Karen Mossberger

This study examines the relationship between broadband adoption and county-level educational achievement in the US in which a novel measure of home broadband subscriptions to explore longitudinal community impacts of broadband adoption on aggregated standardized test scores in math and reading/language arts for students enrolled in 3rd-8th grades. A panel was created of US counties and measured the effect of broadband adoption on student educational achievement by estimating a fixed effect estimator. Key highlights from the research showed the following:

The pandemic revealed gaping disparities in broadband access and use in urban neighborhoods and rural communities alike. Historic broadband investments are now being made through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), with states setting priorities in consultation with local governments. Also momentous is the IIJA’s emphasis on broadband use as well as broadband networks, with requirements for affordability, and funding for subscriptions, devices, training, and support.

Online businesses and platform work can create the impression that the digital economy is ephemeral and placeless. But the digital economy is experienced locally, and its effects are spatial. Measuring them requires better community-level data on economic activities online. While new government data measures broadband subscriptions down to neighborhoods, existing public data do not measure how broadband is used in local communities, and whether this digital activity affects economic outcomes.