Broadband Internet and Political Participation - Evidence for Germany

Nina Czernich

No 104, ifo Working Paper Series from ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich

Abstract: Previous studies found the introduction of the today well established media radio and television to affect political participation. This paper evaluates the effect of the relatively recent introduction of a new medium, broadband internet. OLS results suggest a positive association between DSL availability and voter participation across German municipalities. However, the roll-out of DSL networks is not random. The paper exploits the fact that DSL availability depends on a unicipality’s distance to the nearest interconnection point to the existing voice-telephony network. Instrumental-variable results using this distance to predict DSL availability confirm the effect of DSL availability on voter participation.

JEL-codes: D72 L96 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Broadband Internet and Political Participation: Evidence for G ermany (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ifowps:_104

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