Research shows that friend/family opinions influence romantic relationships, with approval leading to positive outcomes (e.g, increased intimacy) and disapproval leading to negative outcomes (e.g., couple dissolution). The impact the network's opinion has on their relationship with the person is less examined. Balance theory suggests when their network disapproves, people try to change the network’s mind about the partner, their mind about their partner, or their mind about their network. If so, disapproval could lead to lowered network relationship quality, which may lead to increased romantic relationship dependence. Participants read one of four vignettes manipulating friend/parent opinion (approval/disapproval) and completed dependence/relationship quality scales. The study found that romantic and network relationship quality is hurt by network disapproval, but dependence was not affected. Any approval for the romantic relationship acted as a buffer to disapproval. Changing the source of the network listened to was another way found that people balance these relationships

Cross-sided network effect is critical to platform based business models. In general, across a platform there¡¦re two types of users, each sitting on one side of the platform. And the platform¡¦s utility to any user in one side depends on the number of users (or the volume of usage generated by the users) in the other side. Under the discipline of micro-economy, cross-sided network effect is modeled and analyzed in the literature of ¡§two-sided markets¡¨. In this article, taking eWallet (electronically stored-value payment card) service as an example, we build a model of two-sided market, define and derive the utility functions for the platforms, and design a simulation to examine the price competition games in a duopoly market. We observe that, cross-sided network effect triggers variations in duopoly price games. By elaborating the business implication of these price game variants, we provide business intelligence for competing platforms in two-sided markets. Following the practice of game theory analysis, with our simulation we identify some famous game patterns such as prisoner¡¦s dilemma, race-around, and varies boxed-pigs games. Depending on the game pattern presented, managers can develop their own co-opetition strategy by leveraging the existing business intelligence provided in the literature of game theory. By factoring price elasticity, churn rate, strength of network effect and market share distribution in our algebraic model, we also derive the optimized prices with which incumbents and entrants can maximize their revenue in cooperative and competitive business environments. There¡¦s a growing interest in platform based business models, in which cross-sided network effect plays an important role. Our work helps to provide strategic suggestion for fixed¡Vtransaction¡Vfee platforms (such as eWallet), provide an systematic analysis methodology for platform based business models, and also provide a theoretic basics for further study in this critical area.

Background: Sweden has in the past four years experienced a large influx of refugees. Some of these refugees were arranged housing upon arrival by the Swedish state. Approximately 30 percent of the refugees that were arranged housing have within five years relocated from the initial municipality of residence.   Purpose:                  The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence refugee’s networks has on their internal migration in Sweden. Information regarding refugees residential preferences, and if location-specific social capital affect these preferences is important for policymakers to facilitate integration.   Method:                  The initial and subsequent residential locations among refugees is studied to analyze how important other immigrants overall, and other immigrants from the individual’s country of birth in a municipality affect if a refugee stays in the initial municipality of residence or not.   Conclusion:             The results suggest that refugees stay in municipalities with high a representation of inhabitants from the individual’s birth country but move away from municipalities where there is a large share of immigrants overall.

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Outsourcing attracted much attention in 1989 when Kodak outsourced its data center operation to IBM (International Business Machines Corp.). Nowadays, this strategy has become more popular. At the beginning of this century, the ASP (Application Service Provider) model was considered one of the typical solutions of Internet-based IT (Information Technology) outsourcing. Although this model has been transformed and renamed (e.g. SaaS - Software as a Service), the principle concept of providing IT service through the Internet or wide area network is still there. This study attempts to explore the determinants of customer perception of Internet-based IT outsourcing by obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the ASP model. The research dimensions not only include factors affecting users' perception of service quality but also ASP business position (i.e. the firm origin of ASP and its provider type) and services utilized by the customers. Through the study of firm history, two important theoretical themes of this research - path-dependence and Ansoff's product/ market growth matrix - are taken account of in exploring the influence of the determinants. Web-based questionnaire survey research is conducted together with a documentation study to collect data. Targeting the customers of the top 50 ASPs selected by ASPnews.com during the period 2001-2004, the researcher contacted 597 potential respondents, and 196 responses were returned. The valid sample consisted of 175 responses, and 124 of them not only provided full information for satisfaction evaluation but also the information for tracking their ASP vendors' business position. The GLM (General Linear Model) and the Pearson correlation coefficient were the major statistical approaches used to evaluate the survey data for developing a structural model. The research findings indicated that the factors associated with service competitiveness, such as capability and performance, reliability and trustworthiness, affordability, integration and customization, have positive effects on customer perceived satisfaction; whereas lock-in has a negative effect. More specifically, the origin of the ASP firm has a direct effect on capacity and performance, and also directly influences the use of IT adoption services. Based on this finding, a descriptive analysis and qualitative research shows that two mechanisms for path-dependence - existing expertise and perceived expertise - can affect the satisfaction level of capacity and performance of ASP services. On the other hand, provider type has a direct effect on affordability and also directly influences the use of facility supporting services. On this basis, another two mechanisms for path-dependence - transaction cost and standardization - can indirectly impact customer's perception of this business model via affordability. In addition to those major findings, some other determinants (e.g. software applications, brand of applications, and intensity of service used) were also identified in this study. The study result can be used for theoretical understanding about the determinants of ASP customer's perception. It not only indicates a new perspective to enhance the current body of research on this topic, but can also be more broadly applied to any fast-growth firm, rapid-change business, or technology intensive industry. Acknowledgements I would like to sincerely thank the following people for their contribution to this research project. Dr. Scott Koslow, my chief supervisor, for his continued encouragement, patience and guidance to ensure the completion of this project. His speciality in statistics has provided appropriate and valuable guidance in the data analysis for my research. Dr. Steven Lim, my second supervisor, for his advice, coherence, and support over the years. I also appreciate his constructive comments on my drafts and the shaping of my research. Dr. Bob McQueen and Dr. Jim Corner, for their assistance and advice in the early stages of my study. My parents, Yu-Ho and Lee-Chiung Liang, and my brother Ken, my sisters Annie, Eva, and Nancy, my brothers-in-law, J.C. and Chen, and Alice, my sister-in-law, for their emotional support throughout the length of my study. I also thank Bessie, my best friend for her assistance in data collection and her loving support, as well as Ted, Kevin, Mark, Frank, and Shirley, my study mates for their encouragement and friendship. Special thanks goes to Dr. Kuang-Ya Wang, the principal of Yu Da High School of Commerce and Home Economics, Taiwan, and also to the staff over there for their concern and assistance in data collection. Most importantly, my heartfelt appreciation goes to Warren, my husband. I am deeply grateful to him for his understanding, patience, and practical help. Without his enduring support I could not have done this study. Finally, my thanks and gratitude goes to those people who patiently answered my survey questionnaire as their kind assistance made it possible to complete this research.

Smart phones are an important facet of the functionality of daily life. The main smart phone operating systems are Android and iOS. We cannot predict which one will be the winning smart phone operating system in the future. Hence, it is an important issue for consumers and enterprises to know which factors influence consumers to continue to use Android. We construct a dual factor model to explain consumers¡¦ Android use continuance. The dual factors include (1) dedication vs. constraint, (2) cognitive constraints vs. psychological constraints, and (3) internal lock effect vs. external lock effect. Data collected from 296 Android consumers in Taiwan were tested against the research model and confirmed our hypotheses. The results support the theoretical model in explaining the effect of ECT theory and status quo bias theory on consumers¡¦ intentions to continue to use Android. Finally, we find inertia is the most important factor influencing consumers¡¦ continued use of Android. The main contribution of this study is to provide a dual factor model for consumers¡¦ use continuance behavior. This model can also be applied to different technology products.

The mobile payments industry has in recent years experienced large growth and rapid changes. Several different actors are trying to capture the market, to get enough users of their system to reach critical mass. This study investigates how a small Swedish mobile payments company have utilized its business network in their strive to reach critical mass, both in their domestic market and internationally.  The study intends to describe how the company has developed its network and which stages of the network development that have been the most important.  We utilize the ARA-model to analyze the business network and the Uppsala Model and born global theory to define how the company has internationalized.  Our main results indicate that our case company has the mindset of a born global but the particulars of the industry have forced it to internationalize following the Uppsala Model. The development of the business network have to a large part been dependent of the initial activities since this builds the credibility needed to work with large actors.  Moreover the business network is found to not only help the company, but to be essential for their plans on reaching critical mass.

Den digitala strukturomvandling vårt samhälle genomgår har bidragit till att den digitala kompetensen är stor oavsett åldersgrupp. Idag är internet en stor del av vår vardag och används dagligen, både privat, i skolan och i arbete. En konsekvens av digitaliseringen är att stora förändringar har skett i hur handel av varor och tjänster sker och att utbudet av dessa har ökat. Trots att digitaliseringen har stor påverkan på vårt samhälle, är fortfarande forskning inom området till viss del begränsad. Ett exempel på detta är forskningsområdet two-sided markets (TSM). Begreppet TSM har sedan millennieskiftet använts för att beskriva marknader med två kundsidor där handel mellan dessa två sker. I och med digitaliseringen har nya företag och marknader trätt fram där Netflix, Spotify och AirBnb är några exempel på företag som agerar på olika typer av TSM. I denna studie undersöks en typ av TSM, digital begagnathandel, där de två sidorna består av köpare och säljare av begagnade varor. Kunders beteende har även det förändrats i och med digitaliseringen och användningen av internet. Hur kunder genomför digitala köp sker nödvändigtvis inte på samma sätt som i traditionella fysiska miljöer. Användandet skiljer sig även åt mellan olika kundgrupper och åldrar. Att företag förstår kunders digitala beteende och hur de väljer plattform är därmed av stor vikt. Nya företag har under de senaste åren trätt in på marknaden för digital begagnathandel och konkurrensen förväntas öka. Vilken affärsmodell och strategi företag använder samt design på plattformar blir därmed avgörande för framgång på marknaden. Den yngre målgruppen, framtidens konsumenter, är mer eller mindre uppväxta med internet och har därför god kunskap om det. De anses ha enorm köpkraft och är därför viktiga kunder för företag som agerar på en TSM. Genom att förstå deras beteende och hur de väljer plattform kan företag vara konkurrenskraftiga. Denna studie har genom kvalitativa intervjuer undersökt hur personer i åldrarna 18–25 år väljer plattform för digital begagnathandel. I denna studie har vi besvarat frågeställningen: Vilka faktorer påverkar valet av plattform för digital begagnathandel? Resultatet av studien visar att fem faktorer påverkar valet av plattform för digital begagnathandel. Dessa är: användarupplevelse, kundbeteende, social påverkan, prispåverkan och säkerhet. De fem faktorerna har även underliggande attribut som påverkar dessa faktorer. Studien visar även att faktorerna påverkar till olika grad. Social påverkan påverkar till störst grad, därefter kommer prispåverkan, säkerhet och kundbeteende, och den faktor som visat ha minst påverkan är användarupplevelse. Faktorerna påverkar hela beslutsprocessen överlag, dock i varierande grad. Vi kan även konstatera att om köp är återkommande förändras beslutsprocessen och vissa steg kan alterneras eller hoppas över.

Internet piracy has recently been addressed by several policies introduced in US, such as SOPA and ACTA. These policies suggest the general opinion to be that piracy reduce profits. The focus of this thesis is therefore put on the introduction of theoretical concept capable of describing possible piracy impacts and then showing empirical observations to prove it. We developed our own modified time-dependent model of demand function with network effect, which suggests that piracy can have indeed different results on producers' profits depending on the conditions. Further, we showed on real data that the resulting piracy effect in film industry is indefinite and piracy in other industries results in various outcomes.

This thesis examines the microeconomic consequences of the arrival of open source in the software market. Specifically, it analyzes three features of open source software by using specific models of industrial organization. Open source software is free, and may be modified or duplicated by anyone. The first paper studies the entry of an open source software in a closed source software market. Using a model of horizontal differentiation, the analysis considers a closed source firm's investment in the quality of its software. The introduction of open source on the market reduces the firm's investment in quality and increases the price of its software. Moreover, the entry of open source software may reduce consumer welfare. Post-entry by an open source software, the reduction in market share lowers the firm's incentive to invest in quality. The second paper features vertical differentiation to study a monopolist selling supporting product to its software. The study begins by contrasting the supply of support by an open source provider and a closed source vendor. The model shows that in both cases the levels of support offered are the same. In addition, consumer welfare is higher and profit lower under an open source software. Then, the paper considers the competition in the provision of support. Here, the supply of high level support is greater than under a monopolist. Finally, the monopolist adopts a dual licensing strategy to extract more surplus from developers interested in modifying open source software and redistributing the resulting product. This technique, when the developers place high value on the source code, generates more profit if the monopolist chooses to publish as open source rather than closed source. The last paper studies how a closed source firm is affected by the introduction of an open source benefiting from contributions by users. A vertical differentiation model is used, and reveals that, when contribution of users is present, the closed source vendor may lower its price to a level where it forces the open source out of the market. The firm's lower price not only increases demand for its software, but also induces consumers into switching from open to closed source software therefore reducing the contribution of users. / Les logiciels libres sont uniques en leur genre\ : non seulement sont-ils distribués gra-tuitement, mais on peut aussi les modifier et les copier. Cette thèse étudie l'impact de ces propriétés du logiciel libre sur la compétition et sur les entreprises de logiciel propriétaire. Des modèles propres à l'organisation industrielle sont utilisés. Le première étude examine l'arrivée d'un logiciel libre sur un marché occupé par un logiciel propriétaire. En utilisant un modèle de différenciation horizontale, le papier consi-dère une firme propriétaire qui investit dans la qualité de son logiciel. L'arrivée d'un logiciel libre cause l'entreprise du logiciel propriétaire à réduire le niveau de son investissement et à augmenter le prix de son produit. Il s'avère alors que l'introduction du logiciel libre sur le marché réduit l'investissement de l'entreprise et engendre même l'augmentation du prix du produit. De plus, l'arrivée du logiciel libre peut réduire le niveau de bien-être des consommateurs. Comme le logiciel libre ne réagit pas aux décisions stratégique de l'entreprise, cette dernière voit son marché réduit peu importe sa stratégie. La firme décide conséquemment de vendre un produit de moindre qualité à un prix plus élevé à une clientèle réduite. Le deuxième papier propose un modèle qui utilise la différenciation verticale afin d'exa-miner un monopoleur offrant un produit complémentaire à son logiciel. L'étude compare d'abord les cas d'un logiciel libre et d'un logiciel propriétaire, toujours dans le contexte d'un monopoleur offrant du support professionnel pour son logiciel. Il est établi que le bien-être des consommateurs est plus élevé, et le profit inférieur dans le cas d'un distributeur de logiciel libre. Ensuite, le modèle initial est modifié avec l'ajout d'une seconde entreprise offrant du support professionnel. Dans ce cas, l'offre de support de haut niveau est plus élevée. Finalement, le monopoleur adopte une stratégie de licences doubles. Ce concept permet au monopoleur de proposer la vente d'une licence même si son logiciel est libre. Cette technique génère plus de profits, certaines conditions étant présentes, que si l'entreprise optait pour un logiciel propriétaire. Un logiciel libre profite des contributions de ses usagers pour améliorer son produit. Le troisième papier examine l'arrivée d'un tel produit sur un marché dominé par un logiciel propriétaire. Le modèle de différenciation verticale utilisé contraste les deux logiciels dans un marché donné et révèle que la contribution des utilisateurs peut diminuer la part de marché du logiciel libre au profit de son conccurrent. De fait, en diminuant ses prix le licenceur du logiciel propriétaire incite le consommateur à délaisser le logiciel libre pour le produit de son concurrent.