IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/inrsre/v45y2022i1p3-35.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Entrepreneurship, Broadband, and Gender: Evidence from Establishment Births in Rural America

Author

Listed:
  • Tessa Conroy
  • Sarah A. Low

Abstract

Broadband access may have important implications for establishment births in rural areas, which feature thinner markets. Broadband may be especially important for rural nonemployer businesses, particularly those without a storefront, for access to nontraditional market channels. As women are more likely to run these types of small businesses, we further expect that broadband may have important implications for women-led businesses. With an effective instrumental variable approach, we find evidence that broadband access is a key factor leading to a higher establishment birth rate across business size and gender in rural areas. This paper identifies the largest effects on nonemployer, women-led and remote rural establishments.

Suggested Citation

  • Tessa Conroy & Sarah A. Low, 2022. "Entrepreneurship, Broadband, and Gender: Evidence from Establishment Births in Rural America," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 45(1), pages 3-35, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:45:y:2022:i:1:p:3-35
    DOI: 10.1177/01600176211018749
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01600176211018749
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/01600176211018749?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. Daire McCoy & Sean Lyons & Edgar Morgenroth & Donal Palcic & Leonie Allen, 2018. "The impact of broadband and other infrastructure on the location of new business establishments," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 509-534, June.
    2. Barnes, James N. & Coatney, Kalyn, 2015. "Progress on Broadband Adoption in Rural America," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 1-6.
    3. David A. Matsa & Amalia R. Miller, 2014. "Workforce Reductions at Women-Owned Businesses in the United States," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 422-452, April.
    4. Paul Davidson Reynolds, 2007. "Entrepreneurship in The United States," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, Springer, number 978-0-387-45671-3, December.
    5. Rigobon, Roberto & Stoker, Thomas M., 2009. "Bias From Censored Regressors," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 27(3), pages 340-353.
    6. Robert Fairlie & Alicia Robb, 2009. "Gender differences in business performance: evidence from the Characteristics of Business Owners survey," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 375-395, December.
    7. Rupasingha, Anil & Goetz, Stephan J. & Freshwater, David, 2006. "The production of social capital in US counties," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-101, February.
    8. Ivan T. Kandilov & Mitch Renkow, 2010. "Infrastructure Investment and Rural Economic Development: An Evaluation of USDA's Broadband Loan Program," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 165-191, June.
    9. Sarah A. Low & Andrew M. Isserman, 2015. "Where Are the Innovative Entrepreneurs? Identifying Innovative Industries and Measuring Innovative Entrepreneurship," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 38(2), pages 171-201, April.
    10. Reynolds, Paul D., 2007. "New Firm Creation in the United States A PSED I Overview," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 3(1), pages 1-150, February.
    11. Kihlstrom, Richard E & Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 1979. "A General Equilibrium Entrepreneurial Theory of Firm Formation Based on Risk Aversion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(4), pages 719-748, August.
    12. Robert W. Fairlie, 2006. "The Personal Computer and Entrepreneurship," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 187-203, February.
    13. Amy M.G. Kandilov & Ivan T. Kandilov & Xiangping Liu & Mitch Renkow, 2017. "The Impact of Broadband on U.S. Agriculture: An Evaluation of the USDA Broadband Loan Program," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 39(4), pages 635-661.
    14. Elizabeth A. Mack & Luc Anselin & Tony H. Grubesic, 2011. "The importance of broadband provision to knowledge intensive firm location," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(1), pages 17-35, March.
    15. Edward L. Glaeser & Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and Urban Growth: An Empirical Assessment with Historical Mines," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(2), pages 498-520, May.
    16. Qingyi Chen & Ning Zhang, 2015. "Does E-Commerce Provide a Sustained Competitive Advantage? An Investigation of Survival and Sustainability in Growth-Oriented Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-18, January.
    17. repec:oup:ajagec:v:99:y:2017:i:1:p:1-18. is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Steven C. Deller & Tessa Conroy & Philip Watson, 2017. "Women business owners: a source of stability during the great recession?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(56), pages 5686-5697, December.
    19. Tessa Conroy & Stephan Weiler, 2015. "Where Are The Women Entrepreneurs? Business Ownership Growth By Gender Across The American Urban Landscape," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(4), pages 1872-1892, October.
    20. Tessa Conroy & Steven Deller & Matthew Kures, 2019. "Entrepreneurship in Rural Employment in the US," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Sophia M Davidova & Kenneth J Thomson & Ashok K Mishra (ed.), RURAL POLICIES AND EMPLOYMENT TransAtlantic Experiences, chapter 6, pages 93-108, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    21. Tokar, Travis & Jensen, Robert & Williams, Brent D., 2021. "A guide to the seen costs and unseen benefits of e-commerce," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 323-332.
    22. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    23. Rupasingha, Anil & Pender, John & Wiggins, Seth, 2018. "USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant Program and Its Effect on Business Survival and Growth," Economic Research Report 276236, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    24. John Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2013. "Who Creates Jobs? Small versus Large versus Young," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 347-361, May.
    25. Dawn Thilmany & Elizabeth Canales & Sarah A. Low & Kathryn Boys, 2021. "Local Food Supply Chain Dynamics and Resilience during COVID‐19," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 86-104, March.
    26. Tessa Conroy & Sarah A. Low & Stephan Weiler, 2017. "Fueling Job Engines: Impacts Of Small Business Loans On Establishment Births In Metropolitan And Nonmetro Counties," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(3), pages 578-595, July.
    27. Mark Drabenstott, 2006. "Rethinking federal policy for regional economic development," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 91(Q I), pages 115-142.
    28. Deller, Steven C. & Conroy, Tessa & Markeson, Bjorn, 2018. "Social capital, religion and small business activity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 365-381.
    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. Gary A. Wagner & Hyun Ji Lee, 2024. "Does broadband affect local economic outcomes less than we thought? Micro evidence from Louisiana," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(1), pages 68-93, January.
    2. Zimei Liu & Yezhi Ren & Yanlan Mei, 2022. "How Does Internet Use Promote Farmer Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Chen, Yulong & Ma, Liyuan & Orazem, Peter F., 2023. "The heterogeneous role of broadband access on establishment entry and exit by sector and urban and rural markets," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    4. Isley, Catherine & Low, Sarah A., 2022. "Broadband adoption and availability: Impacts on rural employment during COVID-19," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).

    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. Tessa Conroy & Sarah A. Low, 2022. "Opportunity, necessity, and no one in the middle: A closer look at small, rural, and female‐led entrepreneurship in the United States," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 162-196, March.
    2. Tessa Conroy & Steven Deller & Philip Watson, 2021. "Regional income inequality: a link to women-owned businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 189-207, January.
    3. Steven Deller & Brian Whitacre & Tessa Conroy, 2022. "Rural broadband speeds and business startup rates," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(3), pages 999-1025, May.
    4. Marco Caliendo & Frank M Fossen & Alexander S Kritikos, 2022. "Personality characteristics and the decision to hire [Do the unemployed become successful entrepreneurs?]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 31(3), pages 736-761.
    5. Daphne Chen & Shi Qi, 2016. "The Importance Of Legal Form Of Organization On Small Corporation External Financing," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1607-1620, July.
    6. Tessa Conroy & Philip Watson, 2023. "Overeducation, natural amenities, and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1111-1131, October.
    7. McCann, Brian T. & Folta, Timothy B., 2012. "Entrepreneurial entry thresholds," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 782-800.
    8. Geurts, Karen & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2016. "Firm creation and post-entry dynamics of de novo entrants," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 59-104.
    9. Deller, Steven C. & Conroy, Tessa & Markeson, Bjorn, 2018. "Social capital, religion and small business activity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 365-381.
    10. Pierre Azoulay & Benjamin F. Jones & J. Daniel Kim & Javier Miranda, 2020. "Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 65-82, March.
    11. Bernstein, Shai & Colonnelli, Emanuele & Malacrino, Davide & McQuade, Tim, 2022. "Who creates new firms when local opportunities arise?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 107-130.
    12. Caliendo, Marco & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2011. "Searching for the Entrepreneurial Personality: New Evidence and Avenues for Further Research," IZA Discussion Papers 5790, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Tessa Conroy & Sarah A. Low & Stephan Weiler, 2017. "Fueling Job Engines: Impacts Of Small Business Loans On Establishment Births In Metropolitan And Nonmetro Counties," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(3), pages 578-595, July.
    14. Lee, Jungho & Xu, Jianhuan, 2020. "Why do businesses grow faster in urban areas than in rural areas?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Alina Sorgner & Michael Fritsch & Alexander Kritikos, 2017. "Do entrepreneurs really earn less?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 251-272, August.
    16. Kerr, Sari Pekkala & Kerr, William R. & Nanda, Ramana, 2022. "House prices, home equity and entrepreneurship: Evidence from U.S. census micro data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 103-119.
    17. Pekkala Kerr, Sari & Kerr, William, 2020. "Immigrant entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the survey of business owners 2007 & 2012," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    18. Chloé Duvivier & Emma Cazou & Stéphanie Truchet‐Aznar & Cédric Brunelle & Jean Dubé, 2021. "When, where, and for what industries does broadband foster establishment births?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(6), pages 1377-1401, December.
    19. Denderski, Piotr & Sniekers, Florian, 2021. "Declining Search Frictions and Type-of-Employment Choice," Discussion Paper 2021-010, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    20. Tessa Conroy & Stephan Weiler, 2016. "Does gender matter for job creation? Business ownership and employment growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 397-419, August.

    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:sae:inrsre:v:45:y:2022:i:1:p:3-35. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.