【摘要】In order to better understand the association between broadband and jobs/income in non-metropolitan counties; this study conducts spatial and first-differenced regressions using recent data from the Federal Communications Commission and the National Broadband Map. The relationships between broadband adoption/availability and jobs/income in rural areas are analyzed after controlling for a host of potentially influential variables such as age; race; educational attainment; transportation infrastructure; and the presence of natural amenities. Results from spatial error models using 2011 data provide evidence that high levels of broadband adoption in non-metro counties are positively related to the number of firms and total employees in those counties. The first-differenced regressions use data from 2008 and 2011 to suggest that increases in broadband adoption levels are associated with increases in median household income and the percentage of non-farm proprietors in non-metro counties. Interestingly; simply obtaining increases in broadband availability (not adoption) over this time has no statistical impact on either jobs or income.

【文献来源】Whitacre B;Gallardo R;Strover S.Annals of regional Science.2014（3）