Impact of Information Technologies’ Investments on the Profitability of Tunisian Banks: Panel Data Analysis

This study examines the relationship between Information Technology investment and the profitability of Tunisian banks, via static and dynamic panel regression models. Our study focused on 15 Tunisian banks for 19 years (2001-2019). To assess the profitability of these banks, three measures were used: two traditional accounting ratios and net interest margin. Our research has shown the importance of the role played by IT in Tunisian banks since IT investments improve their profitability. This finding contradicts the “Productivity Paradox” that high IT investments are not associated with better performance. Indeed, Tunisian banks are acting on their size to boost their performance, and the more the banks take the risk by granting more loans, the more profitable they are by increasing their Return on Assets. Finally, public banks are more profitable than private banks when considering their net interest margin. JEL Classification Codes: B21, C58, G21, G32, O32.