IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v53y2007i12p1829-1842.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating the Risk-Return Relationship of Information Technology Investment: Firm-Level Empirical Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Sanjeev Dewan

    (The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California 92697)

  • Charles Shi

    (The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California 92697)

  • Vijay Gurbaxani

    (The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California 92697)

Abstract

This paper develops empirical proxy measures of information technology (IT) risk and incorporates them into the usual empirical models for analyzing IT returns: production function and market value specifications. The results suggest that IT capital investments make a substantially larger contribution to overall firm risk than non-IT capital investments. Further, firms with higher IT risk have a higher marginal product of IT relative to firms with low IT risk. In the market value specification, the impact of IT risk is positive and significant, and inclusion of the IT risk term substantially reduces the coefficient on IT capital. We estimate that about 30% of the gross return on IT investment corresponds to the risk premium associated with IT risk. Taken together, our results show that IT risk provides part of the explanation for the unusually high valuations of IT capital investment in recent research.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanjeev Dewan & Charles Shi & Vijay Gurbaxani, 2007. "Investigating the Risk-Return Relationship of Information Technology Investment: Firm-Level Empirical Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(12), pages 1829-1842, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:53:y:2007:i:12:p:1829-1842
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1070.0739
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1070.0739
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.1070.0739?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. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:6:p:1935-1974 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kalle Lyytinen & Lars Mathiassen & Janne Ropponen, 1998. "Attention Shaping and Software Risk—A Categorical Analysis of Four Classical Risk Management Approaches," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 233-255, September.
    3. Robert G. Fichman, 2004. "Real Options and IT Platform Adoption: Implications for Theory and Practice," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 15(2), pages 132-154, June.
    4. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    5. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:1:p:285-311 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Michel Benaroch & Robert J. Kauffman, 1999. "A Case for Using Real Options Pricing Analysis to Evaluate Information Technology Project Investments," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 70-86, March.
    7. Robert McDonald & Daniel Siegel, 1986. "The Value of Waiting to Invest," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 707-727.
    8. Sanjeev Dewan & Fei Ren, 2007. "Risk and Return of Information Technology Initiatives: Evidence from Electronic Commerce Announcements," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 370-394, December.
    9. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    10. 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.
    11. Eduardo S. Schwartz & Carlos Zozaya-Gorostiza, 2003. "Investment Under Uncertainty in Information Technology: Acquisition and Development Projects," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(1), pages 57-70, January.
    12. Anandhi S. Bharadwaj & Sundar G. Bharadwaj & Benn R. Konsynski, 1999. "Information Technology Effects on Firm Performance as Measured by Tobin's q," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(7), pages 1008-1024, July.
    13. Sanjeev Dewan & Chung-ki Min, 1997. "The Substitution of Information Technology for Other Factors of Production: A Firm Level Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(12), pages 1660-1675, December.
    14. Re-Jin Guo & Baruch Lev & Charles Shi, 2006. "Explaining the Short- and Long-Term IPO Anomalies in the US by R&D," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3-4), pages 550-579.
    15. Sanjeev Dewan & Steven C. Michael & Chung-ki Min, 1998. "Firm Characteristics and Investments in Information Technology: Scale and Scope Effects," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 219-232, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Kobelsky, Kevin & Hunter, Starling & Richardson, Vernon J., 2008. "Information technology, contextual factors and the volatility of firm performance," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 154-174.
    2. Hans Ulrich Buhl & Björn Steven Häckel & Florian Probst & Josef Schosser, 2016. "On the Ex Ante Valuation of IT Service Investments," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 58(6), pages 415-432, December.
    3. Sanjeev Dewan & Fei Ren, 2011. "Information Technology and Firm Boundaries: Impact on Firm Risk and Return Performance," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 369-388, June.
    4. 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.
    5. Sinan Aral & Peter Weill, 2007. "IT Assets, Organizational Capabilities, and Firm Performance: How Resource Allocations and Organizational Differences Explain Performance Variation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(5), pages 763-780, October.
    6. Sunghun Chung & Animesh Animesh & Kunsoo Han & Alain Pinsonneault, 2019. "Software Patents and Firm Value: A Real Options Perspective on the Role of Innovation Orientation and Environmental Uncertainty," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 1073-1097, September.
    7. Rajiv D. Banker & Robert J. Kauffman, 2004. "50th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Research on Information Systems: A Fiftieth-Year Survey of the Literature in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 281-298, March.
    8. Kobelsky, Kevin W. & Robinson, Michael A., 2010. "The impact of outsourcing on information technology spending," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 105-119.
    9. Chen, Yueh H. & Lin, Winston T., 2009. "Analyzing the relationships between information technology, inputs substitution and national characteristics based on CES stochastic frontier production models," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 552-569, August.
    10. Lin, Winston T. & Chiang, Chung-Yean, 2011. "The impacts of country characteristics upon the value of information technology as measured by productive efficiency," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 13-33, July.
    11. Matthias Berger & Christian Matt & Jochen Gönsch & Thomas Hess, 2019. "Is the Time Ripe? How the Value of Waiting and Incentives Affect Users’ Switching Behaviors for Smart Home Devices," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 71(1), pages 91-123, February.
    12. Vincent J. Shea & Kevin E. Dow & Alain Yee-Loong Chong & Eric W. T. Ngai, 0. "An examination of the long-term business value of investments in information technology," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-15.
    13. Mohamad, Amri & Zainuddin, Yuserrie & Alam, Nafis & Kendall, Graham, 2017. "Does decentralized decision making increase company performance through its Information Technology infrastructure investment?," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-15.
    14. Marcel Philipp Müller & Sebastian Stöckl & Steffen Zimmermann & Bernd Heinrich, 2016. "Decision Support for IT Investment Projects," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 58(6), pages 381-396, December.
    15. Vincent J. Shea & Kevin E. Dow & Alain Yee-Loong Chong & Eric W. T. Ngai, 2019. "An examination of the long-term business value of investments in information technology," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 213-227, February.
    16. Fazlollahi, Ariyan & Franke, Ulrik, 2018. "Measuring the impact of enterprise integration on firm performance using data envelopment analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 119-129.
    17. Neeraj Mittal & Barrie R. Nault, 2009. "Research Note ---Investments in Information Technology: Indirect Effects and Information Technology Intensity," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 140-154, March.
    18. Stefan Schweikl & Robert Obermaier, 2020. "Lessons from three decades of IT productivity research: towards a better understanding of IT-induced productivity effects," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 70(4), pages 461-507, November.
    19. Kyungwon Kim & Jae Wook Song, 2018. "Managing Bubbles in the Korean Real Estate Market: A Real Options Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-25, August.
    20. Ling Xue & Gautam Ray & Xia Zhao, 2017. "Managerial Incentives and IT Strategic Posture," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 180-198, March.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:53:y:2007:i:12:p:1829-1842. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.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.