Majoriteten av jordens befolkning har profiler på något av den handfull av sociala nätverk som dominerar Internet. Samtidigt som dessa tjänster växer i dominans och användarantal upplevs det ofta att användarupplevelsen blir allt sämre. Kritik har bland annat riktats mot hur de låter desinformation spridas och hur de monetäriserar användardata för att sälja målstyrd reklam. Enshittification är ett fenomen som definierades av techjournalisten och -kritikern Cory Doctorow för att beskriva hur dessa plattformar aktivt gör upplevelsen sämre för användarna. Enshittification gör gällande att användare stannar på plattformar som exploaterar dem på grund av höga omställningskostnader, såväl ekonomiska som sociala, trots en uppenbar försämring av den digitala miljön. Forskningsarbetet som presenteras här är en teoriutvecklande kritisk studie av enshittification och hur det manifesteras inom sociala medieplattformar. Studiens syfte är att grunda fenomenet och etablera en dialog kring enshittification i en IS-kontext. Den erbjuder insikter i enshittifications underliggande orsaker och dess konsekvenser för användarna, men även i hur man kan motverka fenomenet. Studien argumenterar även för att kritisk teori behövs inom IS för att kunna analysera sådana här fenomen och relaterade sociala aspekter inom informationsteknik. / A majority of the world’s population today resides on social media. At the same time a small group of platforms dominate the social media landscape. While these services have experienced great growth both in terms of registered users and market dominance, they’ve also been heavily criticized for the way the user experience seems to have deteriorated over time, particularly in respect to how disinformation is spreading throughout the networks and the way these services monetize their users’ personal data. Enshittification is a phenomenon, coined by the tech journalist and -critic Cory Doctorow, that describes the way these platforms actively work to make the user experience worse. The phenomenon asserts that people will keep using services that exploit them due to high switching costs—of either personal or economic nature, or both—even though the user experience deteriorates. This study offers a grounding theory of enshittification as a phenomenon, along with a critical perspective of its manifestation in social networks. Its purpose is to create a definition of the phenomenon and to establish a dialogue within the research field of information systems. The study also offers greater insight into the underpinnings of enshittification and its consequences for the end users, along with a critical reflection over possible mitigation strategies. It also argues that critical theory is needed in the field of IS research in order to be able to analyze phenomenons like enshittification and similar social aspects that manifest themselves within information technology.

This thesis sheds light on the functioning and characteristics of payment systems to serve as a foundation for understanding the drivers for higher payment system efficiency. Its central goal is to develop insights into the determinants of collective payment choice suitable to lower payment costs to society. So far, the institutional environment, as potential important influence on the payment instrument mix, has not been focused on in the literature. Therefore, particular emphasis is laid on the empirical analysis of the impact of institutional factors on the share of card payments on consumer spending at the point of sale (POS). For this, a unique panel data set is constructed covering the eight most important European payment markets ranked by non-cash transaction volumes. The empirical results allow formulating conditions necessary to achieve a more efficient payment mix. They also form a basis for the assessment of related policy measures with a focus on the SEPA project in terms of their efficiency enhancing effect. Future research could possibly build upon the panel data collected.

This thesis sheds light on the functioning and characteristics of payment systems to serve as a foundation for understanding the drivers for higher payment system efficiency. Its central goal is to develop insights into the determinants of collective payment choice suitable to lower payment costs to society. So far, the institutional environment, as potential important influence on the payment instrument mix, has not been focused on in the literature. Therefore, particular emphasis is laid on the empirical analysis of the impact of institutional factors on the share of card payments on consumer spending at the point of sale (POS). For this, a unique panel data set is constructed covering the eight most important European payment markets ranked by non-cash transaction volumes. The empirical results allow formulating conditions necessary to achieve a more efficient payment mix. They also form a basis for the assessment of related policy measures with a focus on the SEPA project in terms of their efficiency enhancing effect. Future research could possibly build upon the panel data collected.:1 Introduction 1.1 Payment behaviour in selected European countries 1.2 Research question and approach 2 Foundations: Payment systems and markets 2.1 Functioning of payment systems 2.1.1 Payments, market participants and payment system 2.1.2 Payment instruments and methods 2.1.3 Clearing and settlement arrangements 2.1.4 First observations on obstacles to payment systems development 2.2 Network character of payment markets 2.2.1 Theories of networks 2.2.2 Demand-side network effects in payment markets 2.2.3 Two-sided markets and payment cards 2.2.4 Supply-side economies of scale and open access to infrastructure 2.2.5 Obstacles to payment system development 3 Efficiency of payment systems 3.1 Research on payment infrastructure costs 3.1.1 Efficiency of interbank retail payment systems 3.1.2 Efficiency of intrabank payment processing 3.1.3 Factors influencing infrastructure efficiency 3.2 Research on payment instrument costs at the POS 3.2.1 Methodology and classification of the literature 3.2.2 Estimates of payment costs at the POS 3.2.3 Indicative efficiency ranking of payment instruments 4 Research on payment instrument choice at the POS 4.1 Data sources and categorisation of payment choice determinants 4.2 Price characteristics of payment instruments 4.3 Non-price characteristics of payment instruments 4.4 Transaction attributes 4.5 Constraints on payment choice 4.6 Developing an institutional view of payment choice 5 Empirical analysis: Institutional determinants shaping the POS payment mix 5.1 Two-step modelling approach 5.2 Panel construction and exploration of key data series 5.2.1 Panel data collection and overview of variables 5.2.2 Card usage and cash holding 5.2.3 Payment card diffusion and POS terminal density 5.3 European card schemes and markets 5.3.1 Institutional data collection 5.3.2 Description of European card markets 5.3.3 Overview of institutional data series 5.4 Payment decision 5.4.1 Development of the model and possible extensions 5.4.2 Discussion of the regression results 5.4.3 Diagnostic tests 5.5 Sourcing decision 5.5.1 Diffusion of payment cards 5.5.2 Density of POS terminals 5.5.3 Cash holding and availability at ATMs 5.6 Conclusions: Institutional determinants of payment choice 5.6.1 Linking empirical and theoretical analysis 5.6.2 Route for further research 6 Prospects for an efficient European payment mix 6.1 Objectives for establishing a European payment markets 6.2 SEPA for cards regulatory framework 6.2.1 Regulatory ecosystem 6.2.2 Regulatory framework set by European authorities 6.2.3 Standardization industry initiatives 6.3 Remaining obstacles for an efficient payment mix and outlook Appendix 6.3.1 A–1: Credit- and debit-based payment mechanism 6.3.2 A–2: Multilateral settlement: Access, settlement assets and methods 6.3.3 A–3: Statistical properties of variables 6.3.4 A-4: Unit root tests References

The digital payment industry has become one of the fastest evolving markets in the world, but in the wake of its rapid advancement, an ever increasing gap between academic theory and the actual reality of this market widens - and especially so when it comes to entry theory. It is widely acknowledged that the world is moving towards an ever more homogeneous economy, but despite the fact that payment preferences differ greatly from country to country - research on this subject continues to revolve mainly around localized efforts. But as historical inequalities between poor and rich societies continue to dissipate - learning from nations at the forefront of technological advancement increases the likelihood that the developed strategy becomes applicable to an increased number of countries. By selecting a nation most conducive to technological growth, the purpose of this report is to map the present dynamics in its digital payment industry using both recent and traditional market entry theory. However, studies geared towards globalized strategy formulation cannot be assumed as having guaranteed access to internal company-data at all times. So in order to facilitate such studies, the level of dependency on primary data required for conducting such research needs to be understood first, which is why the work in this report is constrained strictly to data of secondary nature. This, not only to further map the characteristics of this market, but also to see how open the market is to public inspection. Ultimately, the academic contribution becomes that of providing a road-map towards adapting currently available market entry theory to suit the rapidly evolving conditions of the digital payment industry from a global perspective and, when failing to do so, the aim is to also explore avenues for further research towards this end goal.