[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_8067.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tech in Fin before FinTech: Blessing or Curse for Financial Stability?

Author

Listed:
  • Nicola Pierri
  • Yannick Timmer
Abstract
Motivated by the world-wide surge of FinTech lending, we analyze the implications of lenders’ information technology adoption for financial stability. We estimate bank-level intensity of IT adoption before the global financial crisis using a novel dataset that provides information on hardware used in US commercial bank branches after mapping them to their parent bank. We find that higher intensity of IT-adoption led to significantly lower non-performing loans when the crisis hit: banks with a one standard deviation higher IT-adoption experienced 10% lower non-performing loans. High-IT-adoption banks were not less exposed to the crisis through their geographical footprint, business model, funding sources, or other observable characteristics. Loan-level analysis indicates that high-IT-adoption banks originated mortgages with better performance and did not offload low-quality loans. We apply a simple text-analysis algorithm to the biographies of top executives and find that banks led by more “tech-oriented” managers adopted IT more intensively and experienced lower non-performing loans during the crisis. Our results suggest that technology adoption in lending can enhance financial stability through the production of more resilient loans.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicola Pierri & Yannick Timmer, 2020. "Tech in Fin before FinTech: Blessing or Curse for Financial Stability?," CESifo Working Paper Series 8067, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp8067.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans Degryse & Steven Ongena, 2005. "Distance, Lending Relationships, and Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 231-266, February.
    2. Anders Akerman & Ingvil Gaarder & Magne Mogstad, 2015. "The Skill Complementarity of Broadband Internet," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1781-1824.
    3. Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff, 2009. "Varieties of Crises and Their Dates," Introductory Chapters, in: This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, Princeton University Press.
    4. Nicholas Bloom & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2012. "Americans Do IT Better: US Multinationals and the Productivity Miracle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 167-201, February.
    5. Ricardo J. Caballero & Takeo Hoshi & Anil K. Kashyap, 2008. "Zombie Lending and Depressed Restructuring in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1943-1977, December.
    6. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2005. "Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables: Assessing the Effectiveness of Catholic Schools," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 151-184, February.
    7. Joseph P. Hughes & Julapa Jagtiani & Choon-Geol Moon, 2022. "Consumer lending efficiency: commercial banks versus a fintech lender," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-39, December.
    8. David Atkin & Azam Chaudhry & Shamyla Chaudry & Amit K. Khandelwal & Eric Verhoogen, 2017. "Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(3), pages 1101-1164.
    9. Nicholas Bloom & Benn Eifert & Aprajit Mahajan & David McKenzie & John Roberts, 2013. "Does Management Matter? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(1), pages 1-51.
    10. Christoph Basten & Steven Ongena, 2019. "The Geography of Mortgage Lending in Times of FinTech," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 19-39, Swiss Finance Institute.
    11. Bai, Jennie & Philippon, Thomas & Savov, Alexi, 2016. "Have financial markets become more informative?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 625-654.
    12. Keys, Benjamin J. & Mukherjee, Tanmoy & Seru, Amit & Vig, Vikrant, 2009. "Financial regulation and securitization: Evidence from subprime loans," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 700-720, July.
    13. Romain Duval & Gee Hee Hong & Yannick Timmer & Philip Strahan, 2020. "Financial Frictions and the Great Productivity Slowdown," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 475-503.
    14. Andreas Fuster & Matthew Plosser & Philipp Schnabl & James Vickery, 2019. "The Role of Technology in Mortgage Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(5), pages 1854-1899.
    15. Beverly Hirtle & Anna Kovner & Matthew Plosser, 2020. "The Impact of Supervision on Bank Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(5), pages 2765-2808, October.
    16. Beccalli, Elena, 2007. "Does IT investment improve bank performance? Evidence from Europe," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 2205-2230, July.
    17. Reinhart, Karmen & Rogoff, Kenneth, 2009. ""This time is different": panorama of eight centuries of financial crises," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 77-114, March.
    18. Francesco Manaresi & Mr. Nicola Pierri, 2019. "Credit Supply and Productivity Growth," IMF Working Papers 2019/107, International Monetary Fund.
    19. Eric S. Rosengren & Joe Peek, 2000. "Collateral Damage: Effects of the Japanese Bank Crisis on Real Activity in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 30-45, March.
    20. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    21. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov.
    22. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2002. "Information Technology, Workplace Organization, and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376.
    23. Buchak, Greg & Matvos, Gregor & Piskorski, Tomasz & Seru, Amit, 2018. "Fintech, regulatory arbitrage, and the rise of shadow banks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 453-483.
    24. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Detragiache, Enrica, 2002. "Does deposit insurance increase banking system stability? An empirical investigation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(7), pages 1373-1406, October.
    25. Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff, 2014. "This Time is Different: A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of Financial Crises," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 15(2), pages 215-268, November.
    26. Katia Berti & Benat Bilbao-Osorio & Gaetano D’Adamo & Christian Engelen & Christoph Maier & Diana Ognyanova & Anna Thum-Thysen & Borek Vasicek & Peter Voigt, . "Quarterly Report on the Euro Area (QREA), Vol.16, No.1 (2017)," Quarterly Report on the Euro Area (QREA), Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    27. Koetter, Michael & Noth, Felix, 2013. "IT use, productivity, and market power in banking," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 695-704.
    28. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    29. Amy Finkelstein & Matthew Gentzkow & Heidi Williams, 2021. "Place-Based Drivers of Mortality: Evidence from Migration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(8), pages 2697-2735, August.
    30. Nicholas Bloom & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lucia Foster & Ron Jarmin & Megha Patnaik & Itay Saporta-Eksten & John Van Reenen, 2019. "What Drives Differences in Management Practices?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1648-1683, May.
    31. Atif Mian & Amir Sufi, 2009. "The Consequences of Mortgage Credit Expansion: Evidence from the U.S. Mortgage Default Crisis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1449-1496.
    32. Benjamin J. Keys & Amit Seru & Vikrant Vig, 2012. "Lender Screening and the Role of Securitization: Evidence from Prime and Subprime Mortgage Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(7), pages 2071-2108.
    33. Stijn Claessens & Jon Frost & Grant Turner & Feng Zhu, 2018. "Fintech credit markets around the world: size, drivers and policy issues," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, September.
    34. Acharya, Viral V. & Schnabl, Philipp & Suarez, Gustavo, 2013. "Securitization without risk transfer," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 515-536.
    35. Thomas Philippon, 2019. "On Fintech and Financial Inclusion," NBER Working Papers 26330, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. 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.
    37. Chris Forman & Avi Goldfarb & Shane Greenstein, 2012. "The Internet and Local Wages: A Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 556-575, February.
    38. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2003. "Computing Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 793-808, November.
    39. Manuel Adelino & Antoinette Schoar & Felipe Severino, 2016. "Editor's Choice Loan Originations and Defaults in the Mortgage Crisis: The Role of the Middle Class," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(7), pages 1635-1670.
    40. Tobias Berg, 2015. "Playing the Devil's Advocate: The Causal Effect of Risk Management on Loan Quality," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(12), pages 3367-3406.
    41. Francesco D'Acunto & Alberto G. Rossi & Michael Weber & Michael Weber, 2019. "Crowdsourcing financial information to change spending behavior," CESifo Working Paper Series 7533, CESifo.
    42. Raghuram G. Rajan, 2006. "Has Finance Made the World Riskier?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(4), pages 499-533, September.
    43. Julapa Jagtiani & Catharine Lemieux, 2017. "Fintech Lending: Financial Inclusion, Risk Pricing, and Alternative Information," Working Papers 17-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    44. Paul Beaudry & Mark Doms & Ethan Lewis, 2010. "Should the Personal Computer Be Considered a Technological Revolution? Evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Areas," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(5), pages 988-1036.
    45. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1994. "The Benefits of Lending Relationships: Evidence from Small Business Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-37, March.
    46. Uday Rajan & Amit Seru & Vikrant Vig, 2010. "Statistical Default Models and Incentives," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 506-510, May.
    47. José María Liberti & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2018. "Information: Hard and Soft," NBER Working Papers 25075, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Oikonomou, Myrto & Pierri, Nicola & Timmer, Yannick, 2023. "IT shields: Technology adoption and economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Carletti, Elena & Claessens, Stijn & Fatás, Antonio & Vives, Xavier (ed.), 2020. "Barcelona Report 2 - The Bank Business Model in the Post-Covid-19 World," Vox eBooks, Centre for Economic Policy Research, number p329.
    3. Capucine Riom & Anna Valero, 2020. "The business response to Covid-19: the CEP-CBI survey on technology adoption," CEP Covid-19 Analyses cepcovid-19-009, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Laeven, Luc & Boot, Arnoud & Hoffmann, Peter & Ratnovski, Lev, 2020. "Financial Intermediation and Technology: What’s Old, What’s New?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15004, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Yang, Fan & Masron, Tajul Ariffin, 2024. "Role of financial inclusion and digital transformation on bank credit risk," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Syed Aamir Aijaz & Grima Simon & Sood Kiran, 2024. "Assessing the Role of the Fintech Era on the Banking Stability of an Emerging Economy: Interaction Analysis of the Indian Banking Industry," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 24(1), pages 182-202.
    7. Ozili, Peterson K, 2021. "Bank non-performing loans in the Fintech era," MPRA Paper 113467, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Boot, Arnoud & Hoffmann, Peter & Laeven, Luc & Ratnovski, Lev, 2020. "Financial intermediation and technology: What’s old, what’s new?," Working Paper Series 2438, European Central Bank.
    9. Dadoukis, Aristeidis & Fiaschetti, Maurizio & Fusi, Giulia, 2021. "IT adoption and bank performance during the Covid-19 pandemic," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    10. Boot, Arnoud & Hoffmann, Peter & Laeven, Luc & Ratnovski, Lev, 2021. "Fintech: what’s old, what’s new?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    11. Zhou, Zheng & Chau, Ka Yin & Sibghatullah, Amena & Moslehpour, Massoud & Tien, Nguyen Hoang & Nizomjon Shukurullaevich, Khajimuratov, 2024. "The role of green finance, environmental benefits, fintech development, and natural resource management in advancing sustainability," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Cheng, Aijun, 2023. "Evaluating Fintech industry's risks: A preliminary analysis based on CRISP-DM framework," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    13. repec:ecb:ecbdps:202010 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Chernoff, Alan & Jagtiani, Julapa, 2024. "The role of bank–FinTech partnerships in creating a more inclusive banking system," Journal of Digital Banking, Henry Stewart Publications, vol. 8(4), pages 330-354, March.
    15. Liurui Deng & Yongbin Lv & Ye Liu & Yiwen Zhao, 2021. "Impact of Fintech on Bank Risk-Taking: Evidence from China," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-27, May.
    16. Kyung Yoon Kwon & Philip Molyneux & Livia Pancotto & Alessio Reghezza, 2024. "Banks and FinTech Acquisitions," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 41-75, February.

    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. Pierri, Nicola & Timmer, Yannick, 2022. "The importance of technology in banking during a crisis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 88-104.
    2. Jonas Hjort & Jonas Poulsen, 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1032-1079, March.
    3. Boot, Arnoud & Hoffmann, Peter & Laeven, Luc & Ratnovski, Lev, 2021. "Fintech: what’s old, what’s new?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    4. Laeven, Luc & Boot, Arnoud & Hoffmann, Peter & Ratnovski, Lev, 2020. "Financial Intermediation and Technology: What’s Old, What’s New?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15004, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Mr. Arnoud W.A. Boot & Peter Hoffmann & Mr. Luc Laeven & Mr. Lev Ratnovski, 2020. "Financial Intermediation and Technology: What’s Old, What’s New?," IMF Working Papers 2020/161, International Monetary Fund.
    6. repec:ecb:ecbdps:202010 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Barth, Erling & Davis, James C. & Freeman, Richard B. & McElheran, Kristina, 2023. "Twisting the demand curve: Digitalization and the older workforce," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 443-467.
    8. Anders Akerman & Ingvil Gaarder & Magne Mogstad, 2015. "The Skill Complementarity of Broadband Internet," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1781-1824.
    9. Iacovone, Leonardo & Pereira-López, Mariana & Schiffbauer, Marc, 2023. "Competition makes IT better: Evidence on when firms use IT more effectively," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    10. Jamus Jerome Lim & Terence Tan, 2016. "Endogenous transactions costs and institutions in the 2007/08 financial crisis," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 56-85, February.
    11. Francesco Manaresi & Nicola Pierri, 2018. "Credit supply and productivity growth," BIS Working Papers 711, Bank for International Settlements.
    12. Francesco Manaresi & Mr. Nicola Pierri, 2019. "Credit Supply and Productivity Growth," IMF Working Papers 2019/107, International Monetary Fund.
    13. José María Liberti & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2018. "Information: Hard and Soft," NBER Working Papers 25075, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Oikonomou, Myrto & Pierri, Nicola & Timmer, Yannick, 2023. "IT shields: Technology adoption and economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Francesco Manaresi & Nicola Pierri, 2018. "Credit supply and productivity growth," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1168, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    16. Gabriel Jiménez & Steven Ongena & José‐Luis Peydró & Jesús Saurina, 2014. "Hazardous Times for Monetary Policy: What Do Twenty‐Three Million Bank Loans Say About the Effects of Monetary Policy on Credit Risk‐Taking?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(2), pages 463-505, March.
    17. Committee, Nobel Prize, 2022. "Financial Intermediation and the Economy," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2022-2, Nobel Prize Committee.
    18. Yiping Huang & Xiang Li & Han Qiu & Changhua Yu, 2023. "Big tech credit and monetary policy transmission: micro-level evidence from China," BIS Working Papers 1084, Bank for International Settlements.
    19. José María Liberti & Mitchell A Petersen, 2019. "Information: Hard and Soft," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 8(1), pages 1-41.
    20. Huang, Yiping & Li, Xiang & Qiu, Han & Su, Dan & Yu, Changhua, 2024. "Bigtech credit, small business, and monetary policy transmission: Theory and evidence," IWH Discussion Papers 18/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2024.
    21. Nicholas Bloom & Luis Garicano & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2014. "The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(12), pages 2859-2885, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    technology; financial stability; IT adoption; non-performing loans;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ces:ceswps:_8067. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.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.