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[pt] Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar os principais fatores que influenciam a adoção e uso de tecnologias no setor de serviços, mais especificadamente no setor de serviços financeiros. O arcabouço teórico permitiu a definição de construtos cognitivos e afetivos para a elaboração do modelo conceitual. Além disso, este modelo incluiu construtos de elevada importância para o consumo de serviços financeiros, como Confiança e Risco Percebido. Por fim, o construto de Prontidão para a Tecnologia, desenvolvido por Parasuraman e Colby (2014) foi adicionado ao modelo, a fim de analisar a influência da predisposição individual em relação às tecnologias em geral, enquanto antecedente dos demais construtos. Os dados da pesquisa foram obtidos por meio de uma survey online, que foi respondida por 402 estudantes ou recém-formados de cursos de graduação e pós-graduação. O modelo final da pesquisa, denominado Modelo de Prontidão e Aceitação de Mobile Payments, indicou que a Prontidão para a Tecnologia exerce maior influência sobre os aspectos cognitivos do que sobre os afetivos, indicando que a prontidão auxilia significativamente o processo racional de avaliação da tecnologia. Além disso, os resultados indicaram que o construto de Utilidades e Vantagens Percebidas exerceu a maior influência sobre a Atitude, seguido pela Confiança e pela Apreciação da Qualidade Percebida, confirmando que os aspectos cognitivos são predominantes no processo de decisão quanto ao uso de serviços financeiros. Por fim, o Risco Percebido apresentou uma influência negativa, mas de pequena magnitude, sobre a Intenção de Uso. O Modelo de Prontidão e Aceitação de Mobile Payments foi capaz de explicar cerca de 76 porcento da Atitude e 68 porcento da Intenção em relação ao uso de tecnologias, mostrando-se um modelo com boa capacidade preditiva e de contribuição relevante para a literatura de aceitação de tecnologias. / [en] This research aimed to investigate what factors influence the adoption and use of technologies in services, more specifically in the financial services sector. The theoretical framework allowed the definition of cognitive and affective constructs for the preparation of the conceptual model. Furthermore, this model also includes constructs with high relevance for consumption of financial services, like Trust and Perceived Risk. Finally, the Technology Readiness construct, developed by Parasuraman and Colby (2014), was added to the model in order to analyze the influence of individual predisposition in relation to technology in general, as an antecedent of the other constructs. Data was collected via an online survey, which was answered by 402 students or recent graduated of graduate and post-graduate courses. The final model, named Model of Readiness and Acceptance of Mobile Payments, indicated that the Readiness Technology has stronger effects on cognitive aspects than on the affective aspects, indicating that readiness significantly assists the rational evaluation process about the use of technologies. Furthermore, the results indicated that the Perceived Usefulness and Advantage construct has the strongest effect over Attitude, followed by Trust and by Enjoyment of Perceived Quality, confirming that the cognitive aspects are predominant in decision-making regarding the use of financial services. Finally, Perceived Risk had a negative but very little effect over Intention. The Model of Readiness and Acceptance of Mobile Payments was able to explain about 76 percent of Attitude and 68 percent of Intention, showing itself a model with good predictive capability and presenting significant contribution to the literature of acceptance of technologies.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF RESEARCH: Nigeria’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was setup to secure universal access to affordable quality care. However, after 11yrs, and despite launching different programs, NHIS coverage is still less than 3% nationally, and out-of-pocket payments (OOP) remain the major health financing mechanism. The reasons for the low level of enrollment in NHIS are not well understood. Quality of care may be a factor in enrolment. This study compares technical and perceived quality of care between NHIS enrollees and the uninsured, using diabetes as a tracer condition. It also compares OOP and generic prescription patterns by health insurance enrollment status. METHODS: We conducted a cross sectional clinic-based intercept study. Subjects were adult diabetes patients recruited from 10 NHIS accredited hospitals in Abuja, Nigeria. Data collection included survey and chart review, covering technical aspects of quality – performance of eye and feet exam and HbA1c request; perception of quality, generic medication prescribing pattern and OOP. We performed logistic regression analysis to evaluate the effect of NHIS enrollment status on the technical quality of care, perceived quality of care, generic prescribing and OOP. RESULTS: Out of 455 participants, 149 (33%) were NHIS enrollees, 10 (2%) were enrolled in private health insurance and 296 (65%) had no insurance. After adjusting for correlated data and controlling for facility, BMI, chronic disease score, age, sex, and education, patients under NHIS coverage were 0.85 times less likely to have eye exam (Cl=0.4–1.8), 0.98 times less likely to have feet exam (Cl= 0.4–2.2), and 0.98 times less likely to have A1c test requested (Cl= 0.7–1.3), compared to those without insurance. These findings were not statistically significant at alpha=0.05. On the other hand, compared to the uninsured, NHIS covered patients perceived care to be worse even though they spent significantly less, 56% (Cl=45%–69%) in OOP in public hospitals. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Perception of care quality under the NHIS could be a contributory factor to the reluctance of prospective enrollees. To advance towards the goal of universal health coverage, NHIS must strengthen policy to overcome identified barriers such as medication stock outs and wait times at the facility level.

Digital money is growing more popular and physical money is not being used as much as it once was. But what happens if we have a cashless society and what would it mean? The purpose of this essay is to investigate if increased technological innovation lead to a decrease in the currency in circulation and if there is a short or long term effect of innovation on currency in circulation. To answer the questions a fixed effects regression model is applied, based on panel data for 4 countries Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland for the time period 2007-2020. The regression's findings provide credibility to the hypothesis that increasing innovation has had a negative effect on currency in circulations. With the help of a Vector Error Correction Model with time series data for Sweden from 2007 to 2020, the second part of the question is answered. The result find evidence that increased innovation has a long-run decreasing effect on currency in circulation.

Final qualifying work (master's thesis) is devoted to the study of banking technologies in the conditions of interbank competition. The subject of the research is the economic relations arising between commercial banks in the market of banking technologies in the conditions of interbank competition. The main purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a comprehensive concept of improving banking technologies in the conditions of interbank competition based on the study of theoretical and practical aspects of the competitive environment in the market of banking technologies. In conclusion, the recommendations for improving the competitive advantages in the field of banking technologies are outlined. / Выпускная квалификационная работа (магистерская диссертация) посвящена исследованию банковских технологий в условиях межбанковской конкуренции. Предметом исследования выступают экономические отношения, возникающие между коммерческими банками на рынке банковских технологий в условиях межбанковской конкуренции. Основной целью магистерской диссертации является разработка комплексной концепции совершенствования банковских технологий в условиях межбанковской конкуренции на основе изучения теоретических и практических аспектов конкурентной среды на рынке банковских технологий. В заключении обозначены рекомендации по совершенствованию конкурентных преимуществ в области банковских технологий.

Выпускная квалификационная работа (магистерская диссертация) посвящена исследованию развития мобильных платежей в Китае и России. Предметом исследования выступают выявление проблем развития мобильных платежей, выработка стратегии решения и перспективы сотрудничества двух стран. Основной целью магистерской диссертации является разработка комплексной концепции налогообложения субъектов малого бизнеса на основе теоретического обоснования мобильных платежей, выявление проблем, существующих в развитии мобильных платежей в России и Китае, выработка стратегии их решения и изучение перспектив развития мобильных платежей. В заключении обозначены рекомендации по сотрудничеству Китая и России в сфере мобильных платежей. / Final qualifying work (master's thesis) is devoted to the study of the development of mobile payments in China and Russia. The subject of the research is the identification of problems in the development of mobile payments, the development of a solution strategy and prospects for cooperation between the two countries. The main purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a comprehensive concept of taxation of small businesses based on a theoretical justification of mobile payments, identifying problems existing in the development of mobile payments in Russia and China, developing strategies for solving them and studying the prospects for the development of mobile payments. The report identifies recommendations for cooperation between China and Russia in the field of mobile payments.

Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения, списка литературы и приложения. В работе рассмотрены стратегии территорий, проанализирован зарубежный опыт реализации проектов технопарков. Изучена сущность и специфика уже существующей стратегии ГО Верхняя Пышма; Разработан проект для улучшения стратегии. Проведено финансово-экономическое обоснование реализации проекта. Сделаны основные выводы и обобщены результаты исследования. / The master's thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of references and applications. The work considers the strategies of the territories, analyzes the foreign experience in implementing projects of technology parks; The essence and specificity of the already existing strategy of GO Verkhnyaya Pyshma was studied; A project has been developed to improve the strategy; A financial and economic substantiation of the project was carried out. The main conclusions are made and the results of the study are summarized.

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Employing the causal inference methods (matching for binary and continuous treatments), I examined the impact of conservation payments on corn yield. I used the propensity score and covariate distance matching and generalized propensity score methods to manage the problem of selection bias since the enrollment of conservation programs (i.e., receiving conservation payments) is not a randomized experiment. Using USDA Economic Research Service – Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ERS-ARMS) field-level data, I assessed whether receiving conservation payments had harm on corn yield in the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta. The findings from the two binary matchings showed that receiving conservation payments didn’t decrease corn yield. The generalized propensity approach revealed that lower conservation payments received held higher corn yield while higher conservation payments led to lower corn yield.

Environmental degradation is threatening the provision of ecosystem services (IPBES, 2019). In an attempt to reverse this degradation trend, the use of economic incentives has increasingly gained prominence in environmental policy. In particular, payments for ecosystem services (PES), a type of economic incentive in which ecosystem services providers voluntarily receive a payment in exchange for the provision of ecosystem services, has increasingly gained relevance worldwide (Salzman et al., 2018). PES aim to enhance environmental conservation by altering the economic costs or benefits associated with targeted pro-environmental actions. However, a large amount of empirical evidence shows that PES, like other economic incentives, could potentially crowd out (or crowd in) intrinsic motivations for environmental conservation, which may sometimes translate into unexpected undesirable overall effects (for reviews, see Bowles and Polania-Reyes, 2012; Rode et al., 2015). Up to date, the conditions under which PES, and economic incentives in general, induce such motivational crowding effects are still not fully understood. In analyzing these effects, economic theory has often taken for granted non-monetary factors of economic incentives because they do not involve changes in prices or incomes. However, experimental evidence show that such factors could be relevant to preventing crowding-out effects or even creating crowding-in effects (e.g., see Ariely et al., 2009; Heyman and Ariely, 2004). In the context of PES, a large proportion of the experimental literature has focused on studying the effect of design features related to the monetary elements of these programs (e.g., Kerr et al., 2012; Kolinjivadi et al., 2019; Midler et al., 2015; Moros et al., 2019; Narloch et al., 2012), while fewer experimental studies have focused on non-monetary factors such as the degree of participation in the design or implementation process (e.g., Jack, 2009; Moros et al., 2019; Vollan, 2008). The present thesis contributes to this line of literature by examining whether PES could be more or less effective when specific non-monetary factors are adjusted in PES design or implementation. This thesis comprises an introductory chapter (Chapter 1) and a concluding chapter (Chapter 5) that serve as an overview of the thesis, together with three research articles (Chapters 2, 3 and 4). In each of the research articles belonging to this thesis, a specific non-monetary factor in the design or implementation context of PES is analyzed. Prior versions of the research articles in chapters 2-4 have been published as working papers on SSRN. Their content is briefly summarized below. Chapter 2 is entitled “Beyond a Market Discourse: Is Framing a Solution to Avoid Motivational Crowding-Out in Payments for Ecosystem Services?” and is co-authored by S. Engel and E. Midler. The goal of this article is to examine the role of the framing of a PES policy in preventing motivational crowding effects. In particular, it focusses on the short- and long-term effects of two dimensions of framing on: 1) using different terms to denote the payment, and 2) emphasizing different types of ecosystem services obtained from nature to motivate its conservation. This article analyses this topic with a lab-in-the-field experiment conducted with 157 farmers from a Colombian municipality. The findings of this article suggest that the framing of a policy could be a rather inexpensive tool to mitigate motivational crowding effects. In particular, a framing that acknowledges forest conservation as an achievement and a framing that emphasizes the cultural ecosystem services obtained from forest results in better conservation outcomes relative to a control framing. Chapter 3 is entitled “Who is Benefiting Downstream? Experimental Evidence on the Relevance of Upstream-Downstream Geographic Distance for Water Provision.” and is co-authored by S. Engel, E. Midler and T. Vorlaufer. The goal of this article is to study the relevance of the social distance between ecosystem service providers and beneficiaries for the short- and long-term motivational crowding effects of a PES policy. This article analyses this topic with a lab-in-the-field experiment in which the salience of social identity is defined by the real geographical distance between ecosystem service providers and beneficiaries, rather than being artificially induced. In particular, the experiment involves 60 rural farmers from a Colombian municipality, whose water provision decisions affected passive downstream beneficiaries in either the same municipality or the capital city of Bogotá. The findings suggest that although sharing a closer place identity with downstream beneficiaries is relevant to determine baseline water provision, it does not affect average motivational crowding effects in the short and long term. Nonetheless, predictions from the econometric analysis of the heterogeneous treatment effects suggest that emphasizing the benefits provided to people with whom upstream providers feel more socially identified could mitigate long-term crowding-out effects on providers with weak levels of place identification, without compromising the short-term effectiveness on farmers with a strong place identity and already high provisioning levels. Therefore, in the absence of a well-defined group of downstream beneficiaries financing a PES program, it could be more effective to emphasize local benefits, rather than the general benefits to society. Chapter 4 is entitled “Behavioral Spillovers from Mixing Conservation Policies in Neighboring Areas: An Experimental Analysis on Fairness Perceptions toward Unequal Policies.” and is co-authored by S. Engel and E. Midler. The goal of this article is to analyze the impact of fairness concerns on the effectiveness of a policy that is implemented in an unequal institutional context. In particular, it compares the effectiveness of implementing a specific economic incentive when a monetary reward is being implemented in a neighboring area, to the effectiveness of implementing the same economic incentive over the entire area. This article analyses this topic with a lab-in-the-field experiment conducted with 276 farmers from a Colombian municipality. In particular, the treatment recreated three institutional contexts: 1) a high priority area where PES are implemented next to a low priority area that is excluded from PES, 2) a protected area with land-use restrictions surrounded by a buffer area where PES are implemented, and 3) a protected area where PES are implemented on top of land-use restrictions, surrounded by a buffer area with only PES. Surprisingly, the findings show that fairness concerns do not increase with the level of inequality between neighbors. Although PES exclusion and simultaneously implementing PES inside and outside a protected area tend to increase fairness concerns and reduce forest conservation relative to the control groups, implementing PES only in the buffer area of a protected area decreases fairness concerns and increases forest conservation by those within the protected area, even after the policies are removed. Overall, this article stresses the relevance of considering the institutional context and context-specific fairness perceptions as a relevant factor when defining the targeting criteria for the implementation of environmental policies.