Mobile money,family assistance and welfare in Cameroon

This paper aims to investigate the effect of mobile money services on the welfare in Cameroon. It specifically verifies whether the welfare of people benefiting from family assistance is improved via the mobile money services offered by the two main operators in the country, namely: Orange and Mtn. The data used come from the « FinScope Consommateur Cameroun » Survey carried out in 2017 by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Based on the propensity scores estimations, this study shows a positive and significant effect of mobile money on welfare. However, among the operators, Orange has a better impact compared to Mtn which does not present a significant effect. These results call on the authorities in charge of the development and implementation of financial inclusion policies to recognize the interest of digital financial services at the heart of financial inclusion strategies for the welfare of the poor.     

Optimal pre-dispatch task assignment of volunteers in daily emergency response

In emergency response volunteer programs, volunteers in the vicinity of an emergency are alerted via their mobile phones to the scene of the event to perform a specific task. Tasks are usually assigned based on predetermined rules disregarding real-world uncertainties. In this paper, we consider some of these uncertainties and propose an optimization model for the dispatch of volunteers to emergencies, where all task assignments must be done before dispatch. This means that each volunteer must be given a task before knowing whether (s)he is available. The model becomes computationally demanding for large problem instances; therefore, we develop a simple greedy heuristic for the problem and ensure that it can produce high quality solutions by comparing it to the exact model. While the model is for a general emergency, we test it for the case of volunteers responding to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) incidents. We compare the results of the model to the dispatch strategies used in two ongoing volunteer programs in Sweden and in the Netherlands and use simulation to validate the results. The results show that the model most often outperforms the currently used strategies; however, the computational run times, even for the heuristic, are too high to be operationally useful for large problem instances. Thus, it should be possible to improve the outcome using optimization-based task assignments strategies, but a fast solution method is needed for such strategies to be practically useable.     

Analysis of the socio-economic determinants of mobile money adoption and use in Cameroon

This study analyses the adoption and use of mobile money (MM) services based on data collected on 1000 households from the Global Findex Survey conducted in 2017 in Cameroon, by the World Bank. More specifically, this study attempts to first profile MM adopters, and then identify the explanatory factors of the different uses of these services. A Probit model is used to highlight the explanatory factors of MM adoption combined with multivariate regressions to identify the determinants of MM service use. Then, estimates of three independent Probits, under the assumption of non-simultaneity of the different uses of MM services are done to test the reliability and robustness of the results. The results reveal that socio-economic factors such as age, level of education, the standard of living and mobile phone ownership differentially affect both the adoption and use of MM services in Cameroon.     

Search,purchase, and satisfaction in a multiple-channel environment: How have mobile devices changed consumer behaviors?

The rapid adoption of smartphones and increasing reliance on the mobile Internet is influencing consumers’ shopping behavior with traditional Internet devices (e.g., desktop and laptop computers) and in stores. This research examines the effects of consumer perceptions of channels (i.e., mobile devices, computers, and offline stores) on their choices of search channels, purchase channel, and satisfaction level with the purchase channel. Using survey data from a sample of U.S. consumers, we find supplemental effects of mobile devices on computers do not alter the traditional substitution relationship between computers and stores during the search. The cross-channel effects indicate that perceived purchase benefits and costs of stores affect the purchase channel selection of mobile devices and computers, respectively. Satisfaction levels were highest when purchases were made on mobile devices. The insights from this study can help managers increase the effectiveness of advertising in different media and target distinct segments of consumers who rely on multiple channels for search and purchase.     

Intra-operator mobile plan switching: Evidence from linked survey and billing microdata

This paper examines consumers' intra-operator mobile phone plan switching in Ireland. It models the factors associated with switching outcomes, including the direction of change in expenditure and whether those who are observed to switch plans tend to arrive at more or less optimal plans given their usage. A dataset is employed that combines survey responses from mobile consumers with the same consumers' actual usage data in the period 2017–2019; this was collected by Ireland's national regulatory authority. The cost each consumer would have incurred on every plan offered in the market based on their observed usage is estimated. Using models that allow for selection into switching, associations between switching outcomes and demographic and user characteristics are modelled. Controls are included for plan and user attributes, including demographics and proxies for user sophistication and access to alternative communication options. A substantial proportion of intra-operator switchers in the sample increase expenditures when they switch plan. While many switchers move to plans that are more optimal given their usage, a slight majority move to plans that charge a higher price premium over the best available plan (based on observables) than the consumer's previous plan did. Few observable characteristics of consumers or plans seem to be significantly associated with which switches achieve greater optimality, although fixed operator effects are large and significant. These findings add to the weight of evidence which finds that many consumers fail to arrive at the best price even after switching.     

Juggling ecumenical wisdoms and xenophobic institutions: Framing and modelling China's telecommunications universal service and rural digitalization initiatives and policies

China historically belongs to a farming civilization, in which rural population tended to stick to their farmlands for a lifetime. This situation has somehow been changing with, inter alia, the advancement and application of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In recent years, China has been pushing for the inclusion of its rural communities into modern information society through aggressively digitalizing its rural areas under a public policy umbrella. With the literature's lopsided focus on Western nations, a cohesive paradigm in mapping the Chinese style of universal service implementation remains elusive, a situation that has often obfuscated deeper understanding of the Chinese case from a socioeconomic, technological, or institutional perspective. The main purpose of this present paper lies in the framing and modelling of China's universal service and rural digitalization practices. The paper proposes and applies an integrated offer–agent–target (OAT) framework in a retrospective and empirical examination of the Chinese case and conceptual characterization of what has appeared to be the Chinese model. In so doing, China's universal service development is demarcated into discernible stages that are then pattern-matched with corresponding institutional landscapes. Three salient stages are identified and corresponding institutional landscapes explicated. Finally, insights and suggestions are offered that throws lights on the current issues and future developments.     

Effective competition and ineffective mobile industry regulation in South Africa

The most striking feature of South Africa’s mobile market is the skewed allocation of spectrum and a seemingly endless sequence of failed attempts to hold an auction for it. A shortage of spectrum (or the inefficient assignment of it) is blamed, among other things, for South Africa’s relatively slow LTE 4G speeds. Through historical accident, the country has two mobile data networks in addition to the four licensed mobile operators. The response of operators has been to innovate using roaming and network sharing agreements; as we explore in this paper, these have become the de facto spectrum allocation process.This paper looks at how the de facto industry structure has been moulded by spectrum holdings and sharing arrangements and asks how spectrum management could be improved. We observe that, although the number of mobile operators has effectively been reduced to 3 (a number which would raise concern in some circles), there exist a variety of arrangements between those three and other spectrum and network operators. The smallest of the current three mobile operators is still not able to offer a nationwide mobile service without a roaming agreement but, at the same time, the two larger operators depend critically on spectrum and roaming agreements themselves, mainly with the two physical data network operators that function as wholesale providers.The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) was established as a consequence of a new constitution that was adopted in 1996 and it helped to create new institutional arrangements for the burgeoning mobile industry. The authority has nevertheless continued to be hampered, as we shall demonstrate, by political imperatives. This has been pointed out by other authors over the past twenty years and we add to this body of evidence by considering the spectrum auction planned (again) for 2021.The “2021” auction is in fact an iteration of the auction originally announced in May 2010 and then abandoned (Song, 2011). The same thing happened again in 2016 (Paelo & Robb, 2020). Late in 2020, the regulator again announced an auction, due to take place during 2021 but by the second quarter of the year, two of the four national operators had already obtained a court injunction to stop it. The process is intertwined with a political imperative to establish a public wireless open-access network, which we discuss in detail.We describe how the industry has navigated around policy and regulatory dysfunction and how competitive interaction among the South African operators has managed to prevail. Following Hausman & Taylor’s (2013) lead in their work on the United States, in this paper we provide a commentary on apparently perverse outcomes from significant regulatory, judicial and legislative actions (or, perhaps more accurately, inactions) governing the South African mobile telecommunications industry from the commencement of the current constitutional arrangements in 1996 to the present.     

Mobile payment and rural household consumption: Evidence from China

Exploring effective measures to promote rural household consumption is a challenge for developing countries, where rural areas often face severe financial exclusion and undeveloped commercial services. In this research, the influence of mobile payment, a popular payment method emerging in recent years, on rural household consumption is assessed by adopting China Household Finance Survey of 2017. Estimation results under the instrumental variable method suggest that mobile payment has a statistically significant and facilitating effect on rural household consumption in China. This positive effect is attributed to the benefits of mobile payment in improving financial inclusion and the convenience of consumption activities for rural areas, which is verified by performing several disaggregated analyses in our study. This work provides new evidence for the increasing literature on the economic impact of financial technology and several enlightenments for developing countries to improve the quality of public life through information intervention policies.     

Determinants of switching intention from web-based stores to retail apps: Habit as a moderator

Online retailers seek to motivate their customers to switch from web-based stores to retail apps as using the latter as a shopping channel has many benefits for retailers compared to web-based stores. This study aims to examine the drivers of customers' intention to switch from web-based stores to retail apps by applying the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S–O-R) model. The moderating role of habit was investigated. Data were collected from 389 Malaysian individuals through an online survey and analysed using the partial least squares technique. The results indicated that performance expectancy has a significant influence on switching intention and is driven by mobile characteristics. Furthermore, effort expectancy has a positive effect on both performance expectancy and switching intention and is triggered by visual complexity and aesthetic quality. The moderating effects of habit on the associations between performance expectancy, effort expectancy and switching intention were not supported. The findings extend the literature on retail apps by exploring the switching intention drivers and testing the moderating effect of culture, which have received less attention. The results enable retail apps' developers and marketers to strategise retail apps development and marketing activities in a way that encourages current web-based stores’ customers to use retail apps as a better alternative.     

How consumers’ perceptions differ towards the design features of mobile live streaming shopping platform: A mixed-method investigation of respondents from Taobao Live

Mobile Live Streaming Shopping (MLSS) has become the most rapidly growing e-commerce business. However, there is a dearth of theoretical concern on the MLSS platform designing issue - the key factor affecting business success. Based on the axiomatic design theory, a systematic view of design features of MLSS platform is given, and a three-layer model including thirteen design features is built. The perceived differences of consumers across design features and individual characteristics, as well as the prioritization strategies of MLSS platform are derived with a mixed-method schema. The study provides fine-grained insights for enhancing the differentiated consumer experience by optimizing and improving the design of MLSS platforms.