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- Lindvert, Marta, 1976-
(author)
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Resource acquisition and the complexity of social capital : Perspectives from women entrepreneurs in Tanzania and Pakistan
- 2018
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Women entrepreneurs all over the world contribute significantly to innovation, employment opportunities and wealth creation in their respective economies. Despite their importance as drivers of development, there is a lack of research on preconditions for women’s entrepreneurship. In particular, little attention has been given to women’s venturing in developing economies. This is troublesome, since women have the potential to play a crucial role in the development of any society, not least through venturing. Entrepreneurshiphas long been recognized as one of the keys to economic developmentand numerous studies have confirmed its economic value. At the same time, a lack of capital and other resources is a crucial constraint in starting and expanding new businesses, especially in developing economies where the financial markets are often underdeveloped or dysfunctional. Further,previous research shows that women entrepreneurs face particularly high obstacles when searching for capital and other resources, as they have to overcome both formal and informal barriers.The aim of this thesis is to contribute to previous knowledge on women’s entrepreneurship in developing countries, by exploring and describing women entrepreneurs’ resource acquisition. The aim is further to explore the role of formal and informal institutions, as well as the role of social capital in relation to resource acquisition. The thesis is based on two field studies, conducted in two different developing contexts – Tanzania and Pakistan. Extended periods of time were spent in these contexts, where data were collected through semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire and participant observation. The focus is on how women entrepreneurs obtain access to financial and other resources. The focus is further on the role of formal and informal institutions in relation to women entrepreneurs as they acquire resources, and the role of social capital in resource acquisition. Special attention is given to contextual preconditions.The results from the four papers of this thesis show that the studied groups of entrepreneurs use similar financial behavior. In both contexts, women have almost no access to formal capital from banks, and have to rely on informal sources of capital and resources, mainly from family members. In Tanzania, the microfinance sector plays an important role, and other semi-formal actors (e.g. SACCOs and RoSCAs) are commonly used as well. In Pakistan, the microfinance sector is less developed. There are semi-formal actors that can be used (such as so-called “committees”) but it is more common to use one’s own savings and loans or grants from family members. Further, results show that women entrepreneurs have to navigate through a complex interplay of barriers on both formal and informal levels. Although respondents in both contexts recognize that informal contacts (such as family members, friends, and social networks) are important sources of capital and other resources, they clearly express their desire for reliable, well-functioning, formal financial institutions. Lastly, results confirm that social capital is a crucial factor for entrepreneurs. As women in the studied contexts are excluded from formal finance, they are even more dependent on informal capital, and thereby their ability to use social capital. However, it is remarkable how often their social embeddedness is not only complex but counterproductive. Results show both negative outcomes of, and limited access to, social capital for the studied entrepreneurs.
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| 2. |
- Abikari, Masoome
(author)
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Young consumers’ emotions towards emerging e-banking technology : A multi-perspective approach
- 2024
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Banks appear to be interested in enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency by developing e-banking technology, i.e., the provision of banking products and services through electronic channels. However, the successful implementation of e-banking technology depends on how consumers perceive such technology and how they are probably provoked to adopt it. Considering emerging e-banking technologies, knowledge of the salient influential factors affecting consumer adoption is crucial for banks. Studies have analysed these factors from different perspectives, such as attribute- and barrier-based perspectives. Attribute-based factors pertain to the perceived or expected characteristics of e-banking technology, whereas barrier-based factors refer to factors that can hinder or delay the adoption of e-banking technology. Despite the absence of consensus on these factors, there is a predominant focus on the functional aspects of this technology, often neglecting the emotional experience of consumers. Consumers’ emotions in the e-banking context mainly refer to hedonic motivation, defined as positive emotions such as fun, pleasure, and enjoyment arising from the usage of e-banking technology. While examining hedonic motivation has provided valuable insights into the adoption of such technology, further studies are required to examine the relationship among consumers’ emotions, particularly negative ones arising from different kinds of appraisals. Accordingly, this thesis aims to examine the influence of consumers’ emotions towards emerging e-banking technology on their intention to adopt such technology, with a specific emphasis on negative emotions from attribute and barrier-based perspectives. Applying Structural equation modelling (SEM), the empirical results draw attention to the influential role of different types of negative emotions in the adoption of emerging e-banking technology. From the attribute-based perspective, the empirical results demonstrate an association between loss emotions and consumers’ behavioural intention to adopt emerging e-banking technology, through effort expectancy and performance expectancy. From a barrier-based perspective, the results indicate that deterrence emotions can be positively associated with consumers’ perceived risk. This, in turn, influences their behavioural intention to adopt emerging e-banking technology. The results also reveal the influence of deterrence emotions on consumers’ perceived risk, even in the presence of positive emotions. These results suggest the importance of considering various categories of negative emotions when examining consumers’ intention to adopt emerging e-banking technology.
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| 3. |
- Dimitrova, Irina
(author)
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Full-adoption of digital payment methods? : Barriers and barrier-breakers from a Swedish bank customer perspective
- 2023
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Digitalisation and the Covid-19 pandemic have accelerated the decrease in demand for cash worldwide. This also concerns Sweden, which might be on its way to being the first cashless country in the world. The idea of a cashless society is motivated by various assumed benefits, although it also entails certain inherent challenges. The overall aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse the relationships between barriers and barrier-breakers, respectively, by considering two groups of bank customers, i.e., adopters-accepters and adopters-resisters, and their intentions to fully adopt digital payment methods. A supplementary aim is to investigate moderating effects, because those can affect how barriers and barrier-breakers may increase or decrease the intention to adopt digital payment methods. The thesis includes two papers, one focusing on barriers and the other on barrier-breakers.An online questionnaire was sent to the two groups of Swedish bank customers, i.e., young bank customers (representing adopters-accepters) and a social media group of cash advocates called Kontantupproret (representing adopters-resisters). The results reveal that adopters-accepters perceived privacy and access barriers to be significantly related to the intention to fully adopt digital payment methods, while adopters-resisters perceived only the impersonalisation barrier as significant. Moreover, both groups highlighted the credibility barrier-breaker, and the adopters-resisters also perceived usefulness and social influence as barrier-breakers in relation to the intention to fully adopt digital payment methods. Additional tests show that bank customers’ past experience may increase the negative effect of the privacy, access, and impersonalisation barriers on the intention to fully adopt digital payment methods. At the same time, the impersonalisation barrier may decrease the positive effect of the barrier-breakers.
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