Technological innovation has Always been considered a major stimulus for economic growth. Highspeed internet access via broadband infrastructure has undergone rapid development since the end of the 1990s, thanks to the deployment of both fixed and mobile technologies. The present study investigates the impact of fixed broadband diffusion as a technological determinant of economic growth on the basis of a panel of 23 OECD countries over 15 years (1996–2010). The time horizonchosen is suitablefor verification ofthe causal effectongrowthof the transition from traditionalcoppertopartiallyfibrenetworks.Throughimplementationofadynamicpanelbyusing thegeneralizedmethodofmoments(GMM)combinedwithaninstrumentalvariable(IV)two-stage approach, we found a positive correlation between broadband diffusion and economic growth, even after controlling for countries initial endowment of information and communication technologies (ICT) and for the years of economic crisis. Our main finding provides evidence, through a continuoustimeinterpretationofourestimations,ofaquantitativelyrelevantrelationshipbetween broadbanddiffusionandeconomicdynamicsintheshort,mediumandlongruns.Ourfindingsmay be useful to policy makers in that they permit forecasting of the benefits of further transition from broadband to ultra-wide broadband networks

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In Europe, several countries have established public loan guarantee funds throughout direct/indirect loan programs to facilitate the access of SMEs and start-ups to bank credit. This paper investigates whether start-ups' level of access to bank loans during the early stage represents an imprinting factor with effects on the likelihood of survival once the firm reaches maturity. We rely on a firm-level longitudinal data set of 49,111 Italian startups born from 2003 to 2005. Implementing a 2SLS regression analysis we show that the initial level of start-up bank debt negatively influences the probability of default controlling for firm characteristics and performance. (JEL G21, M20, H32) * The authors would like to thank an anonymous referee that kindly reviewed this manuscript and provided valuable comments and suggestions, and the CERVED group for the data provided. The authors are also grateful to

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This paper investigates the evolution of competition policy decisions in the US and, particularly, in the EU, concerning mandatory access to an essential facility held by a dominant firm. Based on some recent and controversial EU antitrust decisions, we outline a comprehensive test for identifying an essential facility and consequently imposing a mandatory access obligation on dominant firms.