Does Rural Broadband Expansion Encourage Firm Entry?

Yulong Chen, Liyuan Ma and Peter Orazem

Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications from Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University

Abstract: The federal government has invested $60 billion thus far in rural broadband deployment, and, recently, FCC chairman Ajit Pai launched the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which will add up to $20.4 billion to further expand broadband in underserved rural areas. However, broadband expansion may not reverse the decades-long population shift from rural to urban markets and it does not affect all economic sectors equally. Chen, Ma, and Orazem look at the overall effect of broadband on net rural firm entry and find that the construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, real estate, and arts and entertainment industries see the most positive benefits, but the broadband effect is too small to reverse the 70-year long rural to urban shift in population and economic activity.

Date: 2020-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-ict, nep-reg and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ias:cpaper:apr-spring-2020-4

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