大額支付系統係銀行間清算之重要金融基礎設施，除可降低整體商業與金融交易成本外，並作為中央銀行傳遞貨幣政策操作效果之管道，我國大額支付系統成交值為國內生產毛額之數倍，且逐年增加，說明大額支付系統之於經濟活動的重要性，但大額支付系統成交值與國內生產毛額之間是否具有同向變動的關係，少有相關實證研究。 大額支付系統具有促進貨幣交易媒介之功能，透過貨幣所得流通速率（Income Velocity of Money）影響貨幣需求，並與中央銀行貨幣政策公開市場操作密切相關，本研究由總體經濟因素、中央銀行貨幣政策因素、支付系統制度性與結構性因素及重大事件等建立迴歸分析模型，探討各解釋變數與大額支付系統成交值變動之關聯性。實證結果發現，名目國內生產毛額、通貨比率及持有貨幣的機會成本、新臺幣兌美元匯率、全體銀行法定準備金、中央銀行定期存單淨釋出金額及大額支付系統週轉率等解釋變數，均與大額支付系統成交值變動具有正向之統計顯著性，顯示大額支付系統與相關總體經濟因素有關。 大額支付系統伴隨一國經濟成長、支持相關經濟活動，且與中央銀行貨幣政策操作有關，具中央銀行傳遞貨幣政策操作效果之功能，此外，本研究發現，大額支付系統週轉率與大額支付系統成交值變動呈正向相關，中央銀行藉由提升大額支付系統效率措施，促使貨幣需求減少，進而降低貨幣供給，應有助於降低貨幣發行成本。 / Large value payment system (LVPS) is an important financial infrastructure for interbank clearing, which can reduce the overall business and financial transaction costs, and could help transmitting the central bank’s monetary policy effect to the market. Taiwan's LVPS transaction value increasing yearly is several times of its GDP. It shows the importance of the LVPS to domestic economic activities. There is little empirical research about the relationship between the LVPS transaction value and GDP. The LVPS could promote the function of the medium of exchange, which affects the demand of money through the Income Velocity of Money and is closely related to the central bank monetary policy. This study’s regression analysis is based on the macro economic factors, the central bank monetary policy factors, payment system institutional and structural factors and major events. The empirical results show that the GDP, the currency ratio and the opportunity cost of holding the currency, USD/NTD exchange rate, the reserve of the whole bank, the net central bank's negotiable certificates of deposit and LVPS turnover, those variables have positive relationship and statistically significant with the LVPS transaction value changes. The LVPS is accompanied by the economic growth of a nation, supporting the relevant economic activities, related to the central bank's monetary policy, and served as the conduit of the monetary policy effect. The study also found that LVPS turnover and its transaction value’s changes are positively related. The central bank would decrease the cost of money issuance by introducing some institutional measures to strengthen the efficiency of the LVPS, then could help reducing the money demand and supply.

The research outlined in this thesis focuses on the effects of implementation and use of mobile payments as experienced by older adults aged 55-75, as qualitatively examined through research interviewees (hereafter participants of this study) made up of individuals with varying cultural and technological backgrounds, who are acclimated to Greece’s culture and have lived within the country for at least a decade. Their own perception and reception of the practice allows for a more comprehensive look into the practical application of the technology within the country. No empirical studies are available on the aforementioned topic, despite the high importance and need for such study. Therefore, this research is carried out through a literature review. It then analyzes two models namely technology acceptance model (TAM) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. It applies a phenomenological research method and provides us with a more concise, contextualized background into the widespread application of m-payment and m-commerce within the country. This research contributes new knowledge to m-payment and m-commerce through theoretical and empirical research and benefits the interpretation of a recently emerging phenomenon. The research results are useful to various groups associated with mpayments and m-commerce. Future research directions concerning this phenomenon involve the reception and enhancement of m-payment methods by older adults.

The work deals with the analysis of security management in company selling goods trought the stone shop and the electronic commerce. The assets and threats affecting them were identified and an analysis of risks and selected measures was evaluated. The work is based on the theoretical background from series of standards ISO/IEC 27000 given in the first part of it.

Depuis ses fondements, le domaine de l’Interaction Homme-Machine (IHM) est marqué par le souci constant de concevoir et de produire des systèmes numériques utiles et utilisables, c’est-à-dire adaptés aux utilisateurs dans leur contexte. Vu le développement exponentiel des recherches dans les IHM, deux états des lieux s’imposent dans les environnements en ligne : le concept de confiance et le comportement de l’usager. Ces deux états ne cessent de proliférer dans la plupart des solutions conçues et sont à la croisée des travaux dans les interfaces de paiements en ligne et dans les systèmes de recommandation. Devant les progrès des solutions conçues, l’objectif de cette recherche réside dans le fait de mieux comprendre les différents enjeux dans ces deux domaines, apporter des améliorations et proposer de nouvelles solutions adéquates aux usagers en matière de perception et de comportement en ligne. Outre l’état de l’art et les problématiques, ce travail est divisé en cinq parties principales, chacune contribue à mieux enrichir l’expérience de l’usager en ligne en matière de paiement et recommandations en ligne : • Analyse des multi-craintes en ligne : nous analysons les différents facteurs des sites de commerce électronique qui influent directement sur le comportement des consommateurs en matière de prise de décision et de craintes en ligne. Nous élaborons une méthodologie pour mesurer avec précision le moment où surviennent la question de la confidentialité, les perceptions en ligne et les craintes de divulgation et de pertes financières. • Intégration de personnalisation, contrôle et paiement conditionnel : nous proposons une nouvelle plateforme de paiement en ligne qui supporte à la fois la personnalisation et les paiements multiples et conditionnels, tout en préservant la vie privée du détenteur de carte. • Exploration de l’interaction des usagers en ligne versus la sensibilisation à la cybersécurité : nous relatons une expérience de magasinage en ligne qui met en relief la perception du risque de cybercriminalité dans les activités en ligne et le comportement des utilisateurs lié à leur préoccupation en matière de confidentialité. • Équilibre entre utilité des données et vie privée : nous proposons un modèle de préservation de vie privée basé sur l’algorithme « k-means » et sur le modèle « k-coRating » afin de soutenir l’utilité des données dans les recommandations en ligne tout en préservant la vie privée des usagers. • Métrique de stabilité des préférences des utilisateurs : nous ciblons une meilleure méthode de recommandation qui respecte le changement des préférences des usagers par l’intermédiaire d’un réseau neural. Ce qui constitue une amélioration à la fois efficace et performante pour les systèmes de recommandation. Cette thèse porte essentiellement sur quatre aspects majeurs liés : 1) aux plateformes des paiements en ligne, 2) au comportement de l’usager dans les transactions de paiement en ligne (prise de décision, multi-craintes, cybersécurité, perception du risque), 3) à la stabilité de ses préférences dans les recommandations en ligne, 4) à l’équilibre entre vie privée et utilité des données en ligne pour les systèmes de recommandation. / Technologies in Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) are playing a vital role across the entire production process to design and deliver advanced digital systems. Given the exponential development of research in this field, two concepts are largely addressed to increase performance and efficiency of online environments: trust and user behavior. These two extents continue to proliferate in most designed solutions and are increasingly enriched by continuous investments in online payments and recommender systems. Along with the trend of digitalization, the objective of this research is to gain a better understanding of the various challenges in these two areas, make improvements and propose solutions more convenient to the users in terms of online perception and user behavior. In addition to the state of the art and challenges, this work is divided into five main parts, each one contributes to better enrich the online user experience in both online payments and system recommendations: • Online customer fears: We analyze different components of the website that may affect customer behavior in decision-making and online fears. We focus on customer perceptions regarding privacy violations and financial loss. We examine the influence on trust and payment security perception as well as their joint effect on three fundamentally important customers’ aspects: confidentiality, privacy concerns and financial fear perception. • Personalization, control and conditional payment: we propose a new online payment platform that supports both personalization and conditional multi-payments, while preserving the privacy of the cardholder. • Exploring user behavior and cybersecurity knowledge: we design a new website to conduct an experimental study in online shopping. The results highlight the impact of user’s perception in cybersecurity and privacy concerns on his online behavior when dealing with shopping activities. • Balance between data utility and user privacy: we propose a privacy-preserving method based on the “k-means” algorithm and the “k-coRating” model to support the utility of data in online recommendations while preserving user’s privacy. • User interest constancy metric: we propose a neural network to predict the user’s interests in recommender systems. Our aim is to provide an efficient method that respects the constancy and variations in user preferences. In this thesis, we focus on four major contributions related to: 1) online payment platforms, 2) user behavior in online payments regarding decision making, multi-fears and cyber security 3) user interest constancy in online recommendations, 4) balance between privacy and utility of online data in recommender systems.

This diploma thesis is focused on new trends in payment systems for digital content. In the introductory chapter are briefly described the current types of electronic payment systems. The next part of the thesis introduces a foreign research studies and compares their results with results of the questionnaire survey conducted within the frame of the thesis. The following chapters are devoted to Czech and foreign electronic payment systems, focusing on the sale of digital content, the general development of the Czech micropayment systems and comparison of functionalities of the payment systems in order to compose a summary of recommendations for selected individuals involved in the field of electronic commerce. Following parts of this thesis are focused on the identification of the main trends in charging for Czech and foreign media content and presentation of the results of the questionnaire survey. The core of the work is to identify the main problems of the development of electronic payment systems, the identification of new trends in the pricing of media content and the summary of recommendations for the selected entities in the area of electronic commerce according to the knowledge gained in the diploma thesis.

Master of Science / Department of Statistics / John E. Boyer Jr / The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods used for allocating disaster funds to assist commercial fishery participants as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005 and to examine alternative methods to aid in determining an efficient criterion for allocating public funds for fisheries assistance. The trip ticket data managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries were used and analyzed using a cluster analysis. Results from the clustering procedures show that commercial fishermen consist of seven clusters, while wholesale/retail seafood dealers consist of six clusters. The three tiers into which commercial fishermen were originally classified can be extended to at least eleven (11) clusters, made up of three (3) clusters in tier 1 and an equal number of clusters (4) clusters in tier 2 and tier 3. Similarly, the original three tiers of wholesale/retail seafood dealers can be reclassified into at least nine (9) clusters with two clusters in tier 1, four (4) clusters in tier 2 and three (3) clusters in tier 3. As a result of the clustering reclassifications, alternative compensation plans were developed for the commercial fishermen and wholesale/retail seafood dealers. These alternative compensation plans suggest a reallocation of disaster assistance funds among individual groups of fishermen and among individual groups of dealers. We finally recommend that alternative classification methods should always be considered in order to select the most efficient criterion for allocating public funds in the future.

The use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) by governments on all continents has been rapidly growing as government departments and their agencies continue to look for improvised means of providing high quality services. In South Africa, the demand for the replacement of the aging government infrastructure has led to the increase in the use of PPPs. The PPPs are not only used for the improvement of roads, but also in the provision of social services and many other services that are traditionally a responsibility of government. Government institutions typically enter into relationships with PPPs to address their needs and to meet specific objectives. It is, therefore, up to these institutions to choose an ideal model of procurement that best addresses their objectives of delivering effective services (Palmer, 2009:Online). Government institutions will, however, only enter into relationship with PPPs if the services can be transferred in a responsible way and if the risks for failure are limited. Inefficiencies in the disbursement of social assistance grants by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has received much attention and criticism from the stakeholders as the company contracted to perform the work on behalf of SASSA continues to provide poor quality services. In assessing a PPP, countries providing social security transfers need to take into consideration a partner that will assist in establishing and implementing the payment design and distribution mechanism that is capable of facilitating the cost effective, reliable and practical delivery of cash to the grant beneficiaries. A comprehensive review of literature and empirical investigation was carried out to respond to the research study’s set objectives. The study explored a wide-ranging survey of PPP projects in developed and developing countries focusing on the use of the PPP model in the South African context with specific reference to the disbursement of social grants by the SASSA. Alternative procurement methodologies in government were also reviewed. An analysis of relevant procurement theories was undertaken to form the basis of the research study. The mini-dissertation explores if there are any advantages for the government, and more specifically the SASSA, in using PPPs as opposed to traditional procurement methods. The study attempts to establish if a private partner can be encouraged to provide long-term investment in terms of expertise; well qualified staff; technology; infrastructure; and creation of an environment conducive for highly effective service delivery where the return on such investment is not guaranteed. / MA (Public Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) by governments on all continents has been rapidly growing as government departments and their agencies continue to look for improvised means of providing high quality services. In South Africa, the demand for the replacement of the aging government infrastructure has led to the increase in the use of PPPs. The PPPs are not only used for the improvement of roads, but also in the provision of social services and many other services that are traditionally a responsibility of government. Government institutions typically enter into relationships with PPPs to address their needs and to meet specific objectives. It is, therefore, up to these institutions to choose an ideal model of procurement that best addresses their objectives of delivering effective services (Palmer, 2009:Online). Government institutions will, however, only enter into relationship with PPPs if the services can be transferred in a responsible way and if the risks for failure are limited. Inefficiencies in the disbursement of social assistance grants by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has received much attention and criticism from the stakeholders as the company contracted to perform the work on behalf of SASSA continues to provide poor quality services. In assessing a PPP, countries providing social security transfers need to take into consideration a partner that will assist in establishing and implementing the payment design and distribution mechanism that is capable of facilitating the cost effective, reliable and practical delivery of cash to the grant beneficiaries. A comprehensive review of literature and empirical investigation was carried out to respond to the research study’s set objectives. The study explored a wide-ranging survey of PPP projects in developed and developing countries focusing on the use of the PPP model in the South African context with specific reference to the disbursement of social grants by the SASSA. Alternative procurement methodologies in government were also reviewed. An analysis of relevant procurement theories was undertaken to form the basis of the research study. The mini-dissertation explores if there are any advantages for the government, and more specifically the SASSA, in using PPPs as opposed to traditional procurement methods. The study attempts to establish if a private partner can be encouraged to provide long-term investment in terms of expertise; well qualified staff; technology; infrastructure; and creation of an environment conducive for highly effective service delivery where the return on such investment is not guaranteed. / MA (Public Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Electronic payment systems (EPS) have received considerable attention from researchers and business owners worldwide, because of their potential to support economic development and growth. Despite the significant contribution of the growth in EPS to the ability to complete transactions via the Internet, Libya lags significantly behind developed countries in its adoption of EPS. This research focuses on factors affecting EPS adoption and use in Libya, explaining how they positively or negatively affect Libyan customers and organisations‟ willingness to adopt EPS. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders, including consumers, organisational staff (e.g. Telecommunications Companies, Banks, the Ministry of Telecommunication and Informatics, etc.), and strategic decision-makers (e.g. the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, Director of Islamic Banking at Bank of Republic). The research implements Grounded Theory methods (GT), in particular the Straussian approach, to analyse, explore, and investigate the socio-organisational, technical, political, and economic factors affecting the adoption of EPS in Libya, and importantly the relationship between these factors. It discusses the impact of the factors identified, from both organisational and consumer perspectives, highlighting the factors and issues that need to be overcome to support successful adoption of EPS. The findings confirm that, for consumers and organisations alike, economic factors (e.g. perceived benefits, cooperation with existing entities, mutuality of stakeholders, Internet costs, standard of living, marketing businesses, awareness, withdrawal control, XX feasibility studies on EPS implementation, Islamic banking services and competition) are the core factors influencing the system‟s adoption. Furthermore, the findings revealed three new and significant factors of relevance to Libya, including standard of living, post coding and the unstable political situation in the country. These represent a unique contribution to the body of knowledge, illustrating the attitude of the Libyan people toward Internet usage, and current obstacles to EPS adoption. The use of substantive GT, in particular the Straussian approach, for data collection and data analysis in the field of EPS adoption, and the assessment of organisational and consumer attitudes, is unique to this research to the best of the researcher‟s knowledge. Thus, the research embodies a substantial contribution to the body of knowledge. The interpretive analysis of data using a Straussian approach has permitted the researcher to attain a deep understanding of the socio-organisational, economic, political, and technical factors affecting adoption of an E-payment system in Libya, as implemented by different stakeholders: Consumers, and Organisational. The benefits that the adoption of EPS in Libya will bring, include facilitation of online transactions, the availability of more secure websites, easier payment and access to the global markets. Furthermore, detailed recommendations are also being offered to assist decision-makers in the development and introduction of EPS in Libya, i.e. including the Communications and Informatics Ministry, which is hoped will advise internet service providers and companies to discount the cost of using the internet for limited bandwidths, in order to insure everyone access to the internet, and EPS.

隨著國際競爭壓力增加及國內金融環境開放，國內企業運用併購策略已成為企業成長之重要方法。其中併購支付方式決策由於受到許多企業內外在因素左右，諸如稅法規定、法令限制、外部監督力量要求、企業的資本結構及股東結構等因素，而對企業財務結構及股價有重大影響，進而牽動併購的效益。本文乃欲檢驗併購支付方式的各項決定因素，以及支付方式對股價的效果，以供企業作為決策之參考。 本文之研究係以民國86年至95年間宣告併購的國內上市櫃企業為對象，同時排除行業性質特殊之金融業，以Logit模型及複迴歸模型從事實證模型分析。 本文研究議題有二： 一.探討影響併購支付模式之決定因素為何?本文以支付方式之虛擬變數為應變數，以每股現金流量等為自變數。 二.探討併購支付模式對公司股價之影響為何? 本文以累積異常報酬率為應變數，以支付方式之虛擬變數為自變數。 本研究實證結果發現，支付方式之決定因素方面，相對規模、併購地點、外資持股比例、併購宣告時間及負債權益比達到顯著水準。其中作為風險分攤因素之代理變數中負債權益比及相對規模之實證結果，均顯示與預期相符，即併購風險愈大，主併公司傾向選擇以股票支付，而併購地點卻與預期相反；另外資持股比例越高，傾向採現金支付，亦與預期相符。又併購宣告時間在企業併購法公布以後者，併購企業傾向採用股票支付。在支付方式對公司股價影響方面，實證結果雖與預期相符，即現金支付之累進異常報酬較股票支付方式佳，但其結果並不顯著。 / With the increasing pressure from international competition and opening domestic economic environment, the strategy to Business Combinations has become a more and more important way to promote enterprise and economy progress. The strategy of payment for Merger & Acquisition depends much on the various internal and external enterprise factors, and it has an significant impact on the capital structure of enterprises and the price of Stock. It also influences the effectiveness of merging. The present study was designed to investigate the possible deterministic factors of the mode of payment for Merger & Acquisition and how the mode of payment affected the price of stock, which might provide a good reference for planning enterprise strategies. The data were collected from the domestic enterprises which declared to merge other enterprises between 1997 and 2006. The financial industry with special marketing characteristics was excluded. The Logit and multiple linear regression models were used for the analyses. The aims of the present study were: 1. To investigate the possible deterministic factors of mode of payment for Merger & Acquisition. A dummy variable regarding mode of payment was used as the dependent variable, and variables such as per cash flow were used as the independent variables. 2. To determine how mode of payment for mergers affected the price of stock. Cumulative abnormal return ratio (CAR) was used as the dependent variable, and a dummy variable regarding mode of payment was used as the independent variable. The results showed that RS, CROSS, FRG, Dyear and DE significantly determined the mode of payment. The results were in accordance with the concept of risk-sharing. The higher the risk of merging, the more tendencies that the main enterprise chooses to pay by stocks. The higher percentage of FRG, the more tendency that the main enterprise chooses to pay by money or cash. The main enterprise also tends to choose to pay by stocks when the time of merging was declared after the publication of the law. For the results of the effect of mode of payment on the stock price, the results were also under expectation. The CAR for payment by cash or money is better than that by stocks. However, this result was not statistically significant.