IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/manchs/v76y2008is1p37-57.html

On Network Competition And The Solow Paradox: Evidence From Us Banks

Author

Listed:
  • SUSHANTA K. MALLICK
  • SHIRLEY J. HO

Abstract

In this paper we develop a model to examine the effect of information technology (IT) in the banking industry. IT can reduce operational cost and create network externality. Empirical studies, however, have shown inconsistency, the so‐called Solow paradox, which we explain by stressing the heterogeneity in banking services. In a differentiated model, we characterize the conditions to identify these two effects and explain how the two seemingly positive effects turn negative. Using a panel data set of 68 US banks over 1986–2005, our results show that the profitability effect of IT spending is negative, reflecting a negative network competition effect in the banking industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Sushanta K. Mallick & Shirley J. Ho, 2008. "On Network Competition And The Solow Paradox: Evidence From Us Banks," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 76(s1), pages 37-57, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:76:y:2008:i:s1:p:37-57
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9957.2008.01080.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.2008.01080.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9957.2008.01080.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joseph Farrell & Garth Saloner, 1985. "Standardization, Compatibility, and Innovation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(1), pages 70-83, Spring.
    2. Jean-Jacques Laffont & Patrick Rey & Jean Tirole, 1998. "Network Competition: I. Overview and Nondiscriminatory Pricing," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(1), pages 1-37, Spring.
    3. Stephen D. Oliner & Daniel E. Sichel, 2000. "The Resurgence of Growth in the Late 1990s: Is Information Technology the Story?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 3-22, Fall.
    4. Milne, Alistair, 2006. "What is in it for us? Network effects and bank payment innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1613-1630, June.
    5. Economides, Nicholas & Salop, Steven C, 1992. "Competition and Integration among Complements, and Network Market Structure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 105-123, March.
    6. Beccalli, Elena, 2007. "Does IT investment improve bank performance? Evidence from Europe," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 2205-2230, July.
    7. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2000. "Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 23-48, Fall.
    8. Garth Saloner & Andrea Shepard, 1995. "Adoption of Technologies with Network Effects: An Empirical Examination of the Adoption of Teller Machines," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 26(3), pages 479-501, Autumn.
    9. Franklin Allen & Douglas Gale, 2004. "Financial Intermediaries and Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(4), pages 1023-1061, July.
    10. Jeffrey Rohlfs, 1974. "A Theory of Interdependent Demand for a Communications Service," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 5(1), pages 16-37, Spring.
    11. Randolph B. Cooper & Robert W. Zmud, 1990. "Information Technology Implementation Research: A Technological Diffusion Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(2), pages 123-139, February.
    12. Katz, Michael L & Shapiro, Carl, 1985. "Network Externalities, Competition, and Compatibility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 424-440, June.
    13. Berger, Allen N, 2003. "The Economic Effects of Technological Progress: Evidence from the Banking Industry," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(2), pages 141-176, April.
    14. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin Hitt, 1996. "Paradox Lost? Firm-Level Evidence on the Returns to Information Systems Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(4), pages 541-558, April.
    15. Robert J. Gordon, 2002. "Technology and Economic Performance in the American Economy," NBER Working Papers 8771, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Robert Mcguckin & Mary Streitwieser & Mark Doms, 1998. "The Effect Of Technology Use On Productivity Growth," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26.
    17. Stephen D. Oliner & Daniel E. Sichel, 2000. "The resurgence of growth in the late 1990s: is information technology the story?," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    18. Kevin M Stolarick, 1999. "Are Some Firms Better at IT? Differing Relationships between Productivity and IT Spending," Working Papers 99-13, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Capuano, Stella & Hauptmann, Andreas & Schmerer, Hans-Jörg, 2020. "Trade and unions: Does size matter?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 66-75.
    2. Zhang, Dongyang & Guo, Yumei, 2019. "Financing R&D in Chinese private firms: Business associations or political connection?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 247-261.
    3. Zhang, Hongsheng & Wei, Yueling & Ma, Shuzhong, 2021. "Overcoming the “Solow paradox”: Tariff reduction and productivity growth of Chinese ICT firms," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Banerjee, Rajabrata & Gupta, Kartick, 2019. "The effect of environmentally sustainable practices on firm R&D: International evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 262-274.
    5. Giordano, Claire & Marinucci, Marco & Silvestrini, Andrea, 2019. "The macro determinants of firms' and households' investment: Evidence from Italy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 118-133.
    6. Lankisch, Clemens & Prettner, Klaus & Prskawetz, Alexia, 2019. "How can robots affect wage inequality?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 161-169.
    7. Jiaqi Liu & Yiyang Cheng & Yamei Fu & Fei Xue, 2024. "The Impact of Digital Economy on TFP of Industries: Empirical Analysis Based on the Extension of Schumpeterian Model to Complex Economic Systems," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-24, August.
    8. Navendu Prakash & Shveta Singh & Seema Sharma, 2025. "Technological Diffusion, Bank Performance, and Solow’s Paradox: Insights from an Emerging Economy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(3), pages 11800-11835, September.
    9. Chang-Sheng Liao, 2023. "How does fintech affect bank efficiency in Taiwan?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(8), pages 1-20, August.
    10. Prakash, Navendu & Singh, Shveta & Sharma, Seema, 2025. "Technological catch-up, nonmonotonicity, and convergence: Parametric evidence from the BRICS and European banking systems," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    11. Prakash, Navendu & Singh, Shveta & Sharma, Seema, 2021. "Technological diffusion, banking efficiency and Solow's paradox: A frontier-based parametric and non-parametric analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 534-551.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. S J Ho & S K Mallick, 2010. "The impact of information technology on the banking industry," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(2), pages 211-221, February.
    2. Gangopadhyay, Partha & Jain, Siddharth & Bakry, Walid, 2022. "In search of a rational foundation for the massive IT boom in the Australian banking industry: Can the IT boom really drive relationship banking?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Scott, Susan V. & Van Reenen, John & Zachariadis, Markos, 2017. "The long-term effect of digital innovation on bank performance: An empirical study of SWIFT adoption in financial services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 984-1004.
    4. Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu & Rosmaini Bin HJ Tasmin, 2012. "The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Banks‟ Performance and Customer Service Delivery in the Banking Industry," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 2(1), pages 1-80.
    5. Del Gaudio, Belinda L. & Porzio, Claudio & Sampagnaro, Gabriele & Verdoliva, Vincenzo, 2021. "How do mobile, internet and ICT diffusion affect the banking industry? An empirical analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 327-332.
    6. Chou, Yen-Chun & Hao-Chun Chuang, Howard & Shao, Benjamin B.M., 2014. "The impacts of information technology on total factor productivity: A look at externalities and innovations," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 290-299.
    7. Federico Biagi, 2013. "ICT and Productivity: A Review of the Literature," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2013-09, Joint Research Centre.
    8. Concetta Castiglione, 2012. "Technical efficiency and ICT investment in Italian manufacturing firms," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(14), pages 1749-1763, May.
    9. Daniel Björkegren, 2017. "Scoping for: Competition in Network Industries: Evidence from Mobile Telecommunications in Rwanda," Working Papers 17-10, NET Institute.
    10. Fareeha Khalil & Muhammad Farhan, 2013. "Slow Infusion of Information Technology in Master Bank of Pakistan – A Case Study," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 5(1), pages 37-57.
    11. Clarke, George R.G., 2008. "Has the internet increased exports for firms from low and middle-income countries," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 16-37, March.
    12. Kiley, Michael T., 2001. "Computers and growth with frictions: aggregate and disaggregate evidence," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 171-215, December.
    13. Rajiv Kohli & Sarv Devaraj, 2003. "Measuring Information Technology Payoff: A Meta-Analysis of Structural Variables in Firm-Level Empirical Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 127-145, June.
    14. J. Bradford DeLong, 2002. "Do We Have a "New" Macroeconomy?," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 2, pages 163-184, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Sadaf Bashir & Bert Sadowski, 2014. "General Purpose Technologies: A Survey, a Critique and Future Research Directions," Working Papers 14-02, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Feb 2014.
    16. Ajoy Ketan Sarangi & Rudra Prakash Pradhan, 2020. "ICT infrastructure and economic growth: a critical assessment and some policy implications," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 47(4), pages 363-383, December.
    17. Stephen D. Oliner & Daniel E. Sichel, 2005. "Les technologies de l’information et la productivité : situation actuelle et perspectives d’avenir," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 81(1), pages 339-400.
    18. Liao, Hailin & Wang, Bin & Li, Baibing & Weyman-Jones, Tom, 2016. "ICT as a general-purpose technology: The productivity of ICT in the United States revisited," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 10-25.
    19. Gilbert Cette & Christian Pfister, 2004. "Challenges of the “New Economy” for Monetary Policy," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 8, pages 27-36, Spring.
    20. Guido Schryen, 2010. "Preserving Knowledge on IS Business Value," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 2(4), pages 233-244, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:76:y:2008:i:s1:p:37-57. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/semanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.