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Determinants of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance adoption - A configurational exploration
Abstract
Over the past three decades, scholars have studied technology adoption and its determinants in many contexts. Nevertheless, this literature has remained silent in understanding the complex interdependency among these determinants and how such interdependency determines technology adoption. In this paper, we build on previous research to focus on the technological, social, economic, cultural, and political determinants of technology adoption. Using the Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) with samples of 101 and 43 countries, we perform a configurational analysis to explore the interdependency among these five categories of factors and their causal effect on the adoption of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi). We obtain various causal combinations of the technological, social, economic, cultural, and political factors that are associated with a high level of cryptocurrency and DeFi adoption. In addition, our analysis highlights the key role of the social, economic, and cultural factors in influencing both crypto and DeFi adoption. Technological and political factors, nevertheless, play a less important role in driving blockchain adoption. We also find intriguing differences between cryptocurrency and DeFi adoption. Our results both support and challenge existing findings in the technology adoption literature and offer theoretical implications for future research.
... Threats to the privacy of personal information have been recognised for well over a century (Holvast, 2009) and have been a significant public concern since the dawn of the 'computer era' in the 1970s (Abraham et al., 2019b;Nguyen & Nguyen, 2024). Today, as internet use has become an integral and indispensable element of society, the confidentiality and security of personal data has become a major issue. ...
... In non-Arab societies, the same degree of pseudo-confidentiality might be deemed inadequate, with a possible preference for stronger privacy safeguards in financial dealings (Yan et al., 2023;. Other behavioural differences in the financial sphere may be rooted in varying levels of experience with digital technologies, differing regulatory landscapes, and distinct attitudes toward financial security (Abraham et al., 2019b;Cristofaro et al., 2023;Nguyen & Nguyen, 2024). For instance, Arab consumers might have a different approach to security due to specific regional legal frameworks, societal norms, and their collective experiences with technology and commerce (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2024;Wen & Hongchindaket, 2023). ...
... Other behavioural differences in the financial sphere may be rooted in varying levels of experience with digital technologies, differing regulatory landscapes, and distinct attitudes toward financial security (Abraham et al., 2019b;Cristofaro et al., 2023;Nguyen & Nguyen, 2024). For instance, Arab consumers might have a different approach to security due to specific regional legal frameworks, societal norms, and their collective experiences with technology and commerce (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2024;Wen & Hongchindaket, 2023). Similarly, non-Arab consumers may base their trust and perceived risks on alternative benchmarks, informed by their cultural context and regulatory environment (Kim et al., 2008). ...
Although cryptocurrencies are not yet widely used as a method of payment in retail and commercial transactions, they are attracting a growing level of interest. However, if cryptocurrencies are to attract mass adoption for settlement, they will need to have merchant and consumer trust. This paper examines the factors which contribute to the development of trust, and whether the perception of trust varies between cultures (Arab and non-Arab). To explore this, the study analysed, using multigroup partial least squares analysis, 729 survey responses. The analysis examined the impact of four factors on perceived trust in cryptocurrency payments, and found that the perception of information confidentiality, identifiability and traceability all have a significant effect, while perceptions of fraud vulnerability had very little impact. There were also clear socio-cultural effects. This research offers significant insights into the trust dynamics essential for the acceptance of crypto-payment-services and highlights the importance of culture perspectives.
... Second, our focus on Chinese elderly adults limits the generalizability of our findings to other regions, because cultural and regional factors may influence technology adoption (Lee et al., 2013;Nguyen & Nguyen, 2024) and problematic use (Hawi & Samaha, 2019). Specifically, western cultures typically prioritize independence, viewing the self as autonomous, while Eastern cultures emphasize interdependence, grounding self-identity in social connections (Markus, 1991). ...
Short-form videos have become a dominant form of social media globally. While short-video apps are popular among adolescents, their ease-of-use has also attracted a growing number of elderly users. However, this accessibility can lead to problematic use, resulting in physical and mental health issues for this demographic. Therefore, our research employed the technology acceptance model (TAM) to understand the problematic use of short-video apps (PUSVA) among elderly adults. 281 elderly adults completed a three-wave survey with a 1-month interval between waves. Results showed that both perceived utilitarian-usefulness and perceived hedonic-usefulness mediated the relationship between perceived ease-of-use and PUSVA, suggesting a double-edged sword effect of ease-to-use short-video apps. Moreover, perceived susceptibility moderated the relationship between perceived ease-of-use and perceived utilitarian-usefulness, but not between perceived ease-of-use and perceived hedonic-usefulness, suggesting a moderated mediation effect of perceived susceptibility on PUSVA. Specifically, elderly adults with low perceived susceptibility tended to report higher perceived utilitarian-usefulness for easy-to-use applications, while no relationship between perceived ease-of-use and perceived utilitarian-usefulness was observed among those with high perceived susceptibility. Our findings highlight the double-edged sword effect of user-friendly short-video apps and offer valuable insights for developing interventions to mitigate problematic use among elderly adults.
... Additionally, economic growth indicators such as GDP per capita influence adoption, with higher-income countries showing greater investment in cryptocurrencies as speculative assets. The study [37] utilised Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis an inductive approach whereby causal factors are obtained from prior studies to explore their complex interdependency. It first analyses a larger sample of 101 countries (without cultural values) and further investigates the cultural aspects and their roles in 43 countries. ...
This study investigates the key drivers and the economic and social impacts of cryptocurrency adoption. Based on panel data across 37 countries from 2020 to 2023, this research examines the interplay between cryptocurrency adoption and technology development, monetary policies, and economic and social development. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research incorporates panel data analysis across multiple countries to explore correlations and causal relationships between these variables. The study found that technology development, measured by the Network Readiness Index (NRI) enables cryptocurrency adoption. Economic conditions measured by higher national inflation rates and monetary policy indicators, including lower interest and exchange rates are the key drivers for cryptocurrency adoption. The empirical findings reveal that cryptocurrency adoption has negative relationships with economic development measured by the GDP growth rate, unemployment rate, and social development represented by the governance quality corruption index. It implies that cryptocurrency is used as a virtual anchor (digital gold) for national inflation. Findings reveal how network readiness, economic conditions, and monetary policies contribute to fostering cryptocurrency adoption, while resulting in impacts on economic growth, labour markets, and governance. The research contributes to the literature by integrating technological, economic, and governance perspectives to elucidate the role of cryptocurrency in reshaping the global economic and social systems.
... The fourth and last stream in this category is "tokenomics", with documents evaluating crypto assets adoption and return based on user generated content and other non-financial metrics. Nguyen & Nguyen (2024) Similarly to the co-citation network, the blue cluster is the "technological", tightly related to the computer science field. And its first stream is also security (Trozze et al., 2023;Cui & Gao, 2023;Mazorra et al., 2022). ...
The purpose of this article is to study analysis the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) literature. By synthesizing the themes and theorical frameworks, we aim to identify knowledge gaps and potential areas for future research in the DeFi landscape. We conduct bibliometric and content analysis on a corpus of 275 articles extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. We use the Bibliometrix package in R software to apply co-citation and bibliographic coupling. We find three research clusters (a) socioeconomic (b) technology and (c) financial with their conceptual structure, interactions and transformations. Applying both co-citation and bibliographic coupling network analysis yields a dynamic view of the field tracing thematic evolution from its inception to the present day, revealing a decline in academic interest in DeFi security vulnerabilities in contrast to the growing emphasis on social media's influence on DeFi prices.
This paper investigates Bitcoin’s resilience against the U.S. dollar—widely recognized as the global reserve currency—by applying a multi-method wavelet analysis framework to daily price data of Bitcoin, the USD strength index (DXY), the euro, and other assets ranging from August 2015 to June 2024. Quantitative measures—particularly the Frobenius norm of wavelet coherence and an exponential decay phase-weighting scheme—reveal that Bitcoin’s out-of-phase relationship with the dollar is lower and more sporadic than that of mainstream assets, indicating it is not tightly governed by dollar fluctuations. Even after controlling for the euro’s dominant influence in the DXY, BTC continues to show weaker coupling than mainstream assets—reinforcing the idea that it may serve as a partial hedge against dollar-driven volatility. These results support the hypothesis that Bitcoin may serve as a resilient store of value and hedge against dollar-driven market volatility, placing Bitcoin within the broader debate on global monetary frameworks. As global monetary conditions evolve, the resilience of Bitcoin (BTC) relative to the world’s leading reserve currency—the U.S. dollar—has significant implications for both investors and policymakers.
This study investigates the influence of cryptocurrency advantages on MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourists' future decisions in Thailand, a prime business travel destination. The research explores how cryptocurrency adoption affects tourists' propensity to use cryptocurrencies in the MICE industry. A sample of 394 MICE tourists' data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via the Mplus program. The results indicate that transaction process (TP), price value (PV), and attitude (AT) significantly impact BTPB, which, in turn, influences future cryptocurrency adoption (FA) while transparency (TR) does not show any significant correlation with business travelers' perceived benefits (BTPB). This study guides travel and tourism stakeholders to enhance cryptocurrency adoption by improving transaction efficiency, security, regulatory clarity, and education, leveraging insights from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) frameworks. This study bridges fintech and sustainable tourism in the MICE industry, offering insights for policymakers and industry leaders to enhance financial systems through cryptocurrency, promoting global sustainable travel practices.
Purpose
In this paper, we empirically investigate how crypto investments in times of economic downturn would affect credit card usage, a widely used payment method that has a significant impact on individual financial well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
We carry out an ordinary least squares regression analysis and an instrumental variable design on data from the most recent National Financial Capability Study 2021 (NFCS2021). The NFCS2021 collects information about various demographic and financial backgrounds of US adults.
Findings
We find that crypto investments are associated with a significantly higher likelihood of credit card misuse, as indicated by making only the minim um payments, late payments and using credit cards for cash advances. Meanwhile, social media use is a strong predictor of crypto investments. Results from our analysis are robust after accounting for endogeneity concerns using an instrumental variable design.
Originality/value
Our findings provide new insights into the influence of emerging financial instruments on delinquent credit card behaviors, which can further intensify individual and household financial instability during periods of market stress. Furthermore, our findings underscore the necessity of improving individual awareness of the high-risk characteristics of cryptocurrencies, despite their increasing popularity in the financial marketplace in the current financial marketplace.
In the modern world, the importance of digital currencies as a tool for financial transformation and economic development is growing, especially in Ukraine, where new ways to stimulate economic growth and increase financial inclusion are being sought. The purpose of this study was to explore architectural frameworks for financial transformation through the use of digital currencies in Ukraine. Using a combined methodological approach that included an analysis of scientific literature, empirical research, and a study of the experiences of other countries in the field of digital currencies, the study applied statistical methods of data processing and comparative analysis. The article shows the need to develop adaptive architectural frameworks for the successful implementation of digital currencies in the financial system of Ukraine. In particular, the advantages of digital currencies in reducing transaction costs and increasing the availability of financial services to the population are identified. However, certain challenges related to instability and an insufficient regulatory framework have also been identified. The article identifies the problem of regulatory instability and the benefits, such as reduced transaction costs and increased access to finance, associated with the integration of digital currencies in Ukraine. The article also explores potential scenarios for the adoption of digital currencies in the financial landscape of Ukraine. These results can serve as a basis for developing practical strategies and policies for the implementation of digital currencies in Ukraine. Understanding the specific benefits and challenges associated with this process will allow for the most informed decisions on the modernisation of the country’s financial system
The proliferation of blockchain-based platform ecosystems in recent years has prompted scholars across various disciplines to explore the conditions leading to their successful deployment. However, developing a blockchain-based platform ecosystem creates various challenges for the platform sponsor that may influence industry-wide adoption and, ultimately, the platform's success. This study follows the development of TradeLens, a leading global shipping platform ecosystem underpinned by blockchain technology. We examine the factors affecting industry-wide adoption among global supply chain actors by unpacking platform value drivers and platform governance mechanisms identified at TradeLens. While the platform value hinges on the digitalization of workflows and the ecosystem leverage, the platform governance includes strategic (off-chain), technology (on-chain), and interoperability (on-and off-chain) governance-as mechanisms for effectively managing a blockchain-based platform ecosystem. This paper contributes to the literature on blockchain-based platform ecosystems and the platform literature.
As blockchain technologies are discussed in their political dimensions, this paper questions the political implications of developments in decentralized finance (DeFi). It looks at the ways that DeFi projects refer to game theory as a template for designing the integration of off-chain financial processes into on-chain processes. DeFi’s reference to game theory carries normative understandings of social coordination that oscillate between (liberal) cooperation and (neo-liberal) non-cooperation and defection. This is evidenced in the ways that DeFi installs fundamental uncertainty as well as the reliability of participants’ information, as the key resource for modeling social coordination. While referring to a libertarian notion of ‘collective intelligence,’ the models tend to involve participants in high-stake transactions under conditions of uncertainty. These results have consequences for the social studies of finance more generally: The prominence of game theory in DeFi indicates that the performativity of economic theory, often depicted in the ways that theory-derived models enable pricing calculation and the transformation of uncertainty into risk, may also result in the celebration of radical uncertainty as a resource of strategic action.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India are suffering from the long-standing challenges related to asymmetric information, high transaction costs, SMEs’ opacity and limited access to credit. Blockchain technology, which is still in its infancy in terms of adoption in India, can facilitate SMEs to counter these challenges. Fuelled by this motivation, the study aims to investigate the significant barriers to blockchain adoption in supply chain finance practices by Indian SMEs. Using fuzzy-analytic hierarchy process, sensitivity analysis, and fuzzy-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory this paper identifies the blockchain barriers, prioritises them and examine their cause and effect relationships. The results of the study indicate that technology barriers are the most influential barriers that impede blockchain adoption. The findings will help the policymakers and practitioners to take suitable measures to overcome these barriers and fuel the adoption of blockchain in Indian SMEs.
The adoption of cryptocurrencies is uneven across businesses, industries, and countries. Different forces drive cryptocurrency adoption (CA) dependent on the national level of development. We empirically assess the relationship between certain macro-national developmental indicators and cryptocurrency deployment across 137 countries. Linear regressions determine specific associations with cryptocurrency adoption. We report that CA correlates positively and in decreasing order with Education, the Human Development Index, the Network Readiness Index, the Gini index, Democracy, Regulatory Quality, and Gross Domestic Product, and negatively and in decreasing order with Control of Corruption, the Corruption Perception Index, and the Economic Freedom Index. We draw on our findings to point to policy implications tied to the usage of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies more widely and identify further research possibilities.
Purpose
Cryptocurrencies put consumers at the heart of a potential revolution by shifting central authority to a distributed peer-to-peer monetary system. This study aims to perform a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis within the topic of cryptocurrencies and consumer trust.
Design/methodology/approach
The Web of Science database has been selected, and the analyses performed allowed us to identify five research trends obtained from the bibliographic coupling analysis: (1) Understanding consumer's (non)acceptance of cryptocurrencies, (2) Ethical aspects and trust in cryptocurrencies, (3) Blockchain technology as a trust-free technology, (4) The blockchain/trust economy, and (5) Blockchain technology: challenging trust.
Findings
Findings uncover the intellectual structure in the field of cryptocurrencies and consumers' trust and offer insights on the pros and cons of consumers' willingness to trust the digital currency.
Originality/value
The study proved a great gap in the current literature in linking cryptocurrencies and trust theories in a consumer context. The authors also outline several gaps that allowed us to propose future research guidelines.
In recent decades, as with the rapid movement of scientific discoveries, the development of new technologies and innovations has picked up a similar pace. Some of these technologies have drawn public attention and rapidly prevailed in the societies, while some others have faded away after some time. The factor which must be considered in alignment with the development of new technology is the precise recognition of the demands and the impacting factors for the acceptance of new technology. Hence, many scholars have investigated the topic and developed different frameworks for modelling the method through which users accept a technology. With that respect, in this article, the most important models or theories related to user acceptance and adoption since 1962 to this point are investigated and the evolution of different theories and models of technology acceptance during these years are evaluated in order to provide a comprehensive review of the topic.
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the institutional factors that influence the adoption of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) at the country level.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a large sample of 175 developed and developing countries over 14 years. Data is obtained from different sources including, World Development Indicators, the Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) website and the Quality of Government database.
Findings
The results highlight the significance of coercive, mimetic and normative pressures in terms of ROSC reports, the extent of accounting globalisation and education. However, in further analyses, the authors found that coercive pressure is pronounced in developing countries. Nevertheless, mimetic pressure is an important, influential factor for all countries regardless of their status as developed or developing.
Originality/value
This study responds to the lack of research on the country-level factors of countries’ adoption of XBRL. The present study contributes to the literature by providing additional evidence on the country-level factors influencing XBRL adoption. Using the institutional theory, the authors provide a better understanding of the global diffusion of XBRL, which has attracted little attention. The study also complements prior literature on the adoption of international accounting and financial reporting practices.
Digital technologies enable small-scale farmers to reduce some constraints to participate in Agriculture Value Chains (AVCs). Small-scale farmers face significant challenges and barriers to adopting digital technology. This study contributes to the literature on digital development in three ways: present the economic, political, and social factors affecting digital adoption in the AVCs; highlight the implications for governance and institutional challenges;adds knowledge to the analytical value of the Choice Frameworkto study digital technology adoption. This paper after identifying more than 100 papers and articles, uses a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) aligned with Cooper’s [(2010). Research synthesis and meta-analysis: A step-by-step approach (5th ed.). Sage] approach to examine 52 articles published from 2014 to 2019, ultimately selecting the most relevant 36 studies. The study uses the Choice Framework that operationalizes the Capabilities Approach (CA) as a theoretical window for this research. Papers were classified into four different categories: economic; political; social factors; institutional/governance. The findings show: - the role of the state in governance and institutional support is critical to facilitate the collaboration and participation of different actors;-the importance to develop a comprehensive localized developmental implementation framework that can support the adoption of digital solutions to support small-scale farmers. Limitations for this study are highlighted and areas for further research are suggested.
We study a coordination game among agents in a network. The agents choose whether to take action (e.g., adopting a new technology) in an uncertain environment that yields increasing value in the actions of neighbors. We develop an algorithm that fully partitions the network into communities (coordination sets) within which agents have the same propensity to adopt. Our main finding is that a novel measure of network connectedness, which we term “social connectedness”, determines the propensity to adopt for each agent. Social connectedness captures both the number of links each agent has within her community (interconnectedness) as well as the number of links she has with members of other communities who have a higher propensity to adopt (embeddedness). There is a single coordination set if and only if the network is balanced —that is, the average degree of each subnetwork is no larger than the average degree of the network. Finally, we demonstrate that contagion is localized within coordination sets, such that a shock to an agent uniformly affects this agent and all members of her coordination set but has no impact on the other agents in the network.<br/
Planning to adopt the Blockchain is very active in many industries, especially in supply chains. Researchers believe that the Radio-frequency identification (RFIDs), yesterday’s Blockchain, is now obsolete. The strongest reason that the Blockchain is the tool of this era is its unique features; real-time information sharing, cyber-security, transparency, reliability, traceability, and visibility, all of which boost the supply-chain performance. Despite the extensive literature on Blockchain, in recent years, no clear framework has defined whether a supply chain should implement Blockchain or not. This study attempts to fill this gap by proposing a framework for complex supply chain networks. In doing so, first, we identified the supply-chain practices of the oil industry in Pakistan, then we empirically analyzed the impact of these practices on operational performance. The results show that the supply chain management (SCM) practices positively impact operational performance. On the other hand, with the help of literature, we identified different Blockchain features and their influence on different supply chain practices. This study guides managers and decision-makers to evaluate their current supply-chain practices and understand the relationship between supply-chain practices and Blockchain features, and how different Blockchain features can help improving supply-chain practices and ultimately improving operational performance.
The increasing interest in fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) in Information Systems and marketing raises the need for a tutorial paper that discusses the basic concepts and principles of the method, provide answers to typical questions that editors, reviewers, and authors would have when dealing with a new tool of analysis, and practically guide researchers on how to employ fsQCA. This article helps the reader to gain richer information from their data and understand the importance of avoiding shallow information‐from‐data reporting. To this end, it proposes a different research paradigm that includes asymmetric, configurational‐focused case‐outcome theory construction and somewhat precise outcome testing. This article offers a detailed step-by-step guide on how to employ fsQCA by using as an example an already published study. We analyze the same dataset and present all the details in each step of the analysis to guide the reader onto how to employ fsQCA. The article discusses differences between fsQCA and variance-based approaches and compares fsQCA with those from structured equation modelling. Finally, the article offers a summary of thresholds and guidelines for practice, along with a discussion on how existing papers that employ variance-based methods are extendable and complemented through fsQCA.
DeFi (‘decentralized finance’) has joined FinTech (‘financial technology’), RegTech (‘regulatory technology’), cryptocurrencies, and digital assets as one of the most discussed emerging technological evolutions in global finance. Yet little is really understood about its meaning, legal implications, and policy consequences. In this article we introduce DeFi, put DeFi in the context of the traditional financial economy, connect DeFi to open banking, and end with some policy considerations. We suggest that decentralization has the potential to undermine traditional forms of accountability and erode the effectiveness of traditional financial regulation and enforcement. At the same time, we find that where parts of the financial services value chain are decentralized, there will be a reconcentration in a different (but possibly less regulated, less visible, and less transparent) part of the value chain. DeFi regulation could, and should, focus on this reconcentrated portion of the value chain to ensure effective oversight and risk control. Rather than eliminating the need for regulation, in fact DeFi requires regulation in order to achieve its core objective of decentralization. Furthermore, DeFi potentially offers an opportunity for the development of an entirely new way to design regulation: the idea of ‘embedded regulation’. Regulatory approaches could be built into the design of DeFi, thus potentially decentralizing both finance and its regulation, in the ultimate expression of RegTech.
Purpose
Blockchain technology (BT) is setting world-shattering standard in all type of transactions in business. BT has the prospective to drastically transform supply chain (SC). The main challenge is to enhance trust among the SC stakeholders. This paper aims to identify and prioritize the factors and its challenges that influence the adoptability of BT in SC. The prioritization of these factors will be helpful to the practitioners to decide the strategy of implementing the BT in SC.
Design/methodology/approach
The factors influencing adoption of BT are identified from the review of literature and expert opinion is used to rank the factors influencing the adoptability of BT in SC using grey relational analysis (GRA).
Findings
We identified and prioritized key factors: inter-organizational trust and relational governance as organizational challenge, data transparency and data immutability as technological challenge, interoperability and product type as operational challenge and social influence and behavioral intention as social challenge that influences adoptability of BT in SC.
Originality/value
The priority of these factors will guide future researchers and industry practitioners to plan rational and financial strategy for implementing BT in SC.
A vast digital ecosystem of entrepreneurship and exchange has sprung up with Bitcoin’s digital infrastructure at its core. We explore the worldwide spread of infrastructure necessary to maintain and grow Bitcoin as a system (Bitcoin nodes) and infrastructure enabling the use of bitcoins for everyday economic transactions (Bitcoin merchants). Specifically, we investigate the role of legal, criminal, financial, and social determinants of the adoption of Bitcoin infrastructure. We offer some support for the view that the adoption of cryptocurrency infrastructure is driven by perceived failings of traditional financial systems, in that the spread of Bitcoin infrastructure is associated with low trust in banks and the financial system among inhabitants of a region, and with the occurrence of country-level inflation crises. On the other hand, our findings also suggest that active support for Bitcoin is higher in locations with well-developed banking services. Finally, we find support for the view that bitcoin adoption is also partly driven by cryptocurrencies’ usefulness in engaging in illicit trade.
The economic development of rural India requires connecting remote villages to local and global supply chains. Yet, high rates of financial exclusion inhibit rural Indians from participating in these supply networks. We review the literature on financial inclusion, adoption, and blockchain in India, and posit that to resolve financial exclusion, the four challenges of geographical access, high cost, inappropriate banking products, and financial illiteracy need to be overcome. Next, we argue that blockchain technologies hold the potential to overcome most of these challenges. However, for blockchain technologies to become the cornerstone of financial inclusion initiatives, an understanding of technology adoption in India is needed. To guide the development of such understanding, we develop a research agenda on the antecedents of adoption, adoption patterns, and outcomes of adoption. Answering these research questions will lead to a nuanced understanding of adoption of blockchain-based technologies in rural India. The practical contribution of this paper is the discussion of how blockchain can alleviate the issue of financial exclusion in rural India, thereby providing a basis for a solution that could connect rural Indians to global supply chain networks. The theoretical contribution lies in the identification of knowledge gaps that should be answered to achieve financial inclusion of rural Indians.
Blockchains or distributed ledgers are an emerging technology that has drawn considerable interest from energy supply firms, startups, technology developers, financial institutions, national governments and the academic community. Numerous sources coming from these backgrounds identify blockchains as having the potential to bring significant benefits and innovation. Blockchains promise transparent, tamper-proof and secure systems that can enable novel business solutions, especially when combined with smart contracts. This work provides a comprehensive overview of fundamental principles that underpin blockchain technologies, such as system ar-chitectures and distributed consensus algorithms. Next, we focus on blockchain solutions for the energy industry and inform the state-of-the-art by thoroughly reviewing the literature and current business cases. To our knowledge, this is one of the first academic, peer-reviewed works to provide a systematic review of blockchain activities and initiatives in the energy sector. Our study reviews 140 blockchain research projects and startups from which we construct a map of the potential and relevance of blockchains for energy applications. These initiatives were systematically classified into different groups according to the field of activity, implementation platform and consensus strategy used. 1 Opportunities, potential challenges and limitations for a number of use cases are discussed, ranging from emerging peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading and Internet of Things (IoT) applications , to decentralised marketplaces, electric vehicle charging and e-mobility. For each of these use cases, our contribution is twofold: first, in identifying the technical challenges that blockchain technology can solve for that application as well as its potential drawbacks, and second in briefly presenting the research and industrial projects and startups that are currently applying blockchain technology to that area. The paper ends with a discussion of challenges and market barriers the technology needs to overcome to get past the hype phase, prove its commercial viability and finally be adopted in the mainstream.
Qualitative comparative analysis is increasingly applied in strategy and organization research. The main purpose of our essay is to support this growing community of qualitative comparative analysis scholars by identifying best practices that can help guide researchers through the key stages of a qualitative comparative analysis empirical study (model building, sampling, calibration, data analysis, reporting, and interpretation of findings) and by providing examples of such practices drawn from strategy and organization studies. Coupled with this main purpose, we respond to Miller’s essay on configuration research by highlighting our points of agreement regarding his recommendations for configurational research and by addressing some of his concerns regarding qualitative comparative analysis. Our article thus contributes to configurational research by articulating how to leverage qualitative comparative analysis for enriching configurational theories of strategy and organization.
The paper is an attempt to understand and differentiate the significance of financial inclusion in the context of India wherein a large population is deprived of financial services, which are very much essential for an overall economic and inclusive growth. The paper discusses the problem of financial exclusion and the socioeconomic impact of financial inclusion on the underprivileged. We go a step further through a normative discussion of India's journey so far in this respect and highlight the impediments to financial inclusion. The paper also suggests a few critical dimensions that are to be taken care of so as to accelerate deep‐rooted penetration of financial services.
Blockchain-based technologies have emerged as a mechanism for governing sustainability in agro-food supply chain, where voluntary sustainability standards have been the main governance mechanisms over the past decades. Despite a growing body of research on blockchain-based technologies, the relationship between these two mechanisms for supply chains remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aims at addressing this research gap and explaining their interaction. We described and assessed 16 cases of blockchain-based technologies and voluntary sustainability standards against twelve sustainability-related assessment criteria. The results show that the relationship between blockchain-based technologies and voluntary sustainability standards can be co-existing, synergistic, and antagonistic. While most cases fall under the co-existing relationship, we identified a few cases with synergistic relationships, and one case with an antagonistic relationship. We explain each type of relation and show how the system architecture and goal of a blockchain-based technology implementation are key determinants of this relationship. This study can support stakeholders in agro-food supply chain in better understanding the application of blockchain-based technologies for sustainability governance in relation to existing voluntary sustainability standards. It can further inform those stakeholders of possibilities to constructively collaborate and focus on positive social and environmental impacts within agro-food supply chains.
Financial technology (fintech) covers many innovative technology-enabled financial services. This research thus explores the causal relationships for fintech adoption to assist countries in promoting its usage. Following literature, this study uses technology, economic development, entrepreneurship, and innovation of an economy as the antecedents and fintech adoption as the outcome and then applies fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis to analyze causal complexity. The data span the years 2020 and 2021 with 30 countries in 2020 and 28 countries in 2021. This study finds that the combination of high values of innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and economic development leads to high fintech adoption in both 2020 and 2021. Fintech adoption is popular in developed countries. The combination of low values of innovation, technology, and economic development leads to low fintech adoption consistently in 2020 and 2021. The combination of low values of innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development leads to low fintech adoption in 2021.
After the so-called “crypto-winter”, decentralised finance (DeFi) is reviving interest in cryptocurrency amongst the scientific community, public and private institutions, and investors. DeFi is a novel disruptive process that promotes the use of blockchain technology for creating and issuing all kinds of financial products and services. This study aimed to measure the relationship amongst the returns of DeFi tokens, other traditional assets, and user-generated content. While the relationship between other crypto assets and traditional assets has been researched, this has not been done on DeFi assets. This study uses a logit-probit model over a database comprising the daily returns of 13 DeFi, VIX, S&P GSCI Crude Oil Index, and S&P GSCI Gold Index, and the daily variation in DeFi mentions in Telegram chats and Twitter. The results show that all variables except the S&P GSCI crude oil index returns and the daily variation in Twitter mentions were significant. This suggests that DeFi acts, similar to other crypto assets, as a safe haven. This study contributes to the literature on decentralised finance tokens as investment assets, which requires much more research.
Empirical investigation of the factors underlying the growing usage of crypto-assets is in its infancy, owing to data limitations. In this paper, we present a simple cross-country analysis drawing on recently released survey-based data. We explore the correlation of crypto-asset usage with indicators of corruption, capital controls, a history of high inflation, and other factors. We find that crypto-asset usage is significantly and positively associated with corruption and capital controls. Notwithstanding the data limitations, the results support the case for regulating crypto-assets, including know-your-customer approaches, as opposed to taking a laissez-faire stance.
Online markets in cryptocurrency represent a sprawling and eclectic alternative financial system, selling cutting edge techno-investment schemes that are complex and high risk. Crime control is almost entirely absent from this new crypto economy, and it is full of scams. This paper draws on an ethnography of crypto trading to review the main types of scam, suggesting that the grey economy of cryptocurrency trading is part of a wider evolution of society towards the technosocial, and beyond that perhaps towards the metaversal.
Markets for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have experienced tremendous growth. Yet little research has examined why people want to buy cryptocurrencies that are risky investments. The present research studies a subset of people interested in cryptocurrencies. Specifically, we examine the effect of Dark Tetrad traits (Machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism, subclinical psychopathy, and subclinical sadism) on a person's crypto attitude and buying intention. The following mediators were examined as reasons for people buying crypto: (1) conspiracy beliefs (e.g., distrust of government), (2) positivity and (3) fear of missing out (FoMO). Importantly, we are not suggesting all crypto buyers exhibit Dark Tetrad traits. Based on a pre-registered survey of the main research question rather than hypotheses (N = 566), it was found that narcissism was positively associated with crypto attitude which was mediated by positivity. Machiavellianism was associated with buying intention which was mediated by conspiracy beliefs. Machiavellians were more distrustful of government which was associated with a greater desire to buy crypto. Psychopathy affected crypto judgments through FoMO and a negative effect on positivity. Sadism is associated with FoMO and a lack of positivity which affects crypto judgments.
Technology adoption is crucial to economic growth, yet levels of technology adoption vary, with limited adoption in many countries. Countries wield considerable technology adoption power and their adoption activities can be leveraged to achieve social, economic, and environmental goals by endorsing specific technologies. To encourage greater adoption, it is vital to determine the predictors of technology adoption to design effective promotion policies, accomplished through the modification of Diffusion of Innovation theory. While there is substantial research in individual consumer adoption behavior, less is known about country level factors that impact technology adoption. To overcome these gaps in the research, we undertook an investigative study to better understand the predictors of a country's technology adoption rate. We use a random effects panel model to predict technology adoption factors for a sample of 15 countries over the period of 2010–2019 using secondary datasets. We identify a statistically significant effect of competitiveness, cybersecurity, ease of doing business, and the level of political stability/non-violence and terrorism. We thus posit that a country that is highly competitive, has enhanced cybersecurity, is easy to do business in, and has a low level of political violence and terrorism adopts new technologies more readily than others.
Green energy has received extensive attention worldwide for its outstanding contributions to fighting environmental damage. However, in recent years, there have been indications that the outlook for social acceptance of green energy adoption (GEA) is not optimistic, and potential difficulties and challenges from various aspects are possible in the future. To this end, a growing body of literature explores the determinants of GEA that will push towards greater social acceptance. Taking into account the current lack of an accessible holistic overview of the knowledge structure of GEA research and its determinants, high-level insights urgently needs to be provided. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to conduct a comprehensible bibliometric review of GEA research and the determinants of GEA. First, with the help of different bibliometric analyses, an in-depth view of GEA publications, looking at active authors, highly productive countries/regions, the most relevant journals, citation structures, and GEA's thematic evolution, is visually presented. Second, further supported by a content analysis, this work sorts out and identifies the key determinants of GEA in terms of technical matters, adopter levels, corporate promotions, and environmental challenges. Finally, the existing knowledge gaps, as well as possible future research directions, are summarized based on the above findings. The work presented in this paper will help scholars to obtain systematic knowledge and a structured understanding of GEA research and its determinants.
High administrative costs and associated operational inefficiencies present multiple challenges for pension industries across different countries. Although blockchain is considered a potential solution for these concerns, the pension industry has not fully leveraged this disruptive technology. This paper provides a blueprint for a blockchain-based end-to-end digital transformation of the pension industry. First, we identified the pre-requisites for blockchain adoption in pension. Then, we developed an architectural design of blockchain-based re-designed pension business processes. Subsequently, we elaborated on how smart contracts can make pension transactions in such redesigned processes optimized, automated, and error-free. Finally, we presented how blockchain can be integrated with the existing pension IT systems, using an API layer, to enable seamless onboarding of all pension participants to a single digital platform – a critical ask for any blockchain implementation. We concluded with an elucidation of the potential of such blockchain-based digital transformation of the pension industry in reducing turnaround time, lowering operating expenses, and facilitating the achievement of other pension reform agendas. This architecture of a blockchain-enabled pension network represents a flexible and scalable knowledge construct that can act as a foundation for further investigations by pension regulators or pension industry participants interested in achieving technology-driven pension operations reforms.
During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, many commonalities shared by Bitcoin and gold raise the question of whether Bitcoin can hedge inflation or provide a safe haven as gold often does. By estimating a Vector Autoregression (VAR) model, we provide systematic evidence on the relationship among inflation, uncertainty, and Bitcoin and gold prices. Bitcoin appreciates against inflation (or inflation expectation) shocks, confirming its inflation-hedging property claimed by investors. However, unlike gold, Bitcoin prices decline in response to financial uncertainty shocks, rejecting the safe-haven quality. Interestingly, Bitcoin prices do not decrease after policy uncertainty shocks, partly consistent with the notion of Bitcoin's independence from government authorities. We also find an interesting asymmetry in the drivers of Bitcoin price dynamics between the bullish and bearish market. The main findings hold with or without the COVID-19 pandemic episode.
The issues of excessive CEO compensation and gender pay gaps garner much attention from management scholars and the general public. In this study, we integrate these topics and explore the complex interdependent nature of how CEOs influence directors’ evaluative perceptions about appropriate levels of CEO compensation and whether female and male CEOs do so in different ways. Drawing from role congruity theory and previous research on executive compensation, we use a configurational approach to identify how CEOs achieve high levels of compensation through different combinations of influence arising from their power, origin, tenure, similarities with evaluators, and organizational conditions. Using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis with a matched pair sample of female and male CEOs from 2010 to 2016, we find there are multiple configurations of influence conditions by which female and male CEOs achieve high compensation. Our inductive analysis, unpacking how these configurations differ between female and male CEOs, shows four distinct influence mechanisms: leveraging power and role empathy, trailblazer responsibility, leveraging power and similarity, and leveraging role empathy. These mechanisms highlight the ways influence conditions complement or mutually reinforce one another in different ways for female and male CEOs. Implications for theory and research about the unique challenges female executives face in achieving equitable treatment in the workplace are also discussed.
Building on the latent-emergent entrepreneurship framework, we investigate how different type of skills and combination of skills within entrepreneurial founding teams (EFTs) affect the adoption of latent vs emergent technologies (ICTs). We also examine the role of knowledge spillovers on the firm's adoption of different types of technologies and how their effect is moderated by the set of skills that are present within the EFT. We contribute by showing that latent and emergent entrepreneurs decide differently when it comes to whether they should adopt a latent or an emergent version of a technology, by identifying what type or combinations of skills differentiate between latent and emergent entrepreneurs when it comes to ICT adoption, and finally by showing how entrepreneurs, depending on their set of skills, are able to take advantage of the knowledge gathered from external spillovers to adopt different types of technologies.
Can targeting information to network-central farmers induce more adoption of a new agricultural technology? By combining social network data and a field experiment in 200 villages in Malawi, we find that targeting central farmers is important to spur the diffusion process. We also provide evidence of one explanation for why centrality matters: a diffusion process governed by complex contagion. Our results are consistent with a model in which many farmers need to learn from multiple people before they adopt themselves. This means that without proper targeting of information, the diffusion process can stall and technology adoption remains perpetually low. (JEL O13, O18, O33, Q12, Q16)
With the rapid development of emerging technologies, research on technology adoption is valuable for improving the reception efficiency of new technologies. This paper uses bibliometric analysis methods and visualization software to explore the research stages, the hot issues, the limitations of the research and the future fronts. A total of 11,706 documents were collected as the original data using the retrieval formulas. Sorted by the numbers of citations, the top 10% of the documents are extracted as the top-cited documents. First, combining software and bibliometric analysis, we obtain the annual development trends and identify the productive countries/regions, the influential institutions and the high-yielding authors. In addition, we overview the representative authors and their works in the development of technology adoption. Then, we conduct keyword analysis and burstiness analysis to identify the academic hotspots, research fronts and limitations in this field. The results show that increasingly more researches have shifted from theories to applications. Technology adoption has multiple applications in the fields of online shopping, mobile learning, mobile banking, e-learning and health care delivery. Finally, we draw conclusions on the bibliometric findings and forecast the future research trends of technology adoption. In the future, more researches will focus on the impacts of age, gender, culture, and the environment on technology adoption.
The purpose of the paper is to investigate the challenges and implications related to blockchain adoption in the private and public sectors, and from the entrepreneurs’ perspective. Based on 46 semi-structured interviews, a data-driven conceptual framework is proposed focussing on the environmental, organizational and technological challenges of blockchain adoption. The framework includes expected socio-economic value of blockchain adoption at the ecosystem level from a multi-stakeholder perspective: organizations and industries, end-users and society, public sector, and start-ups and entrepreneurs. The paper highlights the differences between permissioned and permissionless blockchains and identifies new constructs in blockchain technology adoption.
We address the determination of bitcoin prices and decentralized security. Users forecast the transactional and resale values of holdings, pricing the risk of systemic attacks. Miners contribute resources to protect against attackers and compete for block rewards. Bitcoin’s design leads to multiple equilibria: the same blockchain technology is consistent with sharply different price and security levels. Bitcoin’s monetary policy can lead to welfare losses and deviations from quantity theory. Price-security feedback amplifies fundamental shocks’ volatility impact and leads to boom and busts unconnected to fundamentals. We characterize how viability versus fiat currency depends on bitcoin’s relative acceptability and inflation protection.
This study explored factors affecting acceptance of news articles written by robot journalists. Until now, there has been little discussion about robot journalism in the perspective of user behavior, especially in terms of psychological and cultural factors influencing users’ intention to continue or discontinue consumption of news articles produced by robot journalists. According to the results of this study, perceived quality and positive disconfirmation on news by robot journalists raised satisfaction, which led to an increase in intention to accept robot journalism. Also, the role of prior expectation and uncertainty avoidance were explored. The lower the prior expectation, the stronger the effect of positive disconfirmation on satisfaction, and the higher uncertainty avoidance, the weaker the effect of satisfaction on intention to accept news by robot journalists.
The annual electricity consumption of cryptocurrency transactions has grown substantially in recent years, partially driven by the increasing difficulty in mining, but also driven by the large number of new market participants that have been attracted by the elevated prices of this developing financial asset. Total carbon production from mining now likely exceeds that generated by individual developed nations. This is now a prevailing and accepted feature in cryptocurrency markets, however unsustainable it may be. This paper investigates as to how Bitcoin's price volatility and the underlying dynamics of cryptocurrency mining characteristics affect underlying energy markets and utilities companies. Further analysis of potential side-effects within the market for Exchange Traded Funds are considered. The results show a sustained and significant influence of cryptocurrency energy-usage on the performance of some companies in the energy sector as separated by jurisdiction, emphasising the importance of further assessment of environmental impacts of cryptocurrency growth. Robustness testing presents evidence that dynamic correlations peaked during the sharp Bitcoin price appreciation of late-2017 as investors re-evaluated how this increased energy usage would influence the profitability of utility companies.
The objective of this research is to addresses the effects of digital transformation on value creation through the study of technology entrepreneurship and technological market expansion. This is particularly important since both of these concepts are part of the dynamic capabilities that help in embracing digital innovation at a national level. Relevant data from 28 European countries representing development indicators and ease of doing business over a timeframe of 7 years from 2009 to 2015 were analysed to formulate and investigate a new perspective of digital entrepreneurship driven by the concepts of digital transformation and entrepreneurship. To do this, digital transformation has been broken into three categories, namely technology readiness (e.g. ICT investments), digital technology exploration (e.g. research and development) and digital technology exploitation (e.g. patents and trademarks). This research identifies several significant relationships between such constructs, which contribute to the literature and provide key implications for business management and practitioners.
Platform-based payment services such as mobile wallets (Mwallet) provide a unique value proposition to both customers and firms over other digital payment methods. Interestingly, the story of platform-based mobile payments adoption is unfolding differently across countries, with some emerging countries (China and India) outperforming developed countries. Using extant literature in International Business/International Marketing, industry reports, and qualitative interviews, we present a conceptual framework for mobile payments adoption at an aggregate level for customers and retailers. We present a set of hypotheses and derive the explanations using the literature on network effects and institutional theory. We test our framework on a diverse set of 30 countries and confirm the presence of network effects and the differential impact of perceived value, inertia, and culture on the adoption level of innovators and imitators. Importantly, we find a significant level of within- and between-country heterogeneity for mobile payment adoption, which provides further evidence for leapfrogging by emerging countries in the context of the mass adoption of mobile payments. These findings have significant implications for theory and practice in multinational organizations.
For the past century economists have proposed a suite of theories relating to industrial dynamics, technological change and innovation. There has been an implication in these models that the institutional environment is stable. However, a new class of institutional technologies—most notably blockchain technology—lower the cost of institutional entrepreneurship along these margins, propelling a process of institutional evolution. This presents a new type of innovation process, applicable to the formation and development of institutions for economic governance and coordination. This paper develops a replicator dynamic model of institutional innovation and proposes some implications of this innovation for innovation policy. Given the influence of public policies on transaction costs and associated institutional choices, it is indicated that policy settings conductive to the adoption and use of blockchain technology would elicit entrepreneurial experiments in institutional forms harnessing new coordinative possibilities in economic exchange. Conceptualisation of blockchain-related public policy an innovation policy in its own right has significant implications for the operation and understanding of open innovation systems in a globalised context.
Given the stagnant agricultural productivity and persistent food insecurity in low‐income countries—notably in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA)—there has been continued interest in the adoption of new technology and its impact on productivity in these regions. Interestingly, there are signs of Green Revolution in maize and rice in SSA, reflected in sharply increasing yield trends in advanced regions. To increase crop yields and sustain yield gains, recent case studies of technology adoption unanimously recommend the adoption of integrated farm management systems, particularly in SSA. On the other hand, there have been increasing numbers of studies on social network or farmer‐to‐farmer technology extension. These studies explore more efficient extension systems than traditional public‐sector extension approaches. This article reviews both recent case studies of technology adoption and its productivity impacts as well as studies on agricultural extension to identify common findings, shortcomings, and major remaining issues. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the applications and contributions of blockchain technology in finance in general, and to identify areas where the technology can make a larger impact in payment systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors do an exhaustive review of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, and examine the successful applications of blockchain technology in several finance disciplines including cryptocurrency. The authors critically evaluate the technical studies on behaviors in cryptocurrency prices.
Findings
Cryptocurrency is the first successful application of blockchain technology and can be used as the main fuel of the global money transfer network.
Research limitations/implications
Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that can change the world with its convenience, transparency, accuracy and efficiency in speed and cost. The growth of blockchain usage in finance depends on further familiarization and trust gained by an increasing number of proven successful usage cases and testimonials as well as appropriate legislative changes.
Originality/value
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the contributions that blockchain technology has made and is expected to make in the field of finance with the aim of adding value to corporate executives, investors, policy makers and a general audience.
The aim of the article is to verify whether bitcoin can act as a hedge, diversifier or safe haven on various stock markets, depending on the economic situation in the countries. To diversify the sample, we include five very different countries in our study: Japan, Venezuela, China, Estonia, and Sweden. Using daily data over the period 2014–2017, we estimate the dynamic conditional correlation model between main stock indices and bitcoin price in local currencies (Bitflyer – in the case of the yen, Kraken – in the case of the euro, Huobi in the case of yuan and LocalBitcoins in all the remaining cases), as well as between main stock indices and the bitcoin price in the US dollar (Bitfinex exchange). We apply the Stochastic Volatility Model with the Dynamic Conditional Correlation. We add binary variables into the dynamic correlation equation, indicating the occurrence of extreme return on the stock-exchange index in the lower 1%, 5% and 10% quantile. The conclusions vary, depending whether we consider trade on the local bitcoin exchanges or in the global one. We conclude that bitcoin was treated as a safe haven asset only in the case of Venezuela and investments in bolivars. In the case of local investments in Japan and China bitcoin behaved as a diversifier. In the bitcoin-friendly economies of Sweden and Estonia it acted as a weak hedge. In the case of the USD trade, the results suggest that bitcoin is a weak hedge with respect to all of the analyzed markets.
Available at: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Yz~h1M2-24ENN
Using a large representative sample of retailers active in e-commerce, we find that acceptance of crypto-payments is modest (2%), but there is substantial interest among online retailers to adopt them. Regression analysis shows that consumer demand, net transactional benefits and perceived accessibility of accepting crypto-payments influence adoption intention and actual acceptance. Our findings also suggest that service providers who act as intermediaries in e-commerce play a crucial role as facilitators of competition and innovation by increasing accessibility. The most serious barrier for crypto-acceptance is a lack of consumer demand. It seems therefore unlikely that crypto adoption by online retailers will increase substantially in the near future.
We examine the extent to which financial market development impacts the diffusion of 16 major technologies, looking across 17 countries, from 1870 to 2000. We find that greater depth in financial markets leads to faster technology diffusion for more capital-intensive technologies, but only in periods closer to the invention of the technology. In fact, we find no differential effect of financial depth on the diffusion of capital-intensive technologies in the late stages of diffusion or in late adopters. Our results are consistent with a view that local financial markets play a critical role in facilitating the process of experimentation that is required for the initial commercialization and diffusion of technologies.
This paper provides a systematic review of the empirical literature based on the major topics that have been associated with the market for cryptocurrencies since their development as a financial asset in 2009. Despite astonishing price appreciation in recent years, cryptocurrencies have been subjected to accusations of pricing bubbles central to the trilemma that exists between regulatory oversight, the potential for illicit use through its anonymity within a young under-developed exchange system, and infrastructural breaches influenced by the growth of cybercriminality. Each influences the perception of the role of cryptocurrencies as a credible investment asset class and legitimate of value.
Social networks can shape many aspects of social and economic activity: migration and trade, job-seeking, innovation, consumer preferences and sentiment, public health, social mobility, and more. In turn, social networks themselves are associated with geographic proximity, historical ties, political boundaries, and other factors. Traditionally, the unavailability of large-scale and representative data on social connectedness between individuals or geographic regions has posed a challenge for empirical research on social networks. More recently, a body of such research has begun to emerge using data on social connectedness from online social networking services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. To date, most of these research projects have been built on anonymized administrative microdata from Facebook, typically by working with coauthor teams that include Facebook employees. However, there is an inherent limit to the number of researchers that will be able to work with social network data through such collaborations. In this paper, we therefore introduce a new measure of social connectedness at the US county level. Our Social Connectedness Index is based on friendship links on Facebook, the global online social networking service. Specifically, the Social Connectedness Index corresponds to the relative frequency of Facebook friendship links between every county-pair in the United States, and between every US county and every foreign country. Given Facebook’s scale as well as the relative representativeness of Facebook’s user body, these data provide the first comprehensive measure of friendship networks at a national level.
Innovation adoption is of utmost importance for company survival. That is why it is important to develop a thorough understanding of this research domain and the themes it encapsulates. Since the early work of Everett Rogers, the adoption of innovation literature has attracted considerable attention and has continued to grow rapidly, resulting in a large but fragmented body of literature. The goal of this study is to provide a coherent overview of the theoretical cornerstones as well as recent research trends in the innovation adoption literature. To this end, we conducted a bibliometric review and performed bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis. First, based on co-citation analysis, we illustrate that innovation adoption research is built on four theoretical cornerstones including: institutional theory; theory of reasoned action; theory concerning the determinants of adoption, and; diffusion theory. Second, bibliographic coupling was used to assess the current research trends. This review is the first to identify thematic areas in an exhaustive manner revealing five clusters of thematic related publications or “research trends”: determinants of IT adoption; adoption of technological standards; organizational rationales associated with adoption; modelling diffusion, and; adoption of agricultural innovations. We conclude this review with the limitations and future research orientations in the field of innovation adoption.