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The benefits of banks’ IT investments in times of trouble: evidence from loan loss accruals during the COVID-19 pandemic

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  • Moritz Sefried

    (University of Tübingen)

  • Jan Riepe

    (University of Tübingen)

Abstract

Motivated by diverging results from the literature, we investigate whether investments in information technology (IT) help banks to assess their loan portfolio. More specifically, we focus on the consequences of accumulated expenses for data processing on banks’ ability to estimate their loan loss accruals. We further test for differences when the banks’ borrowers get hit by the economic trouble from the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of US commercial banks before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, we find more precise estimates of loan loss accruals during these troublesome times in banks that accumulated higher data processing expenses. Surprisingly, we do not find significant differences in the precision of loan loss accruals by banks’ IT investments during normal times. Our findings contribute to consolidate previously diverging results by showing that IT investments help banks following a structural break, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Moritz Sefried & Jan Riepe, 2023. "The benefits of banks’ IT investments in times of trouble: evidence from loan loss accruals during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 149-171, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jbecon:v:93:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s11573-022-01100-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11573-022-01100-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Wolfgang Breuer & Jannis Bischof & Oliver Fabel & Christian Hofmann & Jochen Hundsdoerfer & Tim Weitzel, 2023. "Business economics in a pandemic world: how a virus changed our economic life," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 1-9, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bank accounting; Loan loss provisions; IT investments; COVID-19 pandemic;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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