IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/chinae/v30y2022i3p100-134.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Fast Internet on Employment: Evidence from a Large Broadband Expansion Program in China

Author

Listed:
  • Qing Wang
  • Wenjing Xu
  • Yanghua Huang
  • Jidong Yang

Abstract

Information and communication technology plays an important role in human life and social production. The existing literature has mainly studied the economic impact of such technology in developed countries; the use of broadband in developing countries has been overlooked. This paper fills the gap by examining a broadband development program in China. Difference‐in‐difference estimates show that the deployment of high‐quality broadband promoted regional employment in the skilled service sector. The effect was larger in cities with a greater number of educated residents and cities in the west of China. We also found that broadband development stimulated firm creation and innovation. These findings imply that broadband promotes innovation and provides new impetus to the economic transition of emerging markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Qing Wang & Wenjing Xu & Yanghua Huang & Jidong Yang, 2022. "The Effect of Fast Internet on Employment: Evidence from a Large Broadband Expansion Program in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(3), pages 100-134, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:30:y:2022:i:3:p:100-134
    DOI: 10.1111/cwe.12420
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12420
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/cwe.12420?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anders Akerman & Ingvil Gaarder & Magne Mogstad, 2015. "The Skill Complementarity of Broadband Internet," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1781-1824.
    2. Shiyi Chen & Wanlin Liu & Hong Song, 2020. "Broadband Internet, Firm Performance, And Worker Welfare: Evidence And Mechanism," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(3), pages 1146-1166, July.
    3. Olena Ivus & Matthew Boland, 2015. "The employment and wage impact of broadband deployment in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(5), pages 1803-1830, December.
    4. Hans K. Hvide & Benjamin F. Jones, 2018. "University Innovation and the Professor's Privilege," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1860-1898, July.
    5. Beard, T. Randolph & Ford, George S. & Saba, Richard P. & Seals, Richard A., 2012. "Internet use and job search," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 260-273.
    6. Peter Kuhn & Hani Mansour, 2014. "Is Internet Job Search Still Ineffective?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(581), pages 1213-1233, December.
    7. Andrea Weber & Helmut Mahringer, 2008. "Choice and success of job search methods," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 153-178, August.
    8. Liao, Hailin & Wang, Bin & Li, Baibing & Weyman-Jones, Tom, 2016. "ICT as a general-purpose technology: The productivity of ICT in the United States revisited," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 10-25.
    9. Robert W. Fairlie, 2006. "The Personal Computer and Entrepreneurship," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 187-203, February.
    10. Victor Couture & Benjamin Faber & Yizhen Gu & Lizhi Liu, 2021. "Connecting the Countryside via E-Commerce: Evidence from China," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 35-50, March.
    11. Victor Couture & Benjamin Faber & Yizhen Gu, 2018. "E-Commerce Integration and Economic Development: Evidence from China," 2018 Meeting Papers 114, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    12. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2188-2244.
    13. Xun Zhang & Ying Tan & Zonghui Hu & Chen Wang & Guanghua Wan, 2020. "The Trickle‐down Effect of Fintech Development: From the Perspective of Urbanization," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 28(1), pages 23-40, January.
    14. Robert Jensen, 2007. "The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 879-924.
    15. Koellinger, Ph.D., 2008. "The Relationship between Technology, Innovation, and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence on E-Business in Europe," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2008-031-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    16. William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2014. "Risk Sharing and Transactions Costs: Evidence from Kenya's Mobile Money Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 183-223, January.
    17. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    18. Jonas Hjort & Jonas Poulsen, 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1032-1079, March.
    19. David H. Autor, 2001. "Wiring the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 25-40, Winter.
    20. Koellinger, Philipp, 2008. "The relationship between technology, innovation, and firm performance--Empirical evidence from e-business in Europe," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1317-1328, September.
    21. Chris Forman & Avi Goldfarb & Shane Greenstein, 2012. "The Internet and Local Wages: A Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 556-575, February.
    22. Xue Wang, 2020. "Mobile Payment and Informal Business: Evidence from China's Household Panel Data," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 28(3), pages 90-115, May.
    23. Simon Commander & Rupert Harrison & Naercio Menezes-Filho, 2011. "ICT and Productivity in Developing Countries: New Firm-Level Evidence from Brazil and India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 528-541, May.
    24. Biagi, Federico & Falk, Martin, 2017. "The impact of ICT and e-commerce on employment in Europe," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 1-18.
    25. Shahiduzzaman, Md. & Alam, Khorshed, 2014. "Information technology and its changing roles to economic growth and productivity in Australia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 125-135.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiumei Wang & Yongjian Huang & Yingying Zhao & Jingxuan Feng, 2023. "Digital Revolution and Employment Choice of Rural Labor Force: Evidence from the Perspective of Digital Skills," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Danyang Li & Daizo Kojima & Laping Wu & Mitsuyoshi Ando, 2024. "Impact of rural households' digital ability on their production efficiency in China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 139-160, January.
    3. Danyang Li & Daizo Kojima & Laping Wu & Mitsuyoshi Ando, 2023. "Digital Ability and Livelihood Diversification in Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-14, August.
    4. Yanlin Sun & Shaoxiong Ma & Hao Feng, 2023. "The New Geography of Manufacturing in China: The Internet and Manufacturing Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu, Binbin, 2022. "The Impact of the Internet on Industrial Green Productivity: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    2. Bastian Stockinger, 2019. "Broadband internet availability and establishments’ employment growth in Germany: evidence from instrumental variables estimations," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 53(1), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Shiyi Chen & Wanlin Liu & Hong Song & Qing Zhang, 2024. "Government‐led e‐commerce expansion project and rural household income: Evidence and mechanisms," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(1), pages 150-174, January.
    4. Ndubuisi, Gideon & Otioma, Chuks & Tetteh, Godsway Korku, 2021. "Digital infrastructure and employment in services: Evidence from Sub-Saharan African countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8).
    5. Niu, Meng & Wang, Zhenguo & Zhang, Yabin, 2022. "How information and communication technology drives (routine and non-routine) jobs: Structural path and decomposition analysis for China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    6. Qing Wang & Xingyu Xia & Sai Lan & Miao Li, 2023. "Rural digital infrastructure and labor market: Evidence from universal telecommunication service," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 37(3), pages 293-325, September.
    7. Jin, Xin & Ma, Baojie & Zhang, Haifeng, 2023. "Impact of fast internet access on employment: Evidence from a broadband expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Björn Döhring & Atanas Hristov & Christoph Maier & Werner Roeger & Anna Thum-Thysen, 2021. "COVID-19 acceleration in digitalisation, aggregate productivity growth and the functional income distribution," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 571-604, July.
    9. Bhuller, Manudeep & Kostøl, Andreas & Vigtel, Trond Christian, 2019. "How Broadband Internet Affects Labor Market Matching," Memorandum 10/2019, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    10. repec:oup:ajagec:v:99:y:2017:i:1:p:1-18. is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Shi, Zheng, 2023. "The impact of regional ICT development on job quality of the employee in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    12. Cirillo, Valeria & Evangelista, Rinaldo & Guarascio, Dario & Sostero, Matteo, 2021. "Digitalization, routineness and employment: An exploration on Italian task-based data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    13. Jonas Hjort & Jonas Poulsen, 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1032-1079, March.
    14. Anderton, Robert & Jarvis, Valerie & Labhard, Vincent & Morgan, Julian & Petroulakis, Filippos & Vivian, Lara, 2020. "Virtually everywhere? Digitalisation and the euro area and EU economies," Occasional Paper Series 244, European Central Bank.
    15. Hernan Galperin & M. Fernanda Viecens, 2017. "Connected for Development? Theory and evidence about the impact of Internet technologies on poverty alleviation," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(3), pages 315-336, May.
    16. Björkegren, Daniel & Karaca, Burak Ceyhun, 2022. "Network adoption subsidies: A digital evaluation of a rural mobile phone program in Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    17. Gürtzgen, Nicole & (né Nolte), André Diegmann & Pohlan, Laura & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2021. "Do digital information technologies help unemployed job seekers find a job? Evidence from the broadband internet expansion in Germany," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    18. Carballo, Jerónimo & Rodriguez Chatruc, Marisol & Salas Santa, Catalina & Volpe Martincus, Christian, 2022. "Online business platforms and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    19. Czernich, Nina, 2014. "Does broadband internet reduce the unemployment rate? Evidence for Germany," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 32-45.
    20. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Stocker, Volker, 2020. "Bedeutung digitaler Infrastrukturen und Dienste und Maßnahmen zur Förderung der Resilienz in Krisenzeiten," Policy Notes 42, EcoAustria – Institute for Economic Research.
    21. Lei-Ju Qiu & Shun-Bin Zhong & Bao-Wen Sun & Yu Song & Xiao-Hua Chen, 2021. "Is internet penetration narrowing the rural–urban income inequality? A cross-regional study of China," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(5), pages 1795-1814, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:30:y:2022:i:3:p:100-134. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwepacn.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.