors’ participation - a mechanism that we ascribe to enhanced coordination. Empirically both effects are at play, highlighting the channels through which digital ICT can alleviate the collective action problem. |
| Keywords: | mobile phones; collective action; Africa; geo-referenced data |
| JEL: | O32 O47 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:66436&r=pay |
| By: | Clair Null; Duncan Chaplin; Jacob Hartog; Jessica Jacobson; Arif Mamun; Anu Rangarajan |
| Abstract: | A report to the Financial Services for the Poor program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. |
| Keywords: | Financial Inclusion Insights Surveys, East Africa, Inequities in Use of Mobile Money, international |
| JEL: | F Z |
| Date: | 2015–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:6de8e5badaa84cc183fecc1e97d97c11&r=pay |
| By: | Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun); Jacinta C. Nwachukwu (Coventry University) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the synergy effects of governance in mobile phone penetration for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa with data for the period 2000-2012 by employing a battery of interactive estimation techniques, namely: Fixed effects (FE), Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) and Tobit regressions. Concepts of political (voice & accountability and political stability/no violence), economic (government effectiveness and regulation quality) and institutional (corruption-control and rule of law) governance are employed. The following findings are established. First, the previously apparent positive correlation between mobile phones and inclusive development can be extended to a positive effect. Second, whereas political governance is overwhelmingly not significant across estimated models, average effects from economic governance are higher relative to institutional governance. Third, on the synergy effects from interactions between mobile phones and governance variables, whereas none are apparent in FE regressions, there are significant synergy effects in GMM and Tobit estimations, notably, from: (i) regulation quality in the former and (ii) political stability, voice & accountability and rule of law in the latter. Fourth, there is consistent evidence of convergence in inclusive human development. Policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Mobile phones; governance; inclusive human development |
| JEL: | G20 I10 I32 O40 P37 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:16/007&r=pay |
| By: | Jaroslav Bukovina (Department of Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno); Matus Marticek (Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno) |
| Abstract: | This paper augments the current research suggesting the less rational factors like attractiveness of Bitcoin and speculative investments to be influential for excessive volatility. In particular, it examines the sentiment as a driver of Bitcoin volatility. The paper contributes with economic rationale about a link between sentiment and Bitcoin. Further, the authors propose a unique decomposition of Bitcoin price to rational and less rational components. The paper tests this theoretical prediction with unique sentiment intraday data in the period of 12/12/2013 – 12/31/2015. The findings of the paper show the marginal presence of sentiment during the overall studied period. However, the explanato- ry power of sentiment significantly increases during the period of excessive volatility, especially dur- ing the bubble period at the end of the year 2013 and beginning of 2014. Moreover, the findings show that positive sentiment is more influential for Bitcoin excessive volatility. |
| Keywords: | Bitcoin, volatility, sentiment, Bitcoin bubble |
| JEL: | E49 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:men:wpaper:58_2016&r=pay |
| By: | Ali, S. Nageeb; Benabou, Roland |
| Abstract: | We analyze the costs and benefits of using social image to foster virtuous behavior. A Principal seeks to motivate reputation-conscious agents to supply a public good. Each agent chooses how much to contribute based on his own mix of public-spiritedness, private signal about the value of the public good, and reputational concern for appearing prosocial. By making individual behavior more visible to the community the Principal can amplify reputational payoffs, thereby reducing free-riding at low cost. Because societal preferences constantly evolve, however, she knows only imperfectly both the social value of the public good (which matters for choosing her own investment, matching rate or legal policy) and the importance attached by agents to social esteem and sanctions. Increasing publicity makes it harder for the Principal to learn from what agents do (the "descriptive norm") what they really value (the "prescriptive norm" ), thus presenting her with a tradeoff between incentives and information aggregation. We derive the optimal degree of privacy/publicity and matching rate, then analyze how they depend on the economy's stochastic and informational structure. We show in particular that in a fast-changing society (greater variability in the fundamental or the image-motivated component of average preferences), privacy should generally be greater than in a more static one. |
| Keywords: | conformity; esteem; incentives; privacy; reputation; shaming punishments; Social norms; societal change; transparency |
| JEL: | D62 D64 D82 H41 K42 Z13 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11249&r=pay |
| By: | So O'Neil; Keith Kranker; George Kafkas; Margo Rosenbach |
| Abstract: | Launched in 2014, the three-year Pilot Mobile Health Program is an innovative approach to engaging pregnant and postpartum women enrolled in Medicaid. |
| Keywords: | Maternal and infant health, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, Centers for Medicaid and CHIP Services, CMCS, Medicaid, Pilot Mobile Health Program, mHealth, perinatal health, postpartum health, health text-messaging, Text4baby |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:45ff613d943242e692c0943bfda31751&r=pay |
| By: | Angelo Castaldo ("Sapienza" University of Rome); Alessandro Fiorini ("Sapienza" University of Rome); Bernardo Maggi ("Sapienza" University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | Technological innovation is viewed as a major stimulus for economic growth. High-speed internet access via broadband infrastructure has been experiencing a prompt development since the end of 90s, thanks to the deployment of both fix and mobile technologies. The present study investigates on the behavior of broadband diffusion as a technological determinant of economic growth in the main OECD countries. The estimations performed allowed to control and interpret the time evolution of the phenomenon according to the achievable target of growth, as resulting from the promotion of broadband internet connections. Our main goal is to provide evidence of a relevant - in quantitative term - relation between broadband diffusion and economic dynamics in the short, medium and long run. |
| Keywords: | Broadband access, economic growth, technology diffusion, logistic curve, dynamic panel. |
| JEL: | L96 O47 O33 H54 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sas:wpaper:20161&r=pay |
| By: | Mattila, Juri |
| Abstract: | Blockchain technology is disrupting society by enabling new kinds of disintermediated digital platforms. Furthermore, it is also providing efficiency gains on top of old existing structures by removing the need for actively intermediated data-synchronization and concurrency control. Due to this dual effect, blockchain technology has the potential to impact all sectors and layers of society, in a multitude of combined ways. While there is a lot of hype around the concept of blockchains, the phenomenon itself has remained ambiguous and misconceptions have emerged about the capabilities and the potential of blockchain technology. Drawing from ETLA’s participation in blockchain research in 2014–2016, this paper aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding on blockchain technology, its true possibilities, and its potential larger societal implications. It offers a holistic view of the key concepts and the basic principles, and the tools and the framework to understand the ongoing discussion, to critically evaluate different viewpoints, and to delve deeper in a constructed manner |
| Date: | 2016–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:38&r=pay |
| By: | Eleonora Rodrigues Loureiro; Gabriel de Abreu Madeira; Fani Léa Cymrot Bader |
| Abstract: | The economic literature considers that the presence of financial providers is an important component to allow access to financial services and, consequently, to the socio-economic development. There has been an important growth in the number of banking correspondents in various regions of Brazil in the past years. Banking correspondents are retail agents, like post offices, lottery kiosks and drugstores that, in addition to its main activity, offer financial services of some financial institutions. They consist of an innovation that reduces costs and the scale needed to offer financial services, therefore improving the ability of financial institutions to reach out customers in remote areas. The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of the spread process of banking correspondents in the country between 2000 and 2008, years of its major expansion as well as seek to understand the role played by them. The results show the existence of a substitution relationship between bank branches and correspondents. In addition, there are evidences that the correspondents’ customers is not completely similar to the bank branches’ because the results indicate that correspondents direct themselves to low-income regions. Moreover, it was found that government benefits is an important factor influencing banking correspondents’ expansion and no evidences were found that the correspondents direct themselves to remote regions. |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcb:wpaper:433&r=pay |
| By: | Robin Mansell |
| Abstract: | This article examines prevailing institutional norms that are visible in international policy discourse concerning the goals of investing in digital technologies. An analysis of policy discourse associated with the World Summit on the Information Society shows how, despite the use of terms such as “open” and “participatory,” the practice of information and communication technology project implementation displays evidence of failures to empower local people. The discussion is framed by the lessons about asymmetrical institutionalized power from theories concerned with the dynamics of techno-economic change contrasted with the prevailing market-led technology diffusion perspective. The context for the article is the experience of contributing to a high-level policy report for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s 2013 review of progress toward knowledge societies. Examples drawn from digital technology applications are used to illustrate the asymmetrical power relations embedded in these developments. |
| JEL: | L91 L96 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:56558&r=pay |
| By: | Goksel Simsek (Selçuk Üniversitesi); Hatice Budak (Selcuk University) |
| Abstract: | As an extension of the social media, social networking sites have started to be commonly used by every age group as a way of communication and to replace real life relationships. As the time spent on social media platforms increase, the aspects of the interaction among individuals also differ. This variation also affects privacy, which is a central concept in social relationships.Characteristics specific to the social media environment and the way of communication also influence the shared content that enables the continuity of the existence of individuals and the relationships they establish in this medium. On social media, individuals from different age groups show their difference from other individuals and extraordinariness through their personal life experiences. Thus, issues that are regarded to be within the private domain become visible in this virtual medium, which is open to the access of everyone. Within this scope, the basic hypothesis of the study is that the borders of privacy shrink within itself while they expand towards being public-explicit on the social media. The basic argument of the study is discussed in terms of the generation categories classified in line with the developments in information and communication technologies, and it is endeavored to determine whether there are any differences among the privacy attitudes and behaviors of different generations. The sample of this descriptive study consisted of 736 (according to processed questionnaire forms) participants from the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y who used any of the social media tools. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire conducted in the province center of Konya between the dates of June 1-September 15, 2015. As the result of the study, it is concluded that gender categories have similar tendencies in social network communication, transformation has started in the privacy attitudes and behaviors of each generation, and generation characteristics also have a certain effect on this transformation. |
| Keywords: | Social Media, Generation X, Transformation |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:3606354&r=pay |
| By: | Fernandez-Villaverde, Jesus (University of Pennsylvania, NBER, and CEPR); Sanches, Daniel R. (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | Can competition work among privately issued fiat currencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum? Only sometimes. To show this, we build a model of competition among privately issued fiat currencies. We modify the current workhorse of monetary economics, the Lagos-Wright environment, by including entrepreneurs who can issue their own fiat currencies in order to maximize their utility. Otherwise, the model is standard. We show that there exists an equilibrium in which price stability is consistent with competing private monies but also that there exists a continuum of equilibrium trajectories with the property that the value of private currencies monotonically converges to zero. These latter equilibria disappear, however, when we introduce productive capital. We also investigate the properties of hybrid monetary arrangements with private and government monies, of automata issuing money, and the role of network effects. |
| Keywords: | Private money; Currency competition; Cryptocurrencies; Monetary policy |
| JEL: | E40 E42 E52 |
| Date: | 2016–04–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:16-12&r=pay |
| By: | Marie Bergström (Ined) |
| Abstract: | Dating sites arouse curiosity, and the use of dating services is, for the first time, becoming a widespread practice in France. They have not redefined the geography of romantic encounters, however, as most couples, and first couples especially, still meet in other ways. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idg:posocf:530&r=pay |