European payment instruments: Institutional determinants of an efficient POS payment mix

This thesis sheds light on the functioning and characteristics of payment systems to serve as a foundation for understanding the drivers for higher payment system efficiency. Its central goal is to develop insights into the determinants of collective payment choice suitable to lower payment costs to society. So far, the institutional environment, as potential important influence on the payment instrument mix, has not been focused on in the literature. Therefore, particular emphasis is laid on the empirical analysis of the impact of institutional factors on the share of card payments on consumer spending at the point of sale (POS). For this, a unique panel data set is constructed covering the eight most important European payment markets ranked by non-cash transaction volumes. The empirical results allow formulating conditions necessary to achieve a more efficient payment mix. They also form a basis for the assessment of related policy measures with a focus on the SEPA project in terms of their efficiency enhancing effect. Future research could possibly build upon the panel data collected.:1 Introduction 1.1 Payment behaviour in selected European countries 1.2 Research question and approach 2 Foundations: Payment systems and markets 2.1 Functioning of payment systems 2.1.1 Payments, market participants and payment system 2.1.2 Payment instruments and methods 2.1.3 Clearing and settlement arrangements 2.1.4 First observations on obstacles to payment systems development 2.2 Network character of payment markets 2.2.1 Theories of networks 2.2.2 Demand-side network effects in payment markets 2.2.3 Two-sided markets and payment cards 2.2.4 Supply-side economies of scale and open access to infrastructure 2.2.5 Obstacles to payment system development 3 Efficiency of payment systems 3.1 Research on payment infrastructure costs 3.1.1 Efficiency of interbank retail payment systems 3.1.2 Efficiency of intrabank payment processing 3.1.3 Factors influencing infrastructure efficiency 3.2 Research on payment instrument costs at the POS 3.2.1 Methodology and classification of the literature 3.2.2 Estimates of payment costs at the POS 3.2.3 Indicative efficiency ranking of payment instruments 4 Research on payment instrument choice at the POS 4.1 Data sources and categorisation of payment choice determinants 4.2 Price characteristics of payment instruments 4.3 Non-price characteristics of payment instruments 4.4 Transaction attributes 4.5 Constraints on payment choice 4.6 Developing an institutional view of payment choice 5 Empirical analysis: Institutional determinants shaping the POS payment mix 5.1 Two-step modelling approach 5.2 Panel construction and exploration of key data series 5.2.1 Panel data collection and overview of variables 5.2.2 Card usage and cash holding 5.2.3 Payment card diffusion and POS terminal density 5.3 European card schemes and markets 5.3.1 Institutional data collection 5.3.2 Description of European card markets 5.3.3 Overview of institutional data series 5.4 Payment decision 5.4.1 Development of the model and possible extensions 5.4.2 Discussion of the regression results 5.4.3 Diagnostic tests 5.5 Sourcing decision 5.5.1 Diffusion of payment cards 5.5.2 Density of POS terminals 5.5.3 Cash holding and availability at ATMs 5.6 Conclusions: Institutional determinants of payment choice 5.6.1 Linking empirical and theoretical analysis 5.6.2 Route for further research 6 Prospects for an efficient European payment mix 6.1 Objectives for establishing a European payment markets 6.2 SEPA for cards regulatory framework 6.2.1 Regulatory ecosystem 6.2.2 Regulatory framework set by European authorities 6.2.3 Standardization industry initiatives 6.3 Remaining obstacles for an efficient payment mix and outlook Appendix 6.3.1 A–1: Credit- and debit-based payment mechanism 6.3.2 A–2: Multilateral settlement: Access, settlement assets and methods 6.3.3 A–3: Statistical properties of variables 6.3.4 A-4: Unit root tests Reference

Revving the Innovation Engine in China, Japan, and the United States

Excutive Summary: In the early 1980s when IBM launched the Personal Computer, senior executives of many multinational corporations (MNCs) demonstrated little initial interest in reaping the returns on investments promised by budding technology pundits. Corporate adoption of subsequent advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have since promulgated worldwide. Today, MNC managers have come to regard ICT as a key differentiator of their competitive advantage. Drawing from metrics produced by the World Economic Forum, this paper comparatively assesses the viability of Chinese, Japanese, and U.S. firms as they increasingly compete for global market share, relying on technology as a critical success facto

The Impact of Multilevel Contextual Factors on IS Adoption at the Inter-organizational Level

Inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) offer many potential benefits to organizations, and IOIS adoption has increased in the last few decades. However, IOIS adoption varies significantly across different contexts, and little research has investigated how contextual factors affect IOIS-adoption variances at the inter-organizational (IO) level in depth—particularly from a multilevel perspective. This paper proposes a novel multilevel framework to analyze what combinations of contextual factors at the national, industry, inter-organizational, and organizational levels influence IOIS-adoption variances at the inter-organizational level. We present an in-depth, exploratory case study of the Indonesian grocery industry that identified three inter-organizational configurations between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers with IOIS-adoption variances. We found that the combinations of multilevel contextual factors varied for each configuration and, thus, explain the IOIS-adoption variances we observed at the IO level in a nuanced and holistic way. We argue that our multilevel framework may help scholars avoid contextual fallacy by encouraging them to examine the influence of higher-level factors on IOIS-adoption variances at the IO level and to avoid the atomistic fallacy that results when they make the wrong assumption that IOIS adoption at the organizational level implies adoption at a higher level

Factors influencing environmental management accounting adoption in oil and manufacturing firms in Libya

This study was conducted to examine the factors that influenced Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) adoption. Specifically, it investigated the influence of the dominant factors in the organizational, environmental and technological contexts on firms’ intentions to adopt EMA. To achieve this objective, eight hypotheses were formulated, with information from previous research and the TOE framework, the TAM model, the contingency theory, the institutional theory, the legitimacy theory, the stakeholder theory and diffusion of the innovation theory. In order to examine these hypotheses, data were collected from financial directors and environmental managers in the oil and the manufacturing firms in Libya, who constituted the sample of this research, by using a researcher-administered questionnaire. A total of 202 usable questionnaires were collected and the data were subjected to tests of variances, factor analysis, correlations and multiple regression. The results revealed that age, education level and tenure in position were among the influential factors on firms’ intention to adopt EMA. The results also showed that Libyan firms in the selected industries were dominated by defender strategy and hierarchy culture, which favoured a centralized management style. However, these practices had a negative influence on firms’ intention to adopt EMA. Furthermore, the results also revealed that organizational, environmental and technological variables significantly influenced firms’ intention to adopt EMA. This study has made useful contributions to current knowledge by providing more explanations on EMA adoption in an unexplored context, and providing further insights into factors that facilitate and impede the adoption of EMA practices. The present study has also filled the gap in the EMA literature by developing a theoretical framework to assess the relationships between the factors within the organizational, environmental, and technological contexts and the intention to adopt EMA. To conclude, this study has provided important insights into the factors that influence the acceptance and adoption of EMA in general, and specifically in Libya. More importantly, this study has opened up possibilities for further research into EMA adoption in Libya and other developing countries, and worldwid