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The Impact of Broadband on U.S. Agriculture: An Evaluation of the USDA Broadband Loan Program

Author

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  • Amy M.G. Kandilov
  • Ivan T. Kandilov
  • Xiangping Liu
  • Mitch Renkow

Abstract

We evaluate the impact that the USDA’s low-cost broadband loan programs have on the U.S. agricultural sector. The broadband loan programs increase access to high-speed Internet in recipient communities, which can raise farm sales by increasing both farm output and prices received by producers. Further, high-speed Internet may drive down costs by providing information on cheaper inputs and better management practices, leading to an overall improvement in farm profits. Using U.S. county-level data on farm sales and expenditures in 2000 and 2007, we employ an inverse probability weighting technique to control for endogenous selection in an econometric model that also accounts for spatial dependence. We find that the two USDA broadband loan programs have had positive causal impacts on farm sales, expenditures, and profits in a subset of rural counties—those adjacent to metropolitan counties—but not in other types of counties.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy M.G. Kandilov & Ivan T. Kandilov & Xiangping Liu & Mitch Renkow, 2017. "The Impact of Broadband on U.S. Agriculture: An Evaluation of the USDA Broadband Loan Program," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 39(4), pages 635-661.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:apecpp:v:39:y:2017:i:4:p:635-661.
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    Cited by:

    1. John Lai & Nicole O. Widmar & Courtney Bir, 2020. "Eliciting Consumer Willingness to Pay for Home Internet Service: Closing the Digital Divide in the State of Indiana," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 263-282, June.
    2. LoPiccalo, Katherine, 2022. "Impact of broadband penetration on U.S. Farm productivity: A panel approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9).
    3. Whitacre, Brian & Gallardo, Roberto, 2020. "State broadband policy: Impacts on availability," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9).
    4. Bai, Yang & Wang, Ryan Yang & Jayakar, Krishna, 2022. "What $2.5 billion can buy: The effect of the Broadband Initiatives Program on farm productivity," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).
    5. Pender, John & Goldstein, Joshua & Mahoney-Nair, Devika, 2022. "Impacts of the Broadband Initiatives Program on broadband adoption and home telework," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8).
    6. Schmit, Todd M. & Severson, Roberta M., 2021. "Exploring the feasibility of rural broadband cooperatives in the United States: The new New Deal?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4).
    7. John Lai & Nicole O. Widmar, 2021. "Revisiting the Digital Divide in the COVID‐19 Era," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 458-464, March.
    8. Jeffcoat, Chris & Davis, Alison F. & Hu, Wuyang, 2012. "Willingness to Pay for Broadband Access by Kentucky Farmers," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 323-334, August.
    9. Deller, Steven & Whitacre, Brian, 2018. "Broadband’s Relationship to Rural Housing Values," Staff Paper Series 591, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    10. Manlove, Jacob & Whitacre, Brian, 2019. "An evaluation of the Connected Nation broadband adoption program," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1-1.
    11. Abrardi, Laura & Cambini, Carlo, 2019. "Ultra-fast broadband investment and adoption: A survey," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 183-198.
    12. Tessa Conroy & Sarah A. Low, 2022. "Entrepreneurship, Broadband, and Gender: Evidence from Establishment Births in Rural America," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 45(1), pages 3-35, January.

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