Indirect Value of Public Infrastructure Technology

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. This paper was accepted by D. J. Wu, information systems. Funding: J. Liu acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72402127], Shanghai Pujiang Program [Grant 23PJC059] and the Chenguang Program of Shanghai Education Development Foundation and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission [Grant 23CGA10]. S. Pei acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72302139]. X. (M.) Zhang acknowledges financial support from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council [Grants GRF 14500521, GRF 14501320, GRF 165052947, and TRS:T31-604/18-N]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.01145 .