scholarly journals Broadband Internet and Income Inequality

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges V. Houngbonon ◽  
Julienne Liang

Abstract Digital technologies like the Internet can affect income inequality through increased demand for employment in manual and abstract jobs and reduced demand for employment in routine jobs. In this paper, we combine city-level income distribution and jobs data with broadband data from France to investigate the impact of broadband Internet access on income inequality. Using an instrumental variable estimation strategy, we find that broadband Internet reduces income inequality through increased employment in manual jobs. These effects increase with the availability of skilled workers and are significant in cities with a large service sector or high-speed Internet access. Further, the diffusion of broadband Internet comes with relatively greater benefits in low-income cities compared to high-income cities. Several robustness checks support these findings.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (6) ◽  
pp. 90-103
Author(s):  
Irina Kalabikhina ◽  
Imiliya Abduselimov ◽  
German Klimenko

The paper examines influence of high-speed (broadband) Internet on fertility choice analyzed Russian panel data based on RLMS-HSE from 2014 to 2018. Using an instrumental variables strategy that exploits variations of broadband Internet access for households we find that determined broadband internet use leads to a positive effect on fertility for women of older reproductive age (from 25 to 49) and birth of second and further child is more affected. We attribute this effect to the ability of teleworking and building a better work-life balance. From our results this mechanism is relevant only for women with secondary and higher vocational education, that are more likely to work in professions with a higher probability of telework.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahad Althobaiti ◽  
Saud Alghumayjan ◽  
Morgan R. Frank ◽  
Esteban Moro ◽  
Ahmad Alabdulkareem ◽  
...  

In the United States (US), low-income workers are being pushed away from city centers where the cost of living is high. The effects of such changes on labor mobility and housing price have been explored in the literature. However, few studies have focused on the occupations and specific skills that identify the most susceptible workers. For example, it has become increasingly challenging to fill the service sector jobs in the San Francisco (SF) Bay Area because appropriately skilled workers cannot afford the growing cost of living within commuting distance. With this example in mind, how does a neighborhood's skill composition change as a result of higher housing prices? Are there certain skill sets that are being pushed to the geographical periphery of a city despite their essentialness to the city's economy? Our study focuses on the impact of housing prices with a granular view of skills compositions to answer the following question: Has the density of cognitive skill workers been increasing in a gentrified area? We hypothesize that, over time, low-skilled workers are pushed away from downtown or areas where high-skill establishments thrive. Our preliminary results show that high-level cognitive skills are getting closer to the city center indicating adaptation to the increase of median housing prices as opposed to low-level physical skills that got further away. We examined tracts that the literature indicates as gentrified areas and found a pattern in which there is a temporal increase in median housing prices and the number of business establishments coupled with an increase in the percentage of skilled cognitive workers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8590
Author(s):  
Jiafeng Gu

This study is an exploration of the digital divide between urban and rural areas, and it was conducted to assess the impact of the minimum living guarantee system on online education in China. The results of the research showed that 83.38% of students in low-income families have been able to participate in online education at home during the pandemic, while 16.62% of students in low-income families have been unable to do so. The absence of computers, smartphones, and broadband Internet access in low-income households reduces the likelihood of children being able to participate in online education at home. In terms of accessing online education at home, students from urban areas have obvious advantages over those from rural ones, and students from minimum living guarantee families have obvious advantages over those from marginal minimum living guarantee ones. This study also showed that the presence of online education-related amenities, including computers, smartphones, and Internet access, mediates the relationship between the subsistence allowance system, Hukou, and accessibility of online education. To address this issue, this paper includes suggestions for bridging the digital divide in online education.


Subject The US digital divide over broadband internet access and its implications. Significance A digital divide between those that can use the internet at broadband speeds and those that cannot is persisting. Impacts Government support for digital provision will likely include direct public sector spending and opportunities for private firms. Expanded digital provision will benefit the currently underserved rural and low-income inner-city areas. Those without access to high speed internet will be disadvantaged in terms of education and accessing jobs. Expansion of 5G could exacerbate digital divides: affluent areas may be connected first, absent incentives to do otherwise.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 18-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuyan Fan

The Australian government has recognised the importance of broadband for their social and economic development. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of policy issues on broadband Internet access in Australia. This research has clearly indicated that the state of broadband Internet access is closely related to the Government’s policy and regulatory framework. The Government based its actions on market forces as a principal driver for broadband Internet connectivity. The research has indicated that the previous regulatory competition regime, by and large, has failed to address concerns of market dominance and market power in the Telecommunications sector as is evidenced by a relatively lower speed and value of broadband services in Australia. To rectify the situation, the Australian government has recently adopted a unique National Broadband Network (NBN) plan, which is linked to the national digital economy strategy. Australia is the first country in the world where a national broadband network infrastructure company, NBN Co, is regarded as a regulated national infrastructure provider rather than as a telecommunication company. The NBN Co builds and operates an open access, wholesale only and non-discrimination high-speed broadband network, the National Broadband Network (NBN). The Australian Government's goal for the NBN is to reform the telecommunications sector and ensure every home and business across the country has access to the NBN by 2020. This paper examines the policies underlying the NBN and discusses current practices and potential benefits of the NBN.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135406882110119
Author(s):  
Matthew Polacko

Previous research into the relationship between income inequality and turnout inequality has produced mixed results, as consensus is lacking whether inequality reduces turnout for all income groups, low-income earners, or no one. Therefore, this paper builds on this literature by introducing supply-side logic, through the first individual-level test of the impact that income inequality (moderated by policy manifesto positions) has on turnout. It does so through multilevel logistic regressions utilizing mixed effects, on a sample of 30 advanced democracies in 102 elections from 1996 to 2016. It finds that higher levels of income inequality significantly reduce turnout and widen the turnout gap between rich and poor. However, it also finds that when party systems are more polarized, low-income earners are mobilized the greatest extent coupled with higher inequality, resulting in a significantly reduced income gap in turnout. The findings magnify the negative impacts income inequality can exert on political behavior and contribute to the study of policy offerings as a key moderating mechanism in the relationship.


Author(s):  
Marc Trussler

How does the changing information environment affect the degree to which voters make independent decisions for different offices on their ballots? Leveraging the gradual roll-out of broadband internet across the United States and across congressional districts, this study uses within-district variation over four election cycles to examine the effects of internet access on voting behavior in US legislative elections. The results show that the expansion of broadband resulted in less split-ticket voting and a lower incumbency advantage because voters exposed to increased high-speed internet voted in a more partisan fashion. Consistent with work demonstrating the effect of the internet on local news consumption, the results suggest that the change in the information environment resulting from enhanced internet access led voters to prioritize national considerations over local considerations. This has important consequences for not only how voters act, but the resulting incentives that elected officials confront.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Tian ◽  
Tongping Li ◽  
Shuwang Yang ◽  
Yiwei Wang ◽  
Shuke Fu

High-speed rail (HSR) can potentially influence various economic activities across space. Estimating the impacts of HSR on service-sector agglomeration (SSA) was proven to be difficult but meaningful. In this paper, prefectural-level data from 1998 to 2016 and a panel data program evaluation method are employed to evaluate the effect of the Wuhan–Guangzhou HSR (WGHSR) on the SSA along the route. In this way, we construct hypothetical counterfactuals for SSA index of the WGHSR cities in the absence of the HSR projects using the SSA index in selected non-HSR cities. By comparing the counterfactual index and the actual index, the evaluation of the WGHSR’s impact on the SSA along the route can be obtained. The results show that: (a) the WGHSR has increased the SSA by 9.44% on average for cities along the WGHSR, and (b) the impacts of the WGHSR on the SSA are heterogeneous. The WGHSR has brought about both spillover effect and “siphon” effect. In addition, whether the HSR influences and how much it could influence the SSA requires other supplementary conditions to be met. As a national strategy in China, the construction plan of HSR should fully consider its heterogeneity of impact on regional development. Policies should be formulated to drive the HSR’s spillover effect to promote regional sustainable development.


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