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臺大管理論叢
第
27
卷第
2
期
51
5. Concluding Remarks
While numerous studies have examined the influence of IT expenditures on productivity
or other non-financial performance, little consistent evidence has been documented. Utilizing
annual data from U.S. banks during the 2001–2010 period, and applying the Ohlson model
(1995), we find that: (1) IT expenditures are significantly and positively related to market
values, suggesting that they are value relevant; (2) banks with a higher level of investment in
IT enjoy greater earnings’ multipliers, implying that IT intensity contributes to an enhanced
persistence of earnings. The empirical results, therefore, indicate that IT expenditures have a
non-trivial and critical role in the value creation of banks.
Our results make contributions to the academic research, investment decision-making,
and practical management. First, we address the puzzling failure of some prior studies to
arrive at positive benefits for IT expenditures (at least to some extent) by showing that such
spending is positively valued by the capital market. Second, investors should take into
account the degree of IT expenditures when evaluating banks’ performance and be more
aware of the associated long-term benefits. Eventually, although IT spending usually requires
a considerable budget, its contributions to more persistent earnings will eventually be
appreciated by investors. Therefore, as it is related to the banking industry, wherein long-
term competitiveness is especially emphasized, banks’ management should make consistent
and considerable IT investment in order to achieve sustainable success.