IT has transformed the banking industry in recent years, it has become strategic and vital for business. Given this context, the following main objective was to analyze the impact of IT investments in operating income of these banks.The econometric model was based on a Cobb-Douglas production function with three variables, the operating income, IT investments and personnel expenses. Data were extracted from COSIF system, operated by Brazilian Central Bank, and the research covered the period from 1997 to 2008. After the specification of the model, four analysis were conducted on the impact of IT investments: cross section, longitudinal analysis (panel data), comparative analysis of IT investments by domestic and foreign banks, and analysis of the behavior of these investments within the framework of the millennium bug (Y2K) and the implementation of the Brazilian Payment System (SPB).
IT investment; operating income; Cobb-Douglas; cross section; panel data
