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Does State Aid For Broadband Deployment In Rural Areas Close The Digital And Economic Divide?

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  • Briglauer, Wolfgang

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of a major European state aid programme for broadband deployment applied to rural areas in the German state of Bavaria in the years 2010 and 2011. We find that aided municipalities have—depending on quality— between 16.8 and 23.2 percentage points higher broadband coverage than non-aided municipalities. This increase in broadband coverage closes the digital divide but does not contribute to a further closing of the economic divide in the form of creating new jobs.

Suggested Citation

  • Briglauer, Wolfgang, 2017. "Does State Aid For Broadband Deployment In Rural Areas Close The Digital And Economic Divide?," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168055, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc17:168055
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
    • L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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