Indirect Value of Public Infrastructure Technology

Jialu Liu (), Siqi Pei () and Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang ()
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Jialu Liu: Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
Siqi Pei: College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China
Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang: Department of Decisions, Operations and Technology, CUHK Business School, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Management Science, 2025, vol. 71, issue 8, 6457-6474

Abstract: Although prior research has primarily focused on the direct value of information technology (IT) and IT adoption by individuals and firms, this study explores the indirect value of IT in the form of public infrastructure technology. By exploiting a spatial discontinuity in water monitoring stations, we discover that firms located immediately upstream of water monitoring stations exhibit significantly lower levels of corruption than firms located immediately downstream. These findings are particularly noteworthy given that water monitoring stations have the potential to generate significant indirect value as they are not explicitly designed to mitigate corruption. Further analyses reveal that public infrastructure technology alone does not hold the key to mitigating corporate corruption. Instead, it is the synergistic interplay between public infrastructure technology and organizational change that drives the outcome. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the broader IT value landscape, emphasizing the indirect value of technological advancements in public infrastructure that were not originally intended for such benefit. Additionally, our findings highlight the benefits of leveraging existing infrastructure technology to address emerging societal needs.

Keywords: corruption; public infrastructure technology; IT value; organizational change; technology complementarity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:71:y:2025:i:8:p:6457-6474

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