Nuovi strumenti di sviluppo locale: l’effetto delle infrastrutture digitali sulla creazione di lavoro autonomo. Analisi di un caso applicato nello stato di New York

The aim of this paper is to analyze the way broadband network externalities affect local development, through the creation of new jobs. In particular, I look at network effects that positively influence the creation of self-employment opportunities for people who are active on the job market. Self-employment and entrepreneurship are seen by the literature as drivers of sustainable economic growth. From a microeconomic perspective, they are the result of individual capacities in reacting to economic disequilibrium; therefore, people who are endowed with entrepreneurial abilities would take advantage of exogenous changes. Broadband and the Internet have completely changed the way work is done in many sectors: they have substantially lowered transaction costs and reduced the minimum efficiency scale of production. Also, they lower coordination costs and the risks of entering new markets. By looking at the effects of digital environment on self-employment rates in New York State counties, the paper disentangles the relationship between two important aspects of the contemporary public policy debate: policies to recover from the economic crisis and create new jobs and policies that try to increase broadband availability and affordability within local communities.