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Smart card-based E-payment systems are receiving increasing attention as the number of implementations is witnessed on the rise globally. Understanding of user adoption behavior of E-payment systems that employ smart card technology becomes a research area that is of particular value and interest to both IS researchers and professionals. However, research interest focuses mostly on why a smart card-based E-payment system results in a failure or how the system could have grown into a success. This signals the fact that researchers have not had much opportunity to critically review a smart card-based E-payment system that has gained wide support and overcome the hurdle of critical mass adoption. The Octopus in Hong Kong has provided a rare opportunity for investigating smart card-based E-payment system because of its unprecedented success. This research seeks to thoroughly analyze the Octopus from technology adoption behavior perspectives.

Cultural impacts on adoption behavior are one of the key areas that this research posits to investigate. Since the present research is conducted in Hong Kong where a majority of population is Chinese ethnicity and yet is westernized in a number of aspects, assuming that users in Hong Kong are characterized by eastern or western culture is less useful. Explicit cultural characteristics at individual level are tapped into here instead of applying generalization of cultural beliefs to users to more accurately reflect cultural bias. In this vein, the technology acceptance model (TAM) is adapted, extended, and tested for its applicability cross-culturally in Hong Kong on the Octopus. Four cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are included in this study, namely uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, individualism, and Confucian Dynamism (long-term orientation), to explore their influence on usage behavior through the mediation of perceived usefulness.

TAM is also integrated with the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to borrow two constructs in relation to innovative characteristics, namely relative advantage and compatibility, in order to enhance the explanatory power of the proposed research model. Besides, the normative accountability of the research model is strengthened by embracing two social influences, namely subjective norm and image. As the last antecedent to perceived usefulness, prior experience serves to bring in the time variation factor to allow level of prior experience to exert both direct and moderating effects on perceived usefulness.

The resulting research model is analyzed by partial least squares (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The research findings reveal that all cultural dimensions demonstrate direct effect on perceived usefulness though the influence of uncertainty avoidance is found marginally significant. Other constructs on innovative characteristics and social influences are validated to be significant as hypothesized. Prior experience does indeed significantly moderate the two influences that perceived usefulness receives from relative advantage and compatibility, respectively. The research model has demonstrated convincing explanatory power and so may be employed for further studies in other contexts. In particular, cultural effects play a key role in contributing to the uniqueness of the model, enabling it to be an effective tool to help critically understand increasingly internationalized IS system development and implementation efforts. This research also suggests several practical implications in view of the findings that could better inform managerial decisions for designing, implementing, or promoting smart card-based E-payment system.

Global mobility remains one of the most pressing challenges of our times. Countries in the north are turning to major ‘sending’ countries in the south to secure their cooperation in controlling their borders and in repatriation processes. By explicitly linking migration to global security threats and weak governance, these migration control initiatives are justified by development goals and sometimes financed by official development assistance (ODA). By connecting criminology with international development scholarship, this chapter seeks to advance our understanding of the novel intersections between criminal justice, security and development to govern mass migration. Focusing on UK policies and the analysis of specific programmes, it interrogates what does the sustainable development goal (10.7) of facilitating ‘orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration’ concretely entail? And to what extent does the language of ‘managed migration’ legitimise restrictive border controls policies and even conflict with other global development goals?

Discrete choice models based on cross-sectional data have the important limitation of not considering habit and inertia effects and this may be especially significant in changing environments; notwithstanding, most demand models to date have been based on this type of data. To avoid this limitation, we started by building a mode choice panel around a drastically changing environment, the introduction of a radically new public transport system for the conurbation of Santiago de Chile. This paper presents the formulation and estimation of a family of discrete choice models that enables to treat two main elements: (i) the relative values of the modal attributes, as usual, and (ii) the shock resulting from the introduction of this radical new policy. We also analyse the influence of socioeconomic variables in these two forces.

We found that introducing this drastic new policy may even modify the perception of attribute values; in fact, the changes can be different among individuals, as socioeconomic characteristics act as either enhancers or softeners of the shock effects generated by the new policy.

The purpose of this chapter is to determine the future trends in the retail payment market in Malta, and the manner in which the major stakeholders are set to respond to the potential that innovative technology within this area is unlocking. Stakeholders strive to keep abreast with developments within this ambit, in pursuit of implementing a proactive approach within their respective roles.

The objective of this study is achieved through a series of semi-structured interviews with the major stakeholders in the local retail payment market, mainly Financial Services Regulators, Supervisors and overseers as well as the Maltese Financial Services licence holders.

The evolution in the retail payment landscape witnessed in recent years exposes immeasurable challenges to Malta’s financial services sector and the economy at large. The conclusions derived from this research dovetail with the thorough literature review conducted, in exploring the manner in which such trends are envisaged to unfold within this sector. This study explores the legislative framework and regulatory regime, both current and proposed, which lay the foundations for the interplay between the respective stakeholders.

This study reveals the approach taken by the various stakeholders, as they each respond to such developments in the retail payment sphere. These are predominately driven by market forces endowed with a mix of opportunities, as each stakeholder strives to remain resilient towards future industry challenges. This research is conducive towards enhancing the much needed clarity and awareness in the local retail payment market, and promotes the use of innovative, secure and cost-efficient retail payment methods.