Online communities of payments and consumer behaviour

This paper asserts that the online communities of electronic money (e-money) users affect the traditional mechanisms of price determination by introducing anonymity in money payments. By studying the Second Life case it is possible to show the main characteristics of such a communities and raise new questions linked to the online behaviours of the consumers. In the aim of shedding light on the online consumer behaviour we turn to Thorstein Veblen works and to network externalities concepts.CONSUMER BEHAVIOURS;SECOND LIFE;NETWORKS EXTERNALITIES;Virtual Money;Thorstein Veblen

E-money and communities of payments

This article examines which are the potential ways to settle transactions by going off the official public e-money. By focussing in particular on the PayPal's and Linden Dollars services, it stresses firstly on the impact of new forms of electronic payments on the banking system. Studying such an impact allows us to spotlight the money creation function held by banks. Secondly, this paper shows that new nearly e-monies promote the emergence on new communities of payment with all the consequences traditionally observed in any community namely network externalities and transaction costs.INTERNET;MONEY; ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS;BANKING;ELECTRONIC MONEY

ON THE ROLE OF WAGES IN THE UKRAINIAN TRANSITION PROCESS : AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

There are two intriguing questions about the transition process undertaken by the Ukraine since its declaration of sovereignty in December 1991. (i) Why had one of the more prosperous republics of the former USSR in terms of economic development and population welfare been suffering of both a persistent and high inflation during the four first years of its young existence ? (ii) How - in the early months of 1996 - could the Ukrainian efficiently put an end to the skyrocketing of prices ? The aim of this paper is to understand how such an outstanding reversal of situation could occur. Firstly, in support of a cointegration test, we assert that between January 1992 and November 1995, the Ukraine was faced with a complex monetary regime in which wage was the economic variable through which most of the inflationary pressures passed, directly or indirectly. Secondly, we explain that since the beginning of 1996, the existent monetary regime has been replaced by a new one in which inflation is contained but wages and pensions arrears increase quickly. Such a situation is not sustainable in the short and we outline possible remedies.Cointegration, monetary regime, inflation, Ukraine, wages

Innovation in virtual social networks: the widespread of new electronic currencies and the emergence of a new category of entrepreneurs

International audienceThe internet network hosts an increasing number of large synthetic worlds. These virtual worlds exhibit most of the characters we associate with the real world like interpersonal relationships, economic transactions, production of goods and services, political institutions... Inside these synthetic worlds, new economic behaviours can be studied and new entrepreneurs emerge. By focusing on the widespread of new private electronic currencies, this paper shows first the main benefits for e-money users of entering in a community of payments. Second, the economic behaviour of electronic money (e-money) users and the network externalities effects are studied. Thirdly, the phenomenon of the emergence of a new category of entrepreneurs specialised in e-money creation and the regulation of a new monetary regime are exposed

La crise financière mondiale et les communautés monétaires : Le cas de Second Life

Les nouvelles formes de monnaies électroniques, tels que les Linden Dollars véhiculées sur le réseau Second Life revêtent un caractère privé au sens où tout ou partie de leur émission et circulation échappe au contrôle des banques centrales. Selon les théories monétaires les plus standards, le caractère privé du système bancaire et financier organisé sur Second Life devrait être à l'abri de la crise bancaire et financière subie par la plupart des économies dans le « monde réel ». Il est surprenant de constater que nombre de problèmes observable à l'occasion de l'actuelle crise se retrouvent, et parfois même de manière exacerbée, sur le réseau des utilisateurs de Second Life. L'objectif de cette étude est d'examiner les canaux de transmission entre le monde réel et celui « virtuel » de Second Life à l'oeuvre et visibles à l'occasion de l'actuel dérèglement bancaire et financier. Dans un premier temps, l'attention sera portée sur l'évolution du taux de change de la monnaie électronique ayant cours légal sur Second Life. Dans un deuxième temps, les conséquences de la crise bancaire et financière sur Second Life seront examinées.Monnaie électronique; Linden dollar;Communauté monétaire;e-banque;e-business

Réseaux sociaux virtuels et création de valeur

Les univers virtuels constituent de nouvelles dimensions spatio-temporelles dans lesquelles la gouvernance, la stratégie et le management des organisations sont interrogés. Ces nouveaux espaces, à l'instar de ceux créés par Second Life, IMVU, Farmville ou bien World of Warcraft, ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives en terme de travail collaboratif et d'échange marchand. Ces deux aspects sont indissociables. Les réseaux sociaux virtuels (RSV) sont, de part leur conception originelle, des espaces de travail collaboratif et d'échange marchand dans lesquels il y a création de richesse. Cette dernière doit être évalués dans une unité de compte comprise et adoptée par tous les membres de la communauté du RSV. C'est la raison pour laquelle en général, chaque RSV émet sa propre monnaie électronique virtuelle. La question qu'il convient alors de se poser est celle de savoir si la virtualisation des échanges peut-être comprise au regard de notre connaissance des mécanismes traditionnels de création de valeur et d'émission de monnaie ou bien s'il faut faire appel à une nouvelle approche utilisant des outils et théories dédiées. Nous considérons que la littérature sur les rendements croissants d'adoption d'une part, et celle sur la consommation ostentatoire d'autre part, peuvent être utilisées pour mieux comprendre les mécanismes de création de valeur à l'œuvre dans les réseaux sociaux virtuels.Réseaux sociaux virtuels;travail collaboratif;externalités;biens de Veblen;Monnaie électronique;régime monétaire

Monnaies électroniques et communautés monétaires

De nouvelles modalités de paiements électroniques (tels que Paypal) ainsi que de nouvelles quasi-monnaies électroniques (tels que les Linden Dollars, les Smiles ou les Maximiles) connaissent aujourd'hui un essor important. Cet article examine l'émergence de nouvelles communautés de paiement électronique. Ces communautés ont des règles de comportement propres que la littérature standard sur la monnaie et la finance a des difficultés à appréhender.Linden Dollar;Thorstein Veblen;Régime monétaire;monnaie électronique

Low on Trust and High on Risks: Is Sidechain a Good Solution to Bitcoin Problems?

Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies (especially Bitcoin) have attracted a particular attention. As the number of transactions increase, these systems tend to become slower, expensive, and unsustainable for a use-case such as payment. In this way, the Bitcoin sidechain seeks to provide prompt and confidential transactions between major trading platforms. Although poor performance and high volatility can push potential users away from Bitcoin, this study reveals that the introduction of sidechain solves some of the problems Bitcoin is facing. Using relatively new techniques, we find that the implementation of sidechain reduces Bitcoin price volatility, rises its efficiency, and enhances its usefulness as a transaction tool and a diversifier. We explain these changes in Bitcoin characteristics by the sidechain"s capacity to speed up the circulation of money by shortening block validation times and to an improvement in the scalability of Proof of Work and Bitcoin payment services. Our results also indicate that the sidechain liquid network lead to a less energy-consuming and in turn to less polluting Bitcoin system. But a weakly vanishing causality between Bitcoin mining and Bitcoin energy consumption implies that the concentration of miners is still follow available electrical supply

Sidechain and volatility of cryptocurrencies based on the blockchain technology

International audienceA cryptocurrency market based on the blockchain technology is characterized by the coexistence of a steady-state supply and a volatile e-money’s demand. In this study a cointegration test establishes a long-run relationship between the internal demand of Bitcoins and prices. From this result, we propose to restrain the intrinsic volatility of any cryptocurrency based on the Blockchain technology by introducing a sidechain pegged to the parent chain

Sidechain and volatility of cryptocurrencies based on the blockchain technology

International audienceA cryptocurrency market based on the blockchain technology is characterized by the coexistence of a steady-state supply and a volatile e-money’s demand. In this study a cointegration test establishes a long-run relationship between the internal demand of Bitcoins and prices. From this result, we propose to restrain the intrinsic volatility of any cryptocurrency based on the Blockchain technology by introducing a sidechain pegged to the parent chain