TY - JOUR
T1 - Broadband upgrade and firm performance in rural areas
T2 - Quasi-experimental evidence
AU - Canzian, Giulia
AU - Poy, Samuele
AU - Schüller, Simone
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/7
Y1 - 2019/7
N2 - This paper analyzes the impact of advanced (up to 20 Mbps download, up to 1 Mbps upload) broadband accessibility on firm performance by exploiting a unique local policy of a staggered broadband infrastructure upgrade across rural municipalities. In a difference-in-differences framework based on longitudinal balance sheet data for limited companies, we show that ADSL2+ availability is associated with increases in firms’ revenue and total factor productivity (by on average 14.8 and 9.1 percent cumulatively over two years), but not with significant changes in personnel cost or employment. Additional analysis of aggregate administrative data shows no significant impact on the total number of active firms or local employment. Pre-trend evaluations support a causal interpretation.
AB - This paper analyzes the impact of advanced (up to 20 Mbps download, up to 1 Mbps upload) broadband accessibility on firm performance by exploiting a unique local policy of a staggered broadband infrastructure upgrade across rural municipalities. In a difference-in-differences framework based on longitudinal balance sheet data for limited companies, we show that ADSL2+ availability is associated with increases in firms’ revenue and total factor productivity (by on average 14.8 and 9.1 percent cumulatively over two years), but not with significant changes in personnel cost or employment. Additional analysis of aggregate administrative data shows no significant impact on the total number of active firms or local employment. Pre-trend evaluations support a causal interpretation.
KW - Broadband Internet
KW - Firm performance
KW - Infrastructure policy
KW - Quasi-natural experiment
KW - Regional economic development
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85063955678
U2 - 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2019.03.002
DO - 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2019.03.002
M3 - Article
SN - 0166-0462
VL - 77
SP - 87
EP - 103
JO - Regional Science and Urban Economics
JF - Regional Science and Urban Economics
ER -
