Does state aid for broadband deployment in rural areas close the digital and economic divide?

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of a major European state aid program for broadband deployment applied to rural areas in the German State of Bavaria in the years 2010 and 2011. Using difference-indifferences estimation strategies, we find that aided municipalities havedepending on broadband quality-a between 16.8 and 23.2 percent higher broadband coverage than non-aided municipalities. This increase in broadband coverage-closing the digital divide-results in an increase of on average seven employed individuals living in the respective aid-receiving municipalities while leaving the number of employed or selfemployed individuals or wages unaffected. We therefore conclude that an increase in broadband coverage through state aid prevents rural areas from depopulation, but does not contribute to a further closing of the economic divide in the form of creating new jobs.

Digital divide, craft firms’ websites and urban-rural disparities—empirical evidence from a web-scraping approach

“…comparing the quarters of a city). In addition to these spatial units based on administrative boundaries, comparisons between urban and rural regions have attracted strong attention among scholars (see Rodríguez-Pose 2018) in recent years, partially driven by specific policy programs and interests in ensuring equal living conditions in all regions of a country (Briglauer et al 2019a). These comparisons between urban and rural areas may be intra-national (all areas within a country), cross-national (all areas in various or all countries within the same continent) or cross-continental.…”

“…the Digital Agenda for Europe for an attempt at the supra-national level of the EU (https://ec. europa.eu/digital-agenda/en), the "digital agenda" for an attempt at the national level (for Germany, see the Federal Government of Germany 2018) or the "Broadband for Bavaria" initiative for the sub-national level of the German Federal State of Bavaria (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_ 19_6630; see also Briglauer et al 2019a). Billon et al 2016;Prieger 2013;Schleife 2010).…”

The road to change: Broadband China strategy and enterprise digitization

“…The spillover impacts of broadband development has been analyzed from several aspects. Some researchers focused on the relationship between broadband access and regional employment [ 3 – 5 ], finding that the deployment of broadband increased employment in the service industry and increased rural wages [ 6 ]. Conversely, the availability of remote work may decrease regional employment [ 7 ].…”

Untitled

“…Differences-in-Differences). Šis metodas taip pat plačiai taikomas moksliniuose tyrimuose vertinant valstybės pagalbą (Bell ir Heitmueller, 2009;Bondonio ir Greenbaum, 2014;Briglauer, Dürr, Falck ir Hüschelrath, 2019;Datta Gupta, Larsen ir Thomsen, 2015;Jiménez-Martín, Juanmartí Mestres ir Vall Castelló, 2019;Midtsundstad ir Nielsen, 2016)the employment provision of the 1996 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA. Pagrindinis šio metodo principasdviejų skirtingų grupių stebėjimas.…”