As the fast development of mobile communication technology, mobile value added service (VAS) kept booming, the maturation of the mobile payment solutions also promoted the industry to become more consummate and profitable. As the cost of duplicating e-products is low while the return on investment is considerable high in this industry, many mobile VAS company are searching for bigger and challenging market such as China. The general aim of this thesis project is to provide practical solutions for these companies to successfully enter into the Chinese market. To fulfill this goal, the thesis studied behavior patterns of Chinese mobile VAS users by questionnaires, results indicated that variables and factors assessed in this study can significantly affect customers’ consume behaviours. Furthermore feasible business models and corresponding cooperative strategies were proposed and discussed in perspectives of value network, profitability and product control, which are tightly correlated to the commercialization of product. Moreover, this thesis introduced different marketing strategies to support the implementation of business models and introduced open and closed innovation conceptions for strategic development of mobile VAS companies’ growth in future.

Over the past decade, the healthcare landscape has shifted for Ontario’s family physicians as government policies changed the availability of practice and compensation models. The most impacted population are early career family physicians. Given this changing healthcare environment, the factors that drive early career family physicians practice choices are unclear and not well-studied. Therefore, this thesis sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What factors shape family physician choice of practice and compensation models in Ontario? a. How do early career family physicians perceive the availability of practice and compensation models in Ontario? 2. From the perspective of Ontario family medicine residency administrators, how does residency influence family physician practice choices? This study was a part of a broader, cross-provincial study examining family medicine resident and early career family physician practice patterns in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Nineteen early career physicians and 7 family medicine residency administrators were interviewed for their perceptions and understanding of the factors and policies affecting their (or in the case of administrators, residents’) career choices. In this thesis, I used thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke to answer the research questions. Patton and McMahon’s Systems Theory Framework (STF) provided a systems perspective that was used to model and assess the interactions between emergent themes. The factors that shaped family physician choice of practice and compensation models were divided into micro- and macro-level factors as described by the STF. Micro-level factors were ‘gender’, ‘health’, ‘interests’, and ‘world of work knowledge.’ Macro-level factors included ‘educational institutions’, ‘geographical location’, ‘historical trends’, ‘peers’, ‘family’, ‘community groups’, ‘workplace’, and ‘employment market.’ Finally, two additional factors were found: ‘flexibility’, and ‘financial considerations.’ The interaction between these factors was complex, where many linked themes gave rise to career decisions made by family physicians. A second perspective in the form of residency administrators helped develop a holistic description of these factors. Furthermore, a gap between physician training and practice opportunities after graduation was identified.

Der Band beinhaltet als Spitzenbeitrag die Masterarbeit eines Studenten der sächsischen Polizei, die an der Deutschen Hochschule der Polizei mit Bestnote bewertet wurde. Ferner finden sich darin zwei aufgrund der herausragenden Qualität in ihrem polizeilichen Nutzwert ebenbürtige Bachelorarbeiten von Absolventen der Hochschule der Sächsischen Polizei (FH) sowie ein Abschlussbericht über ein bundesweites Forschungsprojekt zur Vergleichbarkeit der Atemalkoholanalyse mit der Blutalkoholanalyse, das an der Hochschule der Sächsischen Polizei (FH) in den Jahren 2015 bis 2017 mit bundesweiter Beteiligung durchgeführt wurde. All diese Beiträge können Entscheidendes zur Qualitätssteigerung der polizeilichen und staatlichen Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit beitragen. / = Rothenburger Beiträge zur Polizei- und Sicherheitsforschung ; Bd. 108

Abstract  Background: The evolution of technology has transformed the way we shop, with BNPL services like Klarna and Qliro gaining popularity among consumers. This form of short-term financing offers flexibility by allowing customers to either pay later or divide their costs into interest-free installments. While BNPL is initially associated with online shopping, BNPL has expanded to physical stores, enabling customers to choose from even more payment options. The fashion industry has especially benefited from the evolving BNPL, as it facilitates easier exploration of new styles and product comparison from the comfort of one’s home. Furthermore, BNPL users are more likely to make purchases, spend more, and exhibit higher customer loyalty.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the factors affecting the intention to use BNPL technology and how they differ in an online and in-store context.  Method: For the researchers to accomplish the purpose of this study, a qualitative research strategy was applied. The empirical data was obtained through semi-structured interviews held with Gen Z participants residing in Jönköping, who had previous experience using BNPL either in-store, online, or both. The data was later analyzed and interpreted using an abductive approach, using thematic analysis.   Conclusion: The research findings indicate that multiple factors influence purchase intention when using BNPL in both online and in-store contexts. A theoretical model, previous research, and empirical findings was incorporated for the study’s revised research framework including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, trust and security pain of payment and attitudes. For the online context, gen Z perceived all factors included in the revised research framework were found to have a noteworthy influence on purchase intentions using BNPL in the fashion industry. Moreover, the study identified both differences and similarities between the online and in-store context. For the in-store context, five out of the six factors in the revised research framework were perceived to be important for gen Z when purchasing fashion. Further the study suggests that there may be relational patterns between the factors, however the study did not examine relationships or degrees of associations between the factors, leaving room for future investigation.

Sharing commodities such as vehicles and houses in exchange for a fee has become very popular in the recent years. Companies such as Uber and Airbnb are two examples where their users can rent their underutilized assets for a period of time. This approach relies in the need of a trusted and centralized third party service provider which introduces security and privacy risks. Specifically, users’ personal data can be collected and misused by the service provider while at the same time the system is more vulnerable to a Distributed Denial of Service attack. In this thesis, a protocol namely CarGo, is presented and aims to allow car owners to rent their cars in a decentralized, secure and private way. Furthermore, this thesis presents a Proof-of-Concept on the Ethereum, Arbitrum and Optimism blockchains where a Solidity smart contract is utilized for automatic execution of car booking and payment functionalities. The solution ensures security and privacy of the booking details and offers safeguards against malicious behavior. Furthermore, with the deployment of the smart contract in layer two blockchain solutions the transactional fees have been greatly reduced. / Delning av tillgångar som bilar och hus mot en avgift har blivit mycket populärt på senare år. Företag som Uber och Airbnb är två exempel där användarna kan hyra sina underutnyttjade tillgångar under en period. Denna approach bygger på behovet av en pålitlig och centraliserad tredjepartstjänsteleverantör, vilket innebär säkerhets- och integritetsrisker. Specifikt kan användarnas personliga data samlas in och missbrukas av tjänsteleverantören samtidigt som systemet är mer mottagligt för Distributed Denial of Service-attacker. I denna avhandling presenteras ett protokoll, nämligen CarGo, som syftar till att tillåta bilägare att hyra ut sina bilar på ett decentraliserat, säkert och privat sätt. Dessutom presenterar denna avhandling en Proof-of-Concept på Ethereum, Arbitrum och Optimism-blockchain där en Solidity smart contract används för automatisk utförande av bilbokning och betalningsfunktionalitet. Lösningen säkerställer säkerhet och integritet för bokningsdetaljerna och erbjuder skyddsåtgärder mot illvilligt beteende. Dessutom har med implementeringen av smart contract i layer two blockchain-lösningar transaktionsavgifterna reducerats betydligt.

With the rise of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, secure e-wallets also become more important. But what makes an e-wallet secure? In this report, we compare different aspects of ewallets to see which alternatives are secure and convenient enough to be used.This report contains comparative analyses of different implementation for e-wallets. The problem area is divided into three smaller areas: Key storage, authentication, and recovery. These problem areas have defined criteria for what is considered good qualities in each respective area.The results show that for key storage, the best options are, Android’s keystore/IOS’ secure enclave, offline storage or a hybrid hot/cold storage. For authentication, the best alternatives proved to be BankID and local authentication through the phone’s OS. Good Recovery alternatives include recovery seeds that recover the whole e-wallet or using multiple keys for both signing and recovery.The proof of concept made for this project uses three different storage methods with the authentication methods for each one and with the possibility of recovery in case a key should be lost. The storage methods used are offline storage thought QR-codes, online storage with firebase and local storage with Android keystore or Secure enclave. Authentication is done with Facebook/Google sign in or local authentication. / Med blockkedja och kryptovalutornas ökande popularitet blir säkra e-plånböcker allt mer viktiga. Men vad gör en e-plånbok säker? I detta arbete ska olika implementationer för e-plånböcker undersökas för att se vilka alternativ som är tillräckligt säkra samt användarvänliga.Problemområdena delas upp i följande delar: nyckellagring, autentisering och återhämtning av stulen/förlorade nycklar. Arbetet innefattar jämförelser mellan olika lösningar till dessa områden med definierade jämförelsekriterier.Resultatet visar att för nyckellagring är de bästa alternativen Androids keystore system/IOS secure enclave som båda är en form av säker lagringsplats på telefonen, offline lagring och hybridlagring som enkelt förklarat är en tjänst som bevarar data offline och gör den online när användaren väl vill ha tillgång till datan. För autentisering är de bästa alternativen BankID och lokal autentisering genom telefonens operativsystem. För återhämtning av nycklar är de bästa alternativen recovery seed eller att använda multipla nycklar för både signering och återhämtning.En proof of concept gjordes där lagringsmetoderna papper (exempelvis QR-kod), online-lagring med Firebase och lokal lagring med Android keystore eller Secure enclave implementerats. Autentiseringen sker med hjälp av Facebook/Google login och lokal autentisering. Återhämtning görs med två utav tre nycklarna som används för både signering och återhämtning.

This thesis examines the performance of serial acquirers in the Nordic market between 2006-2016. We investigate how serial acquirers perform in the short-term and long-term and if serial acquirers are affected by hubris, or if they learn by experience. The payment method is examined to determine if cash-financed deals outperform equity-financed deals. The short-term performance study is measured by the Cumulative Abnormal Return (CAR) and the long-term performance study is measured by the Calendar-Time Portfolio (CTP) combined with the Fama-French Four-Factor model. The main findings show that serial acquirers underperform relative to single acquirers only in the short term. No significant results are found for the hubris and learning hypotheses. In addition, we find that acquirer size and the deal size have a significant effect on the short-term post-M&A performance.

Infrastructure in the form of payment systems is a necessity to allow for payments to reach from payer to payee, but it is also subject to product differentiation between banks. In the euro countries, a domestic-integration zone termed SEPA that consolidates payment systems into a singular system has been regulated, providing market efficiencies for customers and companies. However, in Sweden, banks use unstandardized file communication that is costly for stakeholders to interface against, and is becoming increasingly difficult to oversee. With the introduction of novel payment solutions (e.g. mobile payments), there is also an increase in competitors that access the infrastructure. A rising customer demand for faster, global and integrated payments has been identified. This increased fragmentation of the market requires large investments for banks and reduces customer mobility, which motivates the need for consolidation of payment flows. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the roles of stakeholders in the clearing and settlement mechanism, and to identify the drivers and inhibitors that affect business decisions to change the systems in place. These results are categorized according to co-opetition theory. Furthermore, the thesis brings forward the global industry standard for financial messaging ISO 20022 to the business context, and discusses its implications in the Swedish market from an interoperability point of view. The study has been conducted using mixed methods with a qualitative approach. It includes: Analysis of documents and materials, non-participative observation, interviews with 9 industry experts and an in-depth case study of real-time payments in Sweden (Betalningar i Realtid). Results show that actors’ perceptions of one another are ambiguous, but cooperation is well-established and reaps many positive effects for firms. Co-opetition activities in banks are inclined to drive change, while competitive moves are likely to leave the system unchanged. Co-opetition is only possible under certain pre-agreed rules such as differentiation by implementing flexible payment solutions. The main implication for migration to an improved, standardized payment flow is connected to the governance of infrastructure. It is suggested that if agreements between stakeholders are not reached in due time then SEPA-like regulation put forward by higher instances is a likely outcome.

E-payment paradigm in the context of fighting corruption and increasing transparency at the public-sector authority’s level is becoming more important than ever especially for Eastern Europe. The present research will address how an electronic payment system is affecting the diffusion of innovation among online public services, settling the challenges at the government level, providing solutions for diminishing the money laundering in the country and all other associated problems. Diffusion of innovations theory had been investigated by many scholars in different industries and countries. The research implication is to generate general knowledge by fulfilling the literature gap related to electronic payment systems in the public sector and diffusion of innovations. The research aim is to provide (1) an extensive literature review to gain familiarity principally on the diffusion of innovation theory, secondary on government electronic payment systems and cashless societies; (2) collect, explore and analyze empirical evidence related to the perceived attributes of diffusion of innovations theory and the rate of adoption of e-payment system designed for public services from the perspective of consumers, public service providers, and payment operators; (3) answer the research questions by the aid of the diffusion of innovation theory, and measure the rates of adoption of public e-payment systems by using an case study approach, the researchers analyzed the case of Moldova and the Governmental Payment Gateway MPay, one of the initiatives launched by the Public Institution e-Government Center.  The interpretivism research paradigm was adopted for the research, and an exploratory case study methodology is implemented to gain insights, familiarity with the subject, and acquire more knowledge in the concepts and theoretical frameworks that are related to the research problem and question.

Структура магистерской диссертации состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения и списка использованной литературы. Во введении обосновывается актуальность темы, определяются цели, задачи исследования, указываются объект и предмет исследования. В первой главе рассмотрены понятия, сущность, история развития НДС, раскрывается сущность налогового контроля: его роль и формы организации и особенности взимания НДС. Вторая глава посвящена, проведению исследования практики налогового контроля при налогообложении НДС, анализ механизма взимания НДС, анализ деятельности налоговых органов за исчислением и взиманием НДС на протяжении 2017-2019 гг. В третьей главе рассмотрены проблемы исчисления и взимания НДС и пути их решения. В заключении сделаны соответствующие выводы. / The structure of the master's thesis consists of introduction, three chapters, conclusion and list of used literature. The introduction substantiates the relevance of the topic, defines the goals and objectives of the study, indicates the object and subject of the study. The first chapter discusses the concepts, essence, and history of the development of VAT, reveals the essence of tax control: its role and forms of organization and features of VAT collection. The second chapter is devoted to the study of the practice of tax control in the taxation of VAT, the analysis of the mechanism for collecting VAT, the analysis of the activities of the tax authorities for the calculation and collection of VAT during 2017-2019. The third chapter discusses the problems of calculating and levying VAT and ways to solve them. In conclusion, the corresponding conclusions are made.