IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v46y2022i5s0308596121001981.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do ‘dig once’ and permitting policies improve fiber availability?

Author

Listed:
  • Biedny, Christina
  • Whitacre, Brian
  • Gallardo, Roberto

Abstract

State and local governments have enacted different types of legislation aimed at improving broadband availability. Two unstudied policies of interest are: (1) “dig-once” policies requiring state-funded construction projects to notify local internet providers about the opportunity to bury conduit for easier wire installation in the future, and (2) permitting policies requiring an expeditious response from local jurisdictions regarding the installation of broadband equipment. We use the example of Iowa, which passed legislation on both of these topics in 2015 and compare trends in fiber broadband availability with that of states who did not pass such legislation. We also consider the potential impact on fixed wireless availability, which largely depends upon a fiber middle mile. We use coarsened exact matching at the census tract level to construct treated and control groups with similar pre-2015 demographic characteristics and broadband availability trends in Iowa and other states. Difference-in-difference regression analysis with the matched samples then assesses the policy impact on fiber and fixed wireless availability post-implementation. The results suggest that Iowa's policies increased fiber broadband availability by 2.4%–6.6% when considering eight model specifications which account for different criteria such as geographic region, other (non-dig-once or permitting) broadband policies, and federal funding received. The policies do not appear to have any effect on fixed wireless availability.

Suggested Citation

  • Biedny, Christina & Whitacre, Brian & Gallardo, Roberto, 2022. "Do ‘dig once’ and permitting policies improve fiber availability?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:46:y:2022:i:5:s0308596121001981
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102294
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596121001981
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102294?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. Ford, George S., 2018. "Is faster better? Quantifying the relationship between broadband speed and economic growth," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 766-777.
    2. Roberto Gallardo & Brian Whitacre & Indraneel Kumar & Sreedhar Upendram, 2021. "Broadband metrics and job productivity: a look at county-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(1), pages 161-184, February.
    3. Lehtonen, Olli, 2020. "Population grid-based assessment of the impact of broadband expansion on population development in rural areas," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10).
    4. Dinterman, Robert & Renkow, Mitch, 2017. "Evaluation of USDA's Broadband Loan Program: Impacts on broadband provision," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 140-153.
    5. Matthew Blackwell & Stefano Iacus & Gary King & Giuseppe Porro, 2009. "cem: Coarsened exact matching in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(4), pages 524-546, December.
    6. Whitacre, Brian E. & Alam, Md Rafayet & Lobo, Bento J., 2018. "Econometric error nullifies finding of the impact of broadband speed on county-level employment," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 58-60.
    7. Manlove, Jacob & Whitacre, Brian, 2019. "An evaluation of the Connected Nation broadband adoption program," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1-1.
    8. Grimes, Arthur & Townsend, Wilbur, 2018. "Effects of (ultra-fast) fibre broadband on student achievement," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 8-15.
    9. repec:oup:ajagec:v:99:y:2017:i:1:p:1-18. is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2011. "Multivariate Matching Methods That Are Monotonic Imbalance Bounding," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 106(493), pages 345-361.
    11. Hauge & Prieger, 2015. "Evaluating the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's BTOP on broadband adoption," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(60), pages 6553-6579, December.
    12. Bertoni, Danilo & Curzi, Daniele & Aletti, Giacomo & Olper, Alessandro, 2020. "Estimating the effects of agri-environmental measures using difference-in-difference coarsened exact matching," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    13. Brian Whitacre & Roberto Gallardo & Sharon Strover, 2014. "Does rural broadband impact jobs and income? Evidence from spatial and first-differenced regressions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(3), pages 649-670, November.
    14. Ashenfelter, Orley & Card, David, 1985. "Using the Longitudinal Structure of Earnings to Estimate the Effect of Training Programs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(4), pages 648-660, November.
    15. 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.
    16. Fabling, Richard & Grimes, Arthur, 2021. "Picking up speed: Does ultrafast broadband increase firm productivity?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    17. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    18. Sudtasan, Tatcha, 2015. "Economic determinants of optical fiber share in total broadband connections in OECD countries," 26th European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2015 127179, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    19. 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.
    20. Whitacre, Brian & Gallardo, Roberto, 2020. "State broadband policy: Impacts on availability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9).
    21. Kolko, Jed, 2012. "Broadband and local growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 100-113.
    22. Iacus, Stefano & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2009. "cem: Software for Coarsened Exact Matching," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 30(i09).
    23. Wolfgang Briglauer & Klaus Gugler, 2019. "Go for Gigabit? First Evidence on Economic Benefits of High‐speed Broadband Technologies in Europe," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1071-1090, September.
    24. Lobo, Bento J. & Alam, Md Rafayet & Whitacre, Brian E., 2020. "Broadband speed and unemployment rates: Data and measurement issues," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    25. Abrardi, Laura & Cambini, Carlo, 2019. "Ultra-fast broadband investment and adoption: A survey," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 183-198.
    26. Hasbi, Maude, 2020. "Impact of very high-speed broadband on company creation and entrepreneurship: Empirical Evidence," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3).
    27. Kelsey L. Conley & Brian E. Whitacre, 2020. "Home Is Where the Internet Is? High-speed Internet’s Impact on Rural Housing Values," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 43(5), pages 501-530, September.
    28. Steven Deller & Brian Whitacre, 2019. "Broadband's relationship to rural housing values," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(5), pages 2135-2156, October.
    29. King, Gary & Nielsen, Richard, 2019. "Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 435-454, October.
    30. Rosston, Gregory L. & Wallsten, Scott J., 2020. "Increasing low-income broadband adoption through private incentives," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Biedny, Christina & Whitacre, Brian E. & Van Leuven, Andrew J., 2024. "Do Gigabits Mean Business? “Ultra-Fast” broadband availability's effect on business births," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Krämer, Jan & Palan, Nicole, 2024. "Socioeconomic benefits of high-speed broadband availability and service adoption: A survey," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(7).
    3. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Stocker, Volker, 2020. "Bedeutung digitaler Infrastrukturen und Dienste und Maßnahmen zur Förderung der Resilienz in Krisenzeiten," Policy Notes 42, EcoAustria – Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Whitacre, Brian & Gallardo, Roberto, 2020. "State broadband policy: Impacts on availability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9).
    5. Gary A. Wagner & Hyun Ji Lee, 2024. "Does broadband affect local economic outcomes less than we thought? Micro evidence from Louisiana," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(1), pages 68-93, January.
    6. Anil Rupasingha & John Pender & Ryan Williams, 2024. "Broadband and rural development: Impacts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Broadband Initiatives Program on saving and creating jobs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(2), pages 698-721, April.
    7. Steven Deller & Brian Whitacre & Tessa Conroy, 2022. "Rural broadband speeds and business startup rates," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(3), pages 999-1025, May.
    8. Manlove, Jacob & Whitacre, Brian, 2019. "An evaluation of the Connected Nation broadband adoption program," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1-1.
    9. Anil Rupasingha & John Pender & Ryan Williams & Joshua Goldstein & Devika Nair, 2023. "Place‐based subsidies and employment growth in rural America: Evidence from the broadband initiatives programme," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(4), pages 677-708, August.
    10. Oughton, Edward J. & Amaglobeli, David & Moszoro, Marian, 2023. "What would it cost to connect the unconnected? Estimating global universal broadband infrastructure investment," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).
    11. Roberto Gallardo & Brian Whitacre & Indraneel Kumar & Sreedhar Upendram, 2021. "Broadband metrics and job productivity: a look at county-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(1), pages 161-184, February.
    12. Isley, Catherine & Low, Sarah A., 2022. "Broadband adoption and availability: Impacts on rural employment during COVID-19," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).
    13. Han, Luyi & Wojan, Timothy R. & Goetz, Stephan J., 2024. "Cloud computing and rural globalization: Evidence for the U.S. nonfarm economy," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8).
    14. Bauer, Anahid & Feir, Donn. L. & Gregg, Matthew T., 2022. "The tribal digital divide: Extent and Explanations," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9).
    15. Deller, Steven & Whitacre, Brian, 2018. "Broadband’s Relationship to Rural Housing Values," Staff Paper Series 591, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    16. Falk, Martin & Hagsten, Eva, 2021. "Impact of high-speed broadband access on local establishment dynamics," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4).
    17. Whitacre, Brian & Biedny, Christina, 2022. "A preview of the broadband fabric: Opportunities and issues for researchers and policymakers," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(3).
    18. Han, Luyi & Wojan, Timothy R. & Goetz, Stephan J., 2023. "Experimenting in the cloud: The digital divide's impact on innovation," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7).
    19. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas & Gugler, Klaus, 2019. "A Retrospective Study on the Regional Benefits and Spillover Effects of High-Speed Broadband Networks: Evidence from German Counties," 30th European Regional ITS Conference, Helsinki 2019 205171, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    20. Lee, Hyun Ji & Whitacre, Brian, 2017. "Estimating willingness-to-pay for broadband attributes among low-income consumers: Results from two FCC lifeline pilot projects," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(9), pages 769-780.

    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:46:y:2022:i:5:s0308596121001981. 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.