IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infosf/v17y2015i5d10.1007_s10796-014-9485-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does better Internet access lead to more adoption? A new empirical study using household relocation

Author

Listed:
  • Junzhao Ma

    (Monash University)

  • Qingyi Huang

    (Peking University)

Abstract

In the past decade, governments around the world have made significant investments to improve Internet access in underserved areas. Yet there is scant evidence on how effective these measures are at increasing Internet adoption and narrowing the digital divide. In this paper, we empirically investigate the effect of the supply of Internet access on Internet adoption. The main empirical challenge is the issue of endogeneity, as Internet service providers (ISPs) selectively enter markets based on local demand characteristics. We propose a novel solution to this problem using a panel dataset of households that relocate to different Internet access supply conditions. We find that the supply of Internet access has little effect on Internet adoption: underserved markets—those with fewer than 4 ISPs—exhibit levels of adoption comparable to well-served markets with plenty of service providers. Our findings suggest that the highly touted government initiatives to boost Internet access in underserved areas are likely to have limited impact on adoption rate in those regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Junzhao Ma & Qingyi Huang, 2015. "Does better Internet access lead to more adoption? A new empirical study using household relocation," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 1097-1110, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:17:y:2015:i:5:d:10.1007_s10796-014-9485-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10796-014-9485-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10796-014-9485-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10796-014-9485-6?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. Young Mee Shin & Seung Chang Lee & Bongsik Shin & Ho Geun Lee, 2010. "Examining influencing factors of post-adoption usage of mobile internet: Focus on the user perception of supplier-side attributes," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 12(5), pages 595-606, November.
    2. Billon, Margarita & Marco, Rocio & Lera-Lopez, Fernando, 0. "Disparities in ICT adoption: A multidimensional approach to study the cross-country digital divide," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10-11), pages 596-610, November.
    3. Yogesh K. Dwivedi & Anastasia Papazafeiropoulou & Willem-Paul Brinkman & Banita Lal, 2010. "Examining the influence of service quality and secondary influence on the behavioural intention to change internet service provider," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 207-217, April.
    4. Bresnahan, Timothy F & Reiss, Peter C, 1991. "Entry and Competition in Concentrated Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(5), pages 977-1009, October.
    5. Downes, Tom & Greenstein, Shane, 2002. "Universal access and local internet markets in the US," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1035-1052, September.
    6. Jyoti Choudrie & Anastasia Papazafeiropoulou, 2007. "Assessing the UK policies for broadband adoption," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 297-308, July.
    7. Xiaojun Zhang & Likoebe M. Maruping, 2008. "Household technology adoption in a global marketplace: Incorporating the role of espoused cultural values," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 403-413, September.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Susan A. Brown, 2008. "Household technology adoption, use, and impacts: Past, present, and future," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 397-402, September.
    12. N. Seshagiri, 1999. "The Informatics Policy in India," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 107-116, July.
    13. Oecd, 2011. "National Broadband Plans," OECD Digital Economy Papers 181, OECD Publishing.
    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. Polyxeni Vassilakopoulou & Eli Hustad, 2023. "Bridging Digital Divides: a Literature Review and Research Agenda for Information Systems Research," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 955-969, June.
    2. Silvana Rossy Brito & Aleksandra Socorro da Silva & Eulália Carvalho Mata & Nandamudi Lankalapalli Vijaykumar & Cláudio Alex Jorge Rocha & Maurílio Abreu Monteiro & João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque Co, 0. "An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    3. Silvana Rossy Brito & Aleksandra Socorro da Silva & Eulália Carvalho Mata & Nandamudi Lankalapalli Vijaykumar & Cláudio Alex Jorge Rocha & Maurílio Abreu Monteiro & João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque Co, 2018. "An approach to evaluate large-scale ICT training interventions," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 883-899, August.

    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. Chulhwan Chris Bang, 2015. "Information systems frontiers: Keyword analysis and classification," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 217-237, February.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Xiao, Mo & Orazem, Peter F., 2011. "Does the fourth entrant make any difference?: Entry and competition in the early U.S. broadband market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 547-561, September.
    5. Hitt, Lorin & Tambe, Prasanna, 2007. "Broadband adoption and content consumption," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 362-378, October.
    6. Kolko, Jed, 2006. "Why Should Governments Support Broadband Adoption?," MPRA Paper 3363, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Jason Chan & Anindya Ghose & Robert Seamans, 2013. "The Internet and Hate Crime: Offline Spillovers from Online Access," Working Papers 13-02, NET Institute.
    8. Grubesic, Tony H., 2006. "A spatial taxonomy of broadband regions in the United States," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 423-448, November.
    9. Gabor Molnar & Scott J. Savage, 2017. "Market Structure and Broadband Internet Quality," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 73-104, March.
    10. Jaume Benseny & Juuso Toyli & Heikki Hammainen & Andr'es Arcia-Moret, 2019. "The mitigating role of regulation on the concentric patterns of broadband diffusion. The case of Finland," Papers 1905.03002, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2020.
    11. Sean Lyons, 2014. "Timing and determinants of local residential broadband adoption: evidence from Ireland," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1341-1363, December.
    12. Rosston Gregory L. & Savage Scott J & Waldman Donald M, 2010. "Household Demand for Broadband Internet in 2010," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-45, September.
    13. 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.
    14. Elizabeth A. Mack, 2015. "Variations in the Broadband-Business Connection across the Urban Hierarchy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 400-423, September.
    15. Downes, Tom & Greenstein, Shane, 2007. "Understanding why universal service obligations may be unnecessary: The private development of local Internet access markets," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 2-26, July.
    16. Mahfuz Ashraf & Jo Hanisch & Paul Swatman, 2009. "ICT intervention in the ‘Chandanbari’ Village of Bangladesh: Results from a field study," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 155-166, April.
    17. Savage, Scott James & Waldman, Donald M., 2009. "Ability, location and household demand for Internet bandwidth," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 166-174, March.
    18. Filippo Belloc & Antonio Nicita & Maria Alessandra Rossi, 2011. "The Nature, Timing and Impact of Broadband Policies: a Panel Analysis of 30 OECD Countries," Department of Economics University of Siena 615, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    19. Song, Moohoun & Orazem, Peter & Singh, Rajesh, 2006. "Broadband Access, Telecommuting and the Urban-Rural Digital Divide," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12495, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    20. Amitay Alter, 2006. "The Effect of Access Regulation on Broadbnd Deployment," Discussion Papers 06-017, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

    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:spr:infosf:v:17:y:2015:i:5:d:10.1007_s10796-014-9485-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.