Telecommunications Policy

Expanding and upgrading communication networks in rural areas is particularly challenging due to high investment costs and limited prospects for cost recovery. In this context, researchers and policymakers widely view mobile infrastructures as the most viable solution, given their flexibility and lower deployment costs. However, techno-economic assessments that support this view often rely on population-based demand models, an approach that fails to capture the growing complexity of contemporary usage patterns.

This paper estimates the relationship between broadband internet speeds and the survival and employment of business establishments. The analysis combines publicly accessible broadband speed availability data from the Federal Communications Commission with microdata on over 10 million U.S. businesses from the National Establishment Time Series database across 2015 to 2020. We use a two-stage Heckman procedure to identify and correct for attrition bias resulting from businesses that exit the dataset over the study period. Probit models estimate business survival in the first stage.

The rapid proliferation of digital platforms has fundamentally restructured social, economic, and political life, simultaneously creating a significant regulatory dilemma for states—a challenge often termed a “governance capacity deficit.” To address this, there is a growing imperative to transition from reactive frameworks to a more proactive and future-oriented model. This study focuses on anticipatory governance, a crucial paradigm shift defined by the formulation and execution of risk-prevention plans.

As AI becomes a central element of national and global development strategies, actors are promoting AI literacy through policies that foster highly skilled talent and equip citizens to engage with AI in everyday life. This study conducts a comparative policy analysis of 41 AI literacy policies from the European Union, United States, India, and China, examining convergences and divergences in domestic talent cultivation and international talent attraction strategies.

The $2.5 billion USDA Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, was USDA's largest broadband program until the current ReConnect program. This study investigates the impacts of BIP on employment and telework for the period 2011–2017 using confidential American Community Survey microdata on individual workers, combined with program data and other data.