IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iepoli/v29y2014icp32-45.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does broadband internet reduce the unemployment rate? Evidence for Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Czernich, Nina

Abstract

Broadband internet is widely considered an important determinant of economic growth that has a positive effect on various economic variables. This paper addresses the question whether differences in the availability of broadband internet between German municipalities can explain differences in the unemployment rate. OLS results indicate a negative association between DSL availability and unemployment rates. However, the roll-out of DSL networks is not random. To address concerns of reverse causality and omitted variables, an instrumental variable approach is used, which rests on impediments to the roll-out of DSL networks that stem from the structure of the pre-existing voice-telephony network. The results of the instrumental variable estimations do not confirm the OLS results suggesting that the availability of DSL does not reduce the unemployment rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Czernich, Nina, 2014. "Does broadband internet reduce the unemployment rate? Evidence for Germany," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 32-45.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:29:y:2014:i:c:p:32-45
    DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2014.10.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167624514000420
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2014.10.001?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
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oliver Falck & Robert Gold & Stephan Heblich, 2014. "E-lections: Voting Behavior and the Internet," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 2238-2265, July.
    2. Autor, David H. (ed.), 2009. "Studies of Labor Market Intermediation," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226032887, September.
    3. Kolko, Jed, 2012. "Broadband and local growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 100-113.
    4. 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.
    5. Kory Kroft & Devin G. Pope, 2014. "Does Online Search Crowd Out Traditional Search and Improve Matching Efficiency? Evidence from Craigslist," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 259-303.
    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. 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.
    8. Nina Czernich, 2012. "Broadband Internet and Political Participation: Evidence for G ermany," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 31-52, February.
    9. Peter Kuhn & Mikal Skuterud, 2004. "Internet Job Search and Unemployment Durations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 218-232, March.
    10. Nadine Fabritz, 2013. "The Impact of Broadband on Economic Activity in Rural Areas: Evidence from German Municipalities," ifo Working Paper Series 166, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    11. David H. Autor, 2009. "Studies of Labor Market Intermediation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number auto07-1.
    12. David H. Autor, 2001. "Wiring the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 25-40, Winter.
    13. Constantin Mang, 2012. "Online Job Search and Matching Quality," ifo Working Paper Series 147, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    14. Betsey Stevenson, 2009. "The Internet and Job Search," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Labor Market Intermediation, pages 67-86, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. 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).
    2. Denzer, Manuel & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2018. "Does the Internet Increase the Job Finding Rate? Evidence from a Period of Internet Expansion," IZA Discussion Papers 11764, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. 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.
    4. Denzer, Manuel & Schank, Thorsten & Upward, Richard, 2021. "Does the internet increase the job finding rate? Evidence from a period of expansion in internet use," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Nadine Fabritz, 2015. "Investment in ICT: Determinants and Economic Implications," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 60.
    6. Andriana Bellou, 2015. "The impact of Internet diffusion on marriage rates: evidence from the broadband market," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(2), pages 265-297, April.
    7. Denzer, Manuel, 2018. "Does the internet increase the job finding rate? Evidence from a period of internet expansion," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181557, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. 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.
    9. Ana Dammert & Jose Galdo & Virgilio Galdo, 2015. "Integrating mobile phone technologies into labor-market intermediation: a multi-treatment experimental design," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    10. 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].
    11. Wang, Jiancheng & Chen, Jialing & Li, Xiaoying & Li, Weiping, 2024. "Broadband acceleration and employment: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    12. Nadine Fabritz, 2013. "The Impact of Broadband on Economic Activity in Rural Areas: Evidence from German Municipalities," ifo Working Paper Series 166, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    13. Rainer Eppel & Helmut Mahringer & Andrea Weber, 2014. "Job Search Behaviour and Job Search Success of the Unemployed," WIFO Working Papers 471, WIFO.
    14. Piotr Lewandowski & Pawel Chrostek & Jan Baran & Iga Magda & Maciej Lis & Anna Pankowiec & Piotr Szczerba & Maciej Bitner & Magdalena Kaminska, 2014. "Employment in Poland 2013. Labour in the Age of Structural Change," Books and Reports published by IBS, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych, number zwp2013 edited by Piotr Lewandowski & Iga Magda, january.
    15. Gürtzgen, Nicole & Lochner, Benjamin & Pohlan, Laura & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2021. "Does online search improve the match quality of new hires?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    16. Czernich, Nina, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Unemployment - Evidence for Germany," Discussion Papers in Economics 12279, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    17. Bhuller, Manudeep & Kostøl, Andreas & Vigtel, Trond Christian, 2019. "How Broadband Internet Affects Labor Market Matching," Memorandum 10/2019, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    18. Canzian, Giulia & Poy, Samuele & Schüller, Simone, 2019. "Broadband upgrade and firm performance in rural areas: Quasi-experimental evidence," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 87-103.
    19. Choi, Eleanor Jawon, 2023. "Does the internet help the unemployed find jobs?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Nina Czernich, 2011. "The emergence of broadband internet and consequences for economic and social development," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 37.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; Job search; Broadband internet;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications

    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:29:y:2014:i:c:p:32-45. 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.