Cash, Paper, and Electronic Payments: A Cross-Country Analysis

Abstract

But what determines which payment instrument is used and why are some used more intensively than others? Is payment instrument use strongly tied to standard demand theoxy influences (such as relative prices and income) or do institutional, habit, and simple payment availability differences across countries dominate? What has been the pattern of payment instrument use over time and how similar has this been across countries? Finally, how large are the payment substitution relationships and what does this imply for the future use of different payment instruments, espe- cially between paper and electronic payments?