How does broadband infrastructure promote entrepreneurship in China: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment

Qi Luo, Haoyu Hu, Dawei Feng and Xiaogang He

Telecommunications Policy, 2022, vol. 46, issue 10

Abstract: Using the Broadband China strategy as a quasi-natural experiment, our study attempts to understand how broadband infrastructure (BI) impacts entrepreneurship in China. Employing a staggered difference-in-difference approach, we argue that BI significantly enhances entrepreneurship, and that this conclusion holds after considering the identification of assumptions and a range of other factors that may interfere with the estimation results. The mechanism exploration reveals that human capital agglomeration and financial development are the main pathways through which BI encourages entrepreneurial activities. Furthermore, the positive effects of BI are bigger in eastern cities, high market-oriented cities, and among cities with excellent traditional infrastructure. Our findings reveal the role of improving BI in facilitating the development of new ventures in China.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Broadband China strategy; Staggered difference-in-difference; Quasi-natural experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 L26 L96 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2022.102440

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