Generations X and Y's internet banking usage in Australia

This paper contributes to banking services literature by providing empirical research on internet banking behaviour and perceptions of Generations X and Y in Australia. More than 350 respondents aged 18 and above revealed that surprisingly, less than half of the mostly Generations X and Y respondents use internet banking. More Generation X are internet banking users compared to Generation Y, but Generation Y users use internet banking more frequently, use more virtual products, and have used internet banking for a longer time compared to Generation X users. Internet banking users perceive their banks as providing higher quality services compared to non-internet banking users. A large majority of non-internet banking users never tried internet banking at all. Security and privacy concerns were cited. Based on these findings, it can be recommended that banks still need to provide both internet- and non-internet-based means of banking to their younger consumer segments. The banking industry needs to address concerns about security, trust and ease of use to persuade more of Generations X and Y to use internet banking.     

An analysis of website evolution in the pensions sector

Considerable commentary exists on the potential of the internet for transforming the financial services industry but there is limited longitudinal research into changing website configuration. Studies have investigated online banking ignoring more complex financial services such as pensions. This paper proposes a model of financial services website evolution and applies it to a longitudinal content analysis of 30 pension provider websites, spanning eight years of web development from 1996 to 2003. The study finds that pension websites have evolved over time with apparent links between phases of development and external drivers. The findings indicate that websites support new business transactions rather than existing account management and provide more information on company strength and market position than detail on product and services. Marketing opportunities are present for improved online information provision, business-to-business communication and customer servicing.     

E-GOVERNMENT SERVICE INNOVATION IN THE SCOTTISH CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SYSTEM

The paper features an original case study of integration of the Scottish criminal justice information systems, charting the ten-year history of the project. After briefing referencing international e-government experience, it critically assesses e-government in the UK, arguing that following an auspicious start laying infrastructure, e-government now focuses on cost-saving process improvements and is less successful at inter-organisational integration and citizen interactions, responding poorly to the challenges of interactive Internet (Web2) and service interoperability. Surveying literature on the use of project management techniques, it argues that popular e-government tools prescribe closed innovation when more open innovation frameworks (Chesbrough, 2006) may be appropriate to e-government. Two themes emerge: that the nature of e-government project management is closed rather than open and secondly, that e-government is often inadequately conceptualised in technical and organisational terms.     

Keeping informed during times of economic downturn: the trusted amateur as a preferred source of financial information

Service providers need to understand financial capability from the perspective of the older client, in order to deliver services best suited for this age group. This article explores how older people perceive one dimension of their financial capability—their ability to stay financially informed. Older people were found to be accessing less traditional sources of financial information: they are either selfreliant for information, researching on the internet or using the media, or they tap into existing sources of social capital found within their social networks. Trusted public and voluntary sector service providers are preferred information resources over and above professionals in financial services. These findings suggest financial services need to build trust and/or form partnerships with other trusted voluntary or public sector services.     

Price and income elasticities of demand for modern health care: the case of infant delivery in the Philippines.

In the Philippines most women choose to deliver at home despite the presence of modern facilities. Policy-making requires a knowledge of the factors that determine that choice, especially in terms of variables like price and location, which are amenable to policy intervention. Over 2/3 of the babies born in low-income countries are delivered by traditional birth attendants who are uneducated and have no formal training. They are, however, available in rural areas, whereas 70-90% of the modern practitioners are in the cities. Recently efforts have been made to expand modern obstetrical services in developing countries, but few surveys are available documenting the impact of modern facilities on delivery patterns. The present survey collected data from 3075 women who had singleton births on the island of Cebu between 1983 and 1984, as well as data from 48 modern public and private health facilities and 88 modern and traditional health practitioners. For the analysis of these data an economic demand model was built, using the mixed multinomial logit technic to estimate relationships between delivery characteristics, mothers' characteristics, and delivery choice. Money prices were not a significant factor in the choices, but time prices were a significant consideration for the rural sample. Hours of availability were a significant factor for both urban and rural mothers, and availability of drugs was significant for the urban sample. Both rural and urban women preferred delivery by a midwife, trained or not, to delivery by a combination of doctors, nurses, and midwives. With few exceptions, income was not a significant factor, and having insurance (10% of the sample) increased the probability of choosing a modern private practitioner. Money price effects were inelastic; i.e., a price increase by modern facilities would not have much effect on the choice of these facilities, and lowering the price of modern public delivery services would do little to increase demand for them. Locating more public practitioners and facilities in rural areas could effectively increase the use of modern facilities by rural women. Both urban and rural women would increase their use of modern public away-from-home facilities if these facilities would increase their hours of operation. Having drugs available would also increase the use of the public away-from-home facilities. In both urban and rural samples, trained midwives were the practitioners of choice. Among rural women a rise in income would increase the likelihood of their choosing public and private away-from-home deliveries and home deliveries by private practitioners. From the point of view of public policy, the most significant implications of the study are: 1) decreasing travel time for rural women by locating modern facilities and practitioners in rural areas would increase the use of modern delivery services; 2) increasing hours of operation, increasing the availability of drugs, and providing trained midwives at public facilities would increase the use of modern delivery services; 3) decreasing money prices would not increase use of modern public delivery services; and 4) increasing the price for cost recovery would not decrease the use of modern public delivery services.     

The use of open source internet to analysis and predict stock market trading volume

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of information demand and supply on stock market trading volume. Few studies have demonstrated the role of Google search data in analyzing trading volume activity. In this study, we employ a proxy for information demand which is derived from weekly internet search volume. The latest is from Google Trends database, for 25 of the largest stocks traded on CAC40 index, between April 2007 and March 2014. We use news headlines as a proxy for information supply. We use Garch model to analyze and predict trading volume.The empirical results present new evidences. First, information supply has an impact on trading volume but information demand's impact is much more important. Secondly, by applying MCA to results found, it could be concluded that the impact of public information on transaction volume is conditioned by two elements: the firm and market news disclosure and the second element relates to the characteristics of the market participants, more precisely their news interpretations and their risk aversion. Thirdly, we used Chow structural break test to verify the stability of our model. We found that for securities with structural changes, information demand is the responsible variable of the change in our model. Finally, we found that information variables have a predictive power on transaction volume.This paper contributes to existing literature by incorporating open source internet-based data into the analysis and prediction of transaction volume. Using internet information about the stock market, which has appeared recently as an interesting research for financial empiricists, computer scientists and practitioners, will have a very important utility because quantifying demand and supply of information becomes possible.     

IS E‐GOVERNMENT LEADING TO MORE ACCOUNTABLE AND TRANSPARENT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS? AN OVERALL VIEW

This paper seeks to assess to what extent e-government enables accountability and transparency in EU local governments. It also provides an overall view about how local governments are implementing ICTs initiatives to bring citizens closer to governments. Although the mere capacity of the Internet for the dissemination of information improves accountability and makes benchmarking easier, our results show that the expected benefits are far from being achieved because e-government projects are still in the early stages. The results also show that, at present, ICTs have not had a dramatic impact on EU local government accountability.     

Welfare and technology in the network society—Concerns for the future of welfare

The last decade of explosive innovation thanks to the growth of information and communication technologies (ICT) has left the public sector, and particularly the provision of welfare services, largely unchanged. Where socialising, commerce, information finding, entertainment and travel have all undergone profound structural transformations, the workings of government have not seen a similar shift. To be sure, the pace of decision-making has been sped up, as it has elsewhere, by Blackberries, and a small number of services are delivered online. But these services are still based around their offline equivalents, and usually aim simply at cutting the costs associated with their delivery by moving online. While this will continue to be a key motivation for the digitisation of government, other more fundamental developments are set to take place which will herald new online-only services, and which will encourage radical decentralisation of power.The first part of this paper will look at the private sector's experience over the past decade for clues as to why the public sector has moved relatively slowly, and likely directions of development in coming years. We will also here present evidence from our own forecasts of the likely narrowing of the digital divide. The next two sections will then deal with future developments in more detail, firstly looking at ICT's future role in welfare service delivery, and secondly at the ways in which it might be used for greater citizen engagement, and the reshaping of power structures that will result from this. The final section will examine some conflicts that arise from this reorientation away from the centre.     

互联网金融对商业银行风险承担的影响研究——基于中国30家商业银行的实证分析

为了研究互联网金融对商业银行风险承担的影响,本文以2009—2018年互联网金融对中国30家典型商业银行风险承担影响的数据为基础,运用动态面板广义矩估计方法对互联网金融对我国商业银行风险承担的影响进行了研究与分析。结果表明:(1)互联网金融对我国商业银行风险承担的影响呈现倒U形分布,即互联网金融发展初期通过抢占市场份额,加剧了行业竞争,抢占了商业银行利润,进而加大了商业银行风险承担的成本;但随着商业银行对互联网前沿技术的不断融合、金融产品服务的创新以及风险管控水平的提升,商业银行风险承担的成本下降。(2)面对互联网金融的冲击,不同类型商业银行对风险承担反应具有异质性:在宏观层面,大型国有银行拥有庞大的资产规模和政策保障,对其冲击反应较为滞后;股份制银行和城市商业银行缺乏上述优势,对其冲击反映较为敏感,但股份制银行后期风险承担显著下降;农村商业银行因主要服务于乡村建设,受其影响较为有限。在微观层面,面对互联网金融的冲击,与资本充足率和流动性水平较低的大型商业银行相比,资本充足率和流动性水平较高的小规模商业银行风险承担显著增加。     

More hedonic versus less hedonic consumption behaviour in advanced internet bank services

Finnish internet banking can be considered as one of the most advanced in the world. This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the consumer characteristics in this sector. In the context of internet bank services the paper compares and contrasts two sets of consumers: those who prefer a more experiential view of consumption (more hedonic consumers) with those who believe in a less experiential view of consumption (less hedonic consumers). It was found that important differences exist between these two groups of consumers. Specifically, more hedonically orientated consumers place greater value on almost every proposed service dimension than the less hedonic consumers. These more hedonic consumers tend to be younger people, however, with lower education and income level and thus they do not appear to be an appealing target market for banks. In contrast, less hedonic consumers are found to be a more lucrative target market, even though they prefer basic services that concentrate on the core function of internet banking. The results have profound implications for internet bank services. Banks should focus on an improved functional operation of the services on the internet and cater more to the customers who find it effective and efficient.     

DEVOLUTION, ACCRUALS ACCOUNTING AND ASSET MANAGEMENT IN NHS WALES

This paper describes how a strategy for health services has been developed for NHS Wales and examines the role of accruals accounting in asset management and development. It uses archival investigation as well as interviews and a questionnaire. The role of accruals accounting in the operation of the service, particularly as it relates to the capital asset base of the Trusts and how these are managed, is discussed in the context that Trusts are autonomous units that develop services, and hence their capital asset base, through their own internal planning structure. It is found that, on devolution, there was a lack of consistent information about the stock of capital assets and that capital charges, based on accruals accounting, were not penetrating asset management within individual Trusts. Although strategies were being developed centrally, their implementation at a Trust level can be impeded as a consequence of accruals accounting.     

Consideration sets for financial services brands

This study examines the extent of consumer information search and consideration of financial services brands. It uses data from two surveys of purchasing behavior. This study finds a surprisingly low level of consumer consideration, either by personal enquiry or via the internet. The most common consideration set comprised only one brand, and this was the case for both high-value and low-value services. The managerial implication is that services marketers should make brand salience a top priority, with the competitiveness of their offer not being the primary driver of sales. If a financial services brand is salient to a consumer, there is a very high chance they will purchase that brand, without extensive comparison of the merits of alternatives.     

Beliefs affecting additional investment intentions of mutual fund clients

In this article, we aim to examine mutual fund investors’ behaviour in decision-making situations and to analyse future investment decisions via a path model approach. Investors were divided into different groups based on the risk and distribution channel used, and the differences in their investment intentions were examined. The study used empirical survey data collected from the clients of a mutual fund company owned by a Finnish banking group. Loyalty to the common banking group dominated the explanation in the whole model. The safety of the investment was important for branch office investors, whereas obtaining a good return was important for internet investors. Ultimately, explanatory power was highest for the branch office investors and lowest for the internet investors with equity funds. Most investors intended to invest more, and thus there was little variance to be explained. The results indicate that branch office investors with money market funds require more information about the investment business, although it is difficult to see who would be responsible for providing that information. This study has implications for both the theory and management of financial services.     

对我国商业银行视角下中间业务收费现状的思考

商业银行中间业务是指银行利用自身的优势条件,不动用其资金,以中间人的身份替客户办理委托事项,提供各类金融服务而收取服务费用的业务。我国商业银行自引入中间业务以来,中间业务的收费问题屡次进入人们视野,收费市场混乱可见一斑。转入2014年,面对国家进一步放开存贷款利率限制以及网络金融的异军突起,商业银行由依靠传统业务向中间业务的转型迫在眉睫。然而,一直以来,商业银行对中间业务的忽视造成其发展过程中积弊重重,其中的收费问题又是各种问题集中展示的＂交通灯＂。本文试图在商业银行的立场下对当今中间业务收费现状进行思考,以期对商业银行进一步规范收费提出合理的建议。     

Transparency of the organization and activity of carbon funds

ABSTRACT

Public and mixed carbon funds buy carbon credits on behalf of public authorities and make use of public money, thus there is a need for clear information regarding their operations. The paper presents a new transparency index for the organization and activity of carbon funds that takes account of information disclosed via the internet. The construction of the index is based on the Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index for sovereign wealth funds. The empirical study demonstrates that public and mixed carbon funds varied significantly in terms of their transparency but, in general, mixed carbon funds performed slightly better than public carbon funds.     

Towards understanding attitudes of consumers who use internet banking services

Increasingly technology is being employed to replace or substantially diminish personal interaction in service provision. Research is beginning to shed light on the impact of this phenomenon on service provision and the behavioural response of customers. More, however, remains to be done by way of investigating and establishing the extent to which this means of service provision is effective in maintaining mutually beneficial customer-service provider relationships. This paper explains and discusses findings of a study undertaken for the purpose of illuminating reasons for using internet banking services, and establishing whether or not regular use of these services necessarily implies loyal patronage and that the customer has a sense of relationship with the service provider. Significantly, it was found that regular use does not necessarily imply willing or satisfied use, or that the customer has a sense of relationship with the service provider. Managerial implications of the findings are also considered.     

Broadband development in the European Union to 2012—A virtuous circle scenario

Along with many national governments, the European Commission has pushed broadband to the fore of social and economic policies in recent years. It has aligned broadband developments with furthering information society and knowledge economy developments.This paper presents a positive scenario for broadband-related developments in the European Union area from 2009 to 2012. The scenario, the iNetWorked Society, is one of four developed in an extensive multi-country project funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme.Before examining the scenario, however, the paper places into a critical perspective the EU's legacy of broadband policy to date. It highlights the limitations of technology-centred policy frames and broadband strategies, which privilege supply-side infrastructure and neglect demand-side issues of applications, uses and users. Such policy frames have been associated with great variations in the level of broadband rollout, take-up and use across Member States.The paper then outlines the socio- and macro-economic conditions that need to be in place in Europe for the positive scenario of the iNetworked Society to be realised. The iNetWorked Society comprises a plausible, internally consistent scenario for developments in a number of broadband-related areas: broadband adoption, e-business, e-work, e-government and digital content. It is based on a virtuous circle of technological, economic and socio-political developments, including strong economic growth, high broadband penetration, and high social engagement with ICTs.     

Social innovation : Change in the mode of provision of services

This paper discusses a particular sort of social innovation: the development of new modes of provision of services for households. It argues that technical and organisational change in the process of service delivery may crucially determine both the sectoral structure of developed economies, and their patterns of time use. The model of service innovation described here provides historical insights, and an analytical framework for considering the likely impact of telematics technologies on future industrial employment patterns.     

Information Diffusion and Overreaction: Evidence from the Chinese Stock Market

This paper empirically examines the relation between overreaction and the speed of information diffusion in the Chinese stock market. Industry-adjusted firm size and residual analyst coverage are used to proxy the speed of information diffusion. We document strong evidence that the profitability of a monthly contrarian strategy decreases with industry-adjusted firm size or residual analyst coverage. Moreover, the profitability of contrarian strategies survives for a longer horizon for stocks with slower information diffusion than for those with faster information diffusion. This result holds true even if risk, bid-ask spread, lead-lag effect, inventory costs, and limits to arbitrage are properly accounted for. Our findings suggest that information environment and information diffusion determine the extent of overreaction.     

Electronic Business in der Versicherungswirtschaft

In the last years a fundamental shift took place in the competitive environment of the financial services industry which was mainly due to the development of the internet. Because of its high degree of information this industry seems to be particularly suitable for electronically based transactions. For this reason the article analyses possibilities for and potentials of the use of electronic business in the insurance industry. These possibilities and potentials could be found on every step of the value chain of firms in the insurance industrie so that there are many possibilities to improve efficiency. The use of electronic business also leads to an intermediation of the value chain and to the emergence of new business models in the environment of insurance firms.