IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ecoarp/23.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Economic benefits of high-speed broadband network coverage and service adoption: Evidence from OECD member states

Author

Listed:
  • Briglauer, Wolfgang
  • Cambini, Carlo
  • Gugler, Klaus

Abstract

A broad-scale rollout and adoption of new high-speed broadband networks and services, respectively, is expected to generate innovative services for consumers and create a high potential for productivity increases and economic growth. However, there is no evidence available on the causal impact of both high-speed broadband coverage and adoption on economic outcomes, which we measure as gross domestic product (GDP). Moreover, no study has yet simultaneously considered the impact of both new wireline broadband based on fiber-optic technologies and new wireless (mobile) broadband based on 3G+/4G technologies. Distinguishing these effects is of crucial relevance for the efficient design of broadband policies. In order to provide reliable evidence on causal effects, we utilize comprehensive panel data for 32 OECD countries for the years 2002-2020 and panel fixed-effects estimators including instrumental variables estimation. Exclusionary restrictions follow from micro-funded determinants of network coverage and consumer adoption decisions. Our results show that both fixed and mobile broadband adoption exert a substantial and significant impact on GDP, while network deployment per se exhibits only minor multiplier-related effects on GDP per capita. Contemporaneous effects of a 1% increase in fixed broadband adoption impact GDP per capita growth in a range of 0.026% to 0.034%, while a 1% increase in mobile broadband adoption contributes between 0.079% and 0.088%. While the impact of contemporaneous mobile broadband adoption is substantially higher, fixed broadband adoption shows stronger dynamic and cumulative effects, as well as larger effects in later deployment periods. Generally, our results are consistent with the notion that the diffusion of technologies to substantial proportions of the population is most important in driving economic growth. Supporting policies should be technology neutral and should not neglect the demand side.

Suggested Citation

  • Briglauer, Wolfgang & Cambini, Carlo & Gugler, Klaus, 2023. "Economic benefits of high-speed broadband network coverage and service adoption: Evidence from OECD member states," Research Papers 23, EcoAustria – Institute for Economic Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ecoarp:23
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/279415/1/186569830X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lars-Hendrik Roller & Leonard Waverman, 2001. "Telecommunications Infrastructure and Economic Development: A Simultaneous Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 909-923, September.
    2. Greenstein, Shane & McDevitt, Ryan C., 2011. "The broadband bonus: Estimating broadband Internet's economic value," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 617-632, August.
    3. 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.
    4. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Cambini, Carlo & Grajek, Michał, 2018. "Speeding up the internet: Regulation and investment in the European fiber optic infrastructure," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 613-652.
    5. Bertschek, Irene & Briglauer, Wolfgang & Hüschelrath, Kai & Kauf, Benedikt & Niebel, Thomas, 2016. "The economic impacts of telecommunications networks and broadband internet: A survey," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-056, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Wolfgang Briglauer & Klaus Gugler, 2019. "Go for Gigabit? First Evidence on Economic Benefits of High‐speed Broadband Technologies in Europe," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1071-1090, September.
    7. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt, 2009. "The Economics of Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262012634, December.
    8. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    9. Edquist, Harald & Goodridge, Peter & Haskel, Jonathan & Li, Xuan & Lindquist, Edward, 2018. "How important are mobile broadband networks for the global economic development?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 16-29.
    10. Abrardi, Laura & Cambini, Carlo, 2019. "Ultra-fast broadband investment and adoption: A survey," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 183-198.
    11. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    12. Peter C. B. Phillips & Donggyu Sul, 2009. "Economic transition and growth," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(7), pages 1153-1185.
    13. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2003. "Computing Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 793-808, November.
    14. Nina Czernich & Oliver Falck & Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 505-532, May.
    15. Harald Gruber & Pantelis Koutroumpis, 2011. "Mobile telecommunications and the impact on economic development [Discussion of “Why is infrastructure important?” in Alicia H. Munnell, (ed.), Is there a shortfall in public capital investment?]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(67), pages 387-426.
    16. Steven N. Durlauf & Paul A. Johnson & Jonathan R. W. Temple, 2009. "The Methods of Growth Econometrics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Terence C. Mills & Kerry Patterson (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of Econometrics, chapter 24, pages 1119-1179, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. Bourreau, Marc & Feasey, Richard & Nicolle, Ambre, 2020. "Assessing fifteen years of State Aid for broadband in the European Union: A quantitative analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7).
    18. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:26:y:2011:i:67:p:387-426 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas & Gugler, Klaus, 2021. "A retrospective study on the regional benefits and spillover effects of high-speed broadband networks: Evidence from German counties," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Sacco, Dario & Schmutzler, Armin, 2011. "Is there a U-shaped relation between competition and investment?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 65-73, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Wolfgang Briglauer & Michał Grajek, 2021. "Effectiveness and efficiency of state aid for new broadband networks: Evidence from OECD member states," ESMT Research Working Papers ESMT-21-01, ESMT European School of Management and Technology.
    2. 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.
    3. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas & Gugler, Klaus, 2021. "A retrospective study on the regional benefits and spillover effects of high-speed broadband networks: Evidence from German counties," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Edquist, Harald, 2022. "The economic impact of mobile broadband speed," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    5. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Köppl-Turyna, Monika & Schwarzbauer, Wolfgang & Bittó, Virág, 2023. "Evaluating the effects of ICT core elements on CO2 emissions: Recent evidence from OECD countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8).
    6. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas S. & Gugler, Klaus, 2019. "A retrospective study on the regional benefits and spillover effects of high-speed broadband networks: Evidence from German counties," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-026, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Abrardi, Laura & Sabatino, Lorien, 2023. "Ultra-broadband investment and economic resilience: Evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2).
    8. Oughton, Edward J. & Amaglobeli, David & Moszoro, Marian, 2023. "What would it cost to connect the unconnected? Estimating global universal broadband infrastructure investment," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).
    9. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Gugler, Klaus, 2018. "Go for gigabit? First evidence on economic benefits of (ultra-)fast broadband technologies in Europe," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-020, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Qing Li & Yanrui Wu, 2023. "ICT, technological diffusion and economic growth in Chinese cities," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 1737-1768, April.
    11. Wolfgang Briglauer & Carlo Cambini & Klaus Gugler & Volker Stocker, 2023. "Net neutrality and high-speed broadband networks: evidence from OECD countries," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 533-571, June.
    12. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas & Gugler, Klaus, 2019. "A Retrospective Study on the Regional Benefits and Spillover Effects of High-Speed Broadband Networks: Evidence from German Counties," 30th European Regional ITS Conference, Helsinki 2019 205171, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    13. Edquist, Harald & Goodridge, Peter & Haskel, Jonathan & Li, Xuan & Lindquist, Edward, 2018. "How important are mobile broadband networks for the global economic development?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 16-29.
    14. Stockinger, Bastian, 2017. "The effect of broadband internet on establishments' employment growth: evidence from Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 201719, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    15. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas S. & Falck, Oliver & Hüschelrath, Kai, 2019. "Does state aid for broadband deployment in rural areas close the digital and economic divide?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 68-85.
    16. Calvin Jones & Dylan Henderson, 2019. "Broadband and uneven spatial development: The case of Cardiff City-Region," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(3), pages 228-247, May.
    17. Koutroumpis, Pantelis & Leiponen, Aija, 2016. "Crowdsourcing mobile coverage," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 532-544.
    18. Koutroumpis, Pantelis, 2019. "The economic impact of broadband: Evidence from OECD countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    19. Vu, Khuong & Hanafizadeh, Payam & Bohlin, Erik, 2020. "ICT as a driver of economic growth: A survey of the literature and directions for future research," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2).
    20. Aldashev, Alisher & Batkeyev, Birzhan, 2021. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth in Rural Areas," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    High-speed broadband; coverage; adoption; OECD panel; ex-post evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:ecoarp:23. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ecoauat.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.