The data used in this research were provided by mutual banks mainly located in northeastern
Italy, which have outsourced their information technology processes to the Centro
Sistemi Direzionali (CSD). CSD provided a sample of 275 firms operating in north-eastern Italy,
with a turnover of more than 100 thousand euros. In particular, CSD provided the following
information: 1) monthly surveys from both the banks’ internal records and the Italian Credit
Registry2 related to the period between January 2009 and February 2011 for a total 26
observations per firm and 2) accrual-based information for the period of 2006-20083