IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iepoli/v23y2011i2p200-211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evidence of a modest price decline in US broadband services

Author

Listed:
  • Greenstein, Shane
  • McDevitt, Ryan

Abstract

In this paper, we construct a consumer price index for broadband services in the United States using over 1500 service contracts offered by DSL and cable providers from 2004 through 2009. This exercise frames a range of open questions about measuring price changes in a manner that informs policy discussions about US broadband services. We employ approaches used commonly for constructing a consumer price index by using a mix of matched-model methods and hedonic price index estimations to adjust for qualitative improvements. We find a quality-adjusted price decline, but the evidence points towards a modest decline at most. Our estimates of the price decline range from 3% to 10% in quality-adjusted terms for the 5-years period, which is faster than the BLS estimates for the last 3Â years. In contrast to other innovative industries that experience rapid price declines, such as computers or integrated circuits, the modest price decline for broadband services raises many questions.

Suggested Citation

  • Greenstein, Shane & McDevitt, Ryan, 2011. "Evidence of a modest price decline in US broadband services," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 200-211, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:23:y:2011:i:2:p:200-211
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167624511000199
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shane Greenstein & Ryan C. McDevitt, 2009. "The Broadband Bonus: Accounting for Broadband Internet's Impact on U.S. GDP," NBER Working Papers 14758, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Griliches, Zvi & Cockburn, Iain, 1994. "Generics and New Goods in Pharmaceutical Price Indexes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1213-1232, December.
    3. Greenstein, Shane, 2010. "Innovative Conduct in Computing and Internet Markets," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 477-537, Elsevier.
    4. Savage Scott J. & Waldman Donald M., 2004. "United States Demand for Internet Access," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Ariel Pakes, 2003. "A Reconsideration of Hedonic Price Indexes with an Application to PC's," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1578-1596, December.
    6. Stranger, Greg & Greenstein, Shane, 2008. "Pricing in the shadow of firm turnover: ISPs during the 1990s," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 625-642, May.
    7. Ana Aizcorbe, 2006. "Why Did Semiconductor Price Indexes Fall So Fast in the 1990s? A Decomposition," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 485-496, July.
    8. Ernst R. Berndt & Neal J. Rappaport, 2001. "Price and Quality of Desktop and Mobile Personal Computers: A Quarter-Century Historical Overview," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 268-273, May.
    9. Rosston Gregory L. & Savage Scott J & Waldman Donald M, 2010. "Household Demand for Broadband Internet in 2010," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-45, September.
    10. Gregory Rosston & Scott Savage & Donald Waldman, 2010. "Household Demand for Broadband Internet Service," Discussion Papers 09-008, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, revised Feb 2010.
    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. Carare, Octavian & McGovern, Chris & Noriega, Raquel & Schwarz, Jay, 2015. "The willingness to pay for broadband of non-adopters in the U.S.: Estimates from a multi-state survey," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 19-35.
    2. Charles Hulten & Leonard I. Nakamura, 2020. "Expanded GDP for Welfare Measurement in the 21st Century," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century, pages 19-59, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Muñoz-Acevedo, Ángela & Grzybowski, Lukasz, 2023. "Impact of roaming regulation on revenues and prices of mobile operators in the EU," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Kim, Wook Joon, 2014. "Estimating quality-adjusted prices for residential fixed broadband in South Korea 2000 - 2009," 20th ITS Biennial Conference, Rio de Janeiro 2014: The Net and the Internet - Emerging Markets and Policies 106886, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    5. Leonard Nakamura & Jon Samuels & Rachel Soloveichik, 2017. "Measuring the “Free” Digital Economy within the GDP and Productivity Accounts," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Discussion Papers ESCoE DP-2017-03, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).
    6. Jeffrey Prince & Shane Greenstein, 2014. "Does Service Bundling Reduce Churn?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 839-875, December.
    7. Byrne, David M. & Corrado, Carol A., 2020. "The increasing deflationary influence of consumer digital access services," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    8. Erica L. Groshen & Brian C. Moyer & Ana M. Aizcorbe & Ralph Bradley & David M. Friedman, 2017. "How Government Statistics Adjust for Potential Biases from Quality Change and New Goods in an Age of Digital Technologies: A View from the Trenches," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 187-210, Spring.
    9. Ambre Nicolle & Lukasz Grzybowski & Christine Zulehner, 2018. "Impact Of Competition, Investment, And Regulation On Prices Of Mobile Services: Evidence From France," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1322-1345, April.
    10. Boik, Andre, 2017. "The economics of universal service: An analysis of entry subsidies for high speed broadband," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 13-20.
    11. Johannes M. Bauer & Gary Madden & Aaron Morey, 2014. "Effects of economic conditions and policy interventions on OECD broadband adoption," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(12), pages 1361-1372, April.
    12. Seán Lyons & Bryan Coyne, 2017. "The price of broadband quality: tracking the changing valuation of service characteristics," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 516-532, August.
    13. Leonard Nakamura & Jon Samuels & Rachel Soloveichik, 2016. "Valuing Free Media in GDP: An Experimental Approach," BEA Working Papers 0133, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    14. Calzada, Joan & Martínez-Santos, Fernando, 2014. "Broadband prices in the European Union: Competition and commercial strategies," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 24-38.
    15. Mo Abdirahman & Diane Coyle & Richard Heys & Will Stewart, 2017. "A Comparison of Approaches to Deflating Telecoms Services Output," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Discussion Papers ESCoE DP-2017-04, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).
    16. Coynea, Bryan & Lyonsa, Sean, 2015. "The price of broadband quality: tracking the changing valuation of service characteristics," 26th European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2015 127159, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    17. Galperin, Hernán & Ruzzier, Christian A., 2013. "Price elasticity of demand for broadband: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 429-438.
    18. Sofronis Clerides & Charalampos Karagiannakis, 2016. "Recent trends in the Cypriot electronic communications sector," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 10(1), pages 27-55, June.
    19. Mo Abdirahman & Diane Coyle & Richard Heys & Will Stewart, 2020. "A Comparison of Deflators for Telecommunications Services Output," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 517-518-5, pages 103-122.
    20. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Nicolle, Ambre & Zulehner, Christine, 2017. "Impact of competition and regulation on prices of mobile services: Evidence from France," 28th European Regional ITS Conference, Passau 2017 169465, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    21. Kim, Wook Joon & Kim, Yongkyu, 2018. "An estimation of quality-adjusted prices for mobile services in Korea," 22nd ITS Biennial Conference, Seoul 2018. Beyond the boundaries: Challenges for business, policy and society 190346, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    22. Joan Calzada & Fernando Martínez-Santos, 2016. "Pricing strategies and competition in the mobile broadband market," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 70-98, 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. Chad Syverson, 2017. "Challenges to Mismeasurement Explanations for the US Productivity Slowdown," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 165-186, Spring.
    2. Dutz Mark A. & Orszag Jonathan M. & Willig Robert D., 2012. "The Liftoff of Consumer Benefits from the Broadband Revolution," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(4), pages 1-34, December.
    3. Carare, Octavian & McGovern, Chris & Noriega, Raquel & Schwarz, Jay, 2015. "The willingness to pay for broadband of non-adopters in the U.S.: Estimates from a multi-state survey," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 19-35.
    4. Ferdinand Pavel & Yann Girard & Arno Hantzsche & Anselm Mattes & Julius Pahlke & Katherina Peter, 2014. "Wachstumsfaktor Telekommunikation: zum Beitrag der Telekommunikationsbranche zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung in Deutschland; Endbericht," DIW Berlin: Politikberatung kompakt, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, volume 78, number pbk78.
    5. Trevor Roycroft, 2013. "Empirical study of broadband adoption using data from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 214-228, April.
    6. Arnold, René & Waldburger, Martin & Morasch, Bastian & Schmid, Frieder & Schneider, Anna, 2015. "The value of network neutrality to European consumers," 26th European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2015 127121, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    7. Ana Aizcorbe & Nicole Nestoriak, 2010. "Price Indexes for Drugs: A Review of the Issues," BEA Working Papers 0050, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    8. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Hasbi, Maude & Liang, Julienne, 2018. "Transition from copper to fiber broadband: The role of connection speed and switching costs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-10.
    9. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Pantelis Koutroumpis & Tommaso Valletti, 2017. "Speed 2.0: Evaluating Access to Universal Digital Highways," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 586-625.
    10. David M. Byrne & John G. Fernald & Marshall B. Reinsdorf, 2016. "Does the United States Have a Productivity Slowdown or a Measurement Problem?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 109-182.
    11. Robert C. Feenstra & Christopher R. Knittel, 2009. "Reassessing the US Quality Adjustment to Computer Prices: The Role of Durability and Changing Software," NBER Chapters, in: Price Index Concepts and Measurement, pages 129-160, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. John Van Reenen, 2006. "The Growth of Network Computing: Quality-Adjusted Price Changes for Network Servers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(509), pages 29-44, February.
    13. Dakshina G. De Silva & Nidhi Thakur & Mengzhi Xie, 2013. "A hedonic price analysis of hearing aid technology," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(16), pages 2315-2323, June.
    14. Shane Greenstein & Ryan C. McDevitt, 2009. "The Broadband Bonus: Accounting for Broadband Internet's Impact on U.S. GDP," NBER Working Papers 14758, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Collins, Alan & Scorcu, Antonello & Zanola, Roberto, 2009. "Reconsidering hedonic art price indexes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 57-60, August.
    16. Sinclair, Andrew, 2023. "Assessing the benefits of high-speed broadband: Lessons from Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN)," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    17. Doms, Mark & Forman, Chris, 2005. "Prices for local area network equipment," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 365-388, July.
    18. A. Collins & A. E. Scorcu & R. Zanola, 2007. "Sample Selection Bias and Time Instability of Hedonic Art Price Indexes," Working Papers 610, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    19. David M. Byrne & Stephen D. Oliner & Daniel E. Sichel, 2018. "How Fast are Semiconductor Prices Falling?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(3), pages 679-702, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Broadband Price index DSL Cable Internet access Policy;

    JEL classification:

    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    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:eee:iepoli:v:23:y:2011:i:2:p:200-211. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505549 .

    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.