The Impact of Information Technology Investment Announcements on the Market Value of the Japanese Regional Banks

Abstract The business conditions surrounding Japanese regional banks have deteriorated for decades amid continuing ultra-low interest rates. We examine stock price reactions of regional banks to information technology (IT) investment announcements and analyze the factors that affect market responses. We provide three main findings. First, regional banks’ stock prices as a whole do not respond significantly to IT investment announcements. Second, stock price responses to IT investment announcements are more positively correlated with the regional banks’ size and with the individual shareholders’ ratio. Third, regional banks’ stock prices respond more negatively when there's news regarding equity investments to FinTech companies.