IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v42y2018i5p361-373.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diversity and digital divide: Using the National Broadband Map to identify the non-adopters of broadband

Author

Listed:
  • Silva, Simone
  • Badasyan, Narine
  • Busby, Michael

Abstract

The Internet has become an integral part of the everyday life for many Americans, yet a sizable gap still exists in household broadband adoption. Previous studies of the digital divide were restricted by the lack of sufficiently granular data on broadband availability and adoption. Recent efforts of NTIA and the FCC have made it possible for scholars to perform an exhaustive analysis of broadband diffusion. This paper examines differences in fixed location broadband adoption rates among households of various demographic and socio-economic characteristics and in different geographic locations utilizing the FCC's census tract level adoption data, demographic data from American Community Survey and the census block level broadband availability data from NTIA. Ordered probit models are estimated and used to conduct simulations in order to analyze the determinants of the broadband adoption rate. The results indicate that, although available in most tracts, the lack of broadband availability can still be a deterrent to its adoption. Furthermore, simulations indicate that, in non-metropolitan areas, policies targeting broadband availability would have a larger impact on adoption than policies targeting income or education, for instance. Additionally, where broadband is available, the census tracts with more educated, wealthy and older people who have more choices of broadband providers have higher fixed broadband subscription rates. The positive impact of older population on adoption rate contradicts the conventional belief that the older generation is left behind. Drawing from the previous literature, the older population may be more likely to have a home broadband subscription through traditional technologies, while their younger counterparts, who adapt to new technologies quicker, may be subscribing to mobile broadband.

Suggested Citation

  • Silva, Simone & Badasyan, Narine & Busby, Michael, 2018. "Diversity and digital divide: Using the National Broadband Map to identify the non-adopters of broadband," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 361-373.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:42:y:2018:i:5:p:361-373
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2018.02.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596117305025
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.02.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Menzie D. Chinn & Robert W. Fairlie, 2007. "The determinants of the global digital divide: a cross-country analysis of computer and internet penetration," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 16-44, January.
    2. Lee, Sangwon & Marcu, Mircea & Lee, Seonmi, 2011. "An empirical analysis of fixed and mobile broadband diffusion," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 227-233.
    3. Flamm, Kenneth & Chaudhuri, Anindya, 0. "An analysis of the determinants of broadband access," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6-7), pages 312-326, July.
    4. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    5. Arne Risa Hole, 2006. "Calculating Murphy-Topel variance estimates in Stata: A simplified procedure," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 6(4), pages 521-529, December.
    6. Terza, Joseph V. & Basu, Anirban & Rathouz, Paul J., 2008. "Two-stage residual inclusion estimation: Addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 531-543, May.
    7. Filippo Belloc & Antonio Nicita & Maria Alessandra Rossi, 2009. "Whither Broadband Policy? In Search of Selective Intervention," Department of Economics University of Siena 567, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    8. Kenneth E. Train & Daniel L. McFadden & Moshe Ben-Akiva, 1987. "The Demand for Local Telephone Service: A Fully Discrete Model of Residential Calling Patterns and Service Choices," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(1), pages 109-123, Spring.
    9. S. C. Littlechild, 1975. "Common Costs, Fixed Charges, Clubs and Games," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 42(1), pages 117-124.
    10. Srinuan, Pratompong & Srinuan, Chalita & Bohlin, Erik, 2012. "Fixed and mobile broadband substitution in Sweden," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 237-251.
    11. Lyn Squire, 1973. "Some Aspects of Optimal Pricing for Telecommunications," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 4(2), pages 515-525, Autumn.
    12. Jeffrey Rohlfs, 1974. "A Theory of Interdependent Demand for a Communications Service," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 5(1), pages 16-37, Spring.
    13. Murphy, Kevin M & Topel, Robert H, 2002. "Estimation and Inference in Two-Step Econometric Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 88-97, January.
    14. Brian E. Whitacre & Bradford F. Mills, 2007. "Infrastructure and the Rural—urban Divide in High-speed Residential Internet Access," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 30(3), pages 249-273, July.
    15. Bodnar & Peter Dilworth & Salvatore Iacono, Judith, 1988. "Cross-sectional analysis of residential telephone subscription in Canada," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 355-378.
    16. James E. Prieger, 2003. "The Supply Side of the Digital Divide: Is There Equal Availability in the Broadband Internet Access Market?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 346-363, April.
    17. James E. Prieger, 2003. "The Supply Side of the Digital Divide: Is There Equal Availability in the Broadband Internet Access Market?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 346-363, April.
    18. Prieger, James E. & Hu, Wei-Min, 2008. "The broadband digital divide and the nexus of race, competition, and quality," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 150-167, June.
    19. Narine Badasyan & David Shideler & Laura Taylor, 2007. "The economic impact of broadband deployment in Kentucky," Regional Economic Development, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Nov, pages 88-118.
    20. James W. Hardin, 2002. "The robust variance estimator for two-stage models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 2(3), pages 253-266, August.
    21. Burckhard von Rabenau & Konrad Stahl, 1974. "Dynamic Aspects of Public Goods: A Further Analysis of the Telephone System," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 5(2), pages 651-669, Autumn.
    22. Schleife, Katrin, 2010. "What really matters: Regional versus individual determinants of the digital divide in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 173-185, February.
    23. Grubesic, Tony H., 2012. "The U.S. National Broadband Map: Data limitations and implications," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 113-126.
    24. LaRose, Robert & Gregg, Jennifer L. & Strover, Sharon & Straubhaar, Joseph & Carpenter, Serena, 0. "Closing the rural broadband gap: Promoting adoption of the Internet in rural America," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6-7), pages 359-373, July.
    25. Frieden, Rob, 2005. "Lessons from broadband development in Canada, Japan, Korea and the United States," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 595-613, September.
    26. Goldfarb, Avi & Prince, Jeff, 2008. "Internet adoption and usage patterns are different: Implications for the digital divide," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 2-15, March.
    27. Holt, Lynne & Jamison, Mark, 0. "Broadband and contributions to economic growth: Lessons from the US experience," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10-11), pages 575-581, November.
    28. Preston, Paschal & Cawley, Anthony & Metykova, Monika, 0. "Broadband and rural areas in the EU: From technology to applications and use," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6-7), pages 389-400, July.
    29. Grubesic, Tony H., 2010. "Efficiency in broadband service provision: A spatial analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 117-131, April.
    30. Drouard, Joeffrey, 2011. "Costs or gross benefits? - What mainly drives cross-sectional variance in Internet adoption," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 127-140, March.
    31. Chaudhuri, Anindya & Flamm, Kenneth S. & Horrigan, John, 0. "An analysis of the determinants of internet access," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(9-10), pages 731-755, October.
    32. Roland Artle & Christian Averous, 1973. "The Telephone System as a Public Good: Static and Dynamic Aspects," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 4(1), pages 89-100, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martins, Maria Lurdes, 2023. "Cybersecurity provision and online services access and usage," 32nd European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2023: Realising the digital decade in the European Union – Easier said than done? 278001, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Liu, Chun & Wang, Lian, 2021. "Who is left behind? Exploring the characteristics of China's broadband non-adopting families," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9).
    3. Martin Quinn & Miguel Godinho de Matos & Christian Peukert, 2022. "The Welfare Effects of Mobile Internet Access - Evidence from Roam-Like-at-Home," CESifo Working Paper Series 9612, CESifo.
    4. Espín, Augusto & Rojas, Christian, 2024. "Bridging the digital divide in the US," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Moran, Rachel E. & Bui, Matthew N., 2019. "Race, ethnicity, and telecommunications policy issues of access and representation: Centering communities of color and their concerns," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 461-473.
    6. Gallardo, Roberto & Whitacre, Brian, 2024. "An unexpected digital divide? A look at internet speeds and socioeconomic groups," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6).
    7. Teklemariam, Mekuria Haile & Kwon, Youngsun, 2020. "Differentiating mobile broadband policies across diffusion stages: A panel data analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8).
    8. Jose M. Barlis Jr. & Josefin D. Fajardo III & Leonila J. Generales & Joy Anne Vicente, 2023. "Alternative Work Scheme: The Relationship to the Personal and Professional Life," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    9. King, Jesse & Gonzales, Amy L., 2023. "The influence of digital divide frames on legislative passage and partisan sponsorship: A content analysis of digital equity legislation in the U.S. from 1990 to 2020," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7).
    10. Vitor Miguel Ribeiro & Lei Bao, 2021. "Impact of next‐generation access networks on the innovation efficiency of Portuguese municipalities: A spatial econometrics approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 1615-1637, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Srinuan, Chalita & Bohlin, Erik, 2011. "Understanding the digital divide: A literature survey and ways forward," 22nd European Regional ITS Conference, Budapest 2011: Innovative ICT Applications - Emerging Regulatory, Economic and Policy Issues 52191, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    2. Deller, Steven & Whitacre, Brian, 2018. "Broadband’s Relationship to Rural Housing Values," Staff Paper Series 591, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    3. Barman, Hemanta & Dutta, Mrinal Kanti & Nath, Hiranya K., 2018. "The telecommunications divide among Indian states," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(7), pages 530-551.
    4. Munoz, Teresa Garin & Amaral, Teodosio Perez, 1996. "Demand for international telephone traffic in Spain: An econometric study using provincial panel data," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 289-315, December.
    5. Connolly Michelle & Prieger James E., 2013. "A Basic Analysis of Entry and Exit in the US Broadband Market, 2005–2008," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 229-270, September.
    6. Prieger, James E., 2013. "The broadband digital divide and the economic benefits of mobile broadband for rural areas," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 483-502.
    7. Trevor Roycroft, 2013. "Empirical study of broadband adoption using data from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 214-228, April.
    8. Renkow, Mitch, 2011. "Residential Broadband Availability: Evidence from Kentucky and North Carolina," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Victor Glass & Stela Stefanova, 2010. "An empirical study of broadband diffusion in rural America," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 70-85, August.
    10. James Prieger, 2015. "The broadband digital divide and the benefits of mobile broadband for minorities," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(3), pages 373-400, September.
    11. Mack, Elizabeth A. & Grubesic, Tony H., 2009. "Forecasting broadband provision," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 297-311, November.
    12. Sadowski, Bert M., 2017. "Advanced users and the adoption of high speed broadband: Results of a living lab study in the Netherlands," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1-14.
    13. Aldashev, Alisher & Batkeyev, Birzhan, 2021. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth in Rural Areas," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    14. Fernando Rios-Avila & Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza, 2018. "Standard-error correction in two-stage optimization models: A quasi–maximum likelihood estimation approach," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 18(1), pages 206-222, March.
    15. Pérez-Amaral, Teodosio & Valarezo, Angel & López, Rafael & Garín-Muñoz, Teresa & Herguera, Iñigo, 2020. "E-commerce by individuals in Spain using panel data 2008–2016," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4).
    16. López, Rafael & Valarezo, Ángel & Pérez-Amaral, Teodosio, 2023. "Unleashing the potential of online learning in Spain: An econometric analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    17. Jiao Xu & Chris Forman & Yu Jeffrey Hu, 2019. "Battle of the Internet Channels: How Do Mobile and Fixed-Line Quality Drive Internet Use?," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 65-80, March.
    18. Srinuan, Chalita & Bohlin, Erik, 2013. "Analysis of fixed broadband access and use in Thailand: Drivers and barriers," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 615-625.
    19. Gary Madden & Scott Savage, 2000. "Some Economic and Social Aspects of Residential Internet Use in Australia," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 171-185.
    20. Drouard, Joeffrey, 2011. "Costs or gross benefits? - What mainly drives cross-sectional variance in Internet adoption," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 127-140, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:42:y:2018:i:5:p:361-373. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.