IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mtu/wpaper/17_03.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effect of Fibre Broadband on Student Learning

Author

Listed:
  • Arthur Grimes

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • Wilbur Townsend

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

Abstract

We estimate the impact of ultra-fast broadband on schools’ academic performance using a difference-in-difference study of a new fibre broadband network. We show that fibre broadband increases primary schools’ passing rates in standardised assessments by roughly one percentage point. Estimates are robust to alternative specifications, such as controlling for time-varying covariates. We find no evidence that gender, ethnic minorities or students enrolled in remote schools benefit disproportionately. However, we find some evidence of a larger benefit within schools that have a greater proportion of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds

Suggested Citation

  • Arthur Grimes & Wilbur Townsend, 2017. "The Effect of Fibre Broadband on Student Learning," Working Papers 17_03, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:17_03
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://motu-www.motu.org.nz/wpapers/17_03.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bulman, G. & Fairlie, R.W., 2016. "Technology and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    2. Fabling, Richard & Grimes, Arthur, 2021. "Picking up speed: Does ultrafast broadband increase firm productivity?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Lisa Barrow & Lisa Markman & Cecilia Elena Rouse, 2009. "Technology's Edge: The Educational Benefits of Computer-Aided Instruction," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 52-74, February.
    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. Eyal Apatov & Nathan Chappell & Arthur Grimes, 2018. "Is internet on the right track? The digital divide, path dependence, and the rollout of New Zealand’s ultra-fast broadband," Working Papers 18_04, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

    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. Peter Bergman, 2020. "Nudging Technology Use: Descriptive and Experimental Evidence from School Information Systems," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 623-647, Fall.
    2. Karthik Muralidharan & Abhijeet Singh & Alejandro J. Ganimian, 2019. "Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(4), pages 1426-1460, April.
    3. Bianchi, Nicola & Lu, Yi & Song, Hong, 2022. "The effect of computer-assisted learning on students’ long-term development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Eric Bettinger & Robert Fairlie & Anastasia Kapuza & Elena Kardanova & Prashant Loyalka & Andrey Zakharov, 2023. "Diminishing Marginal Returns to Computer‐Assisted Learning," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 552-570, March.
    5. Rosa Sanchis-Guarner & José Montalbán & Felix Weinhardt, 2021. "Home Broadband and Human Capital Formation," CESifo Working Paper Series 8846, CESifo.
    6. Oliver Falck & Constantin Mang & Ludger Woessmann, 2018. "Virtually No Effect? Different Uses of Classroom Computers and their Effect on Student Achievement," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 80(1), pages 1-38, February.
    7. Aaron K. Chatterji, 2017. "Innovation and American K-12 Education," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 18, pages 27-51, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. ITO Hirotake & KASAI Keiko & NAKAMURO Makiko, 2019. "Does Computer-aided Instruction Improve Children's Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills?: Evidence from Cambodia," Discussion papers 19040, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    9. Aaron Chatterji, 2017. "Innovation and American K-12 Education," NBER Working Papers 23531, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Yue Ma & Robert W. Fairlie & Prashant Loyalka & Scott Rozelle, 2020. "Isolating the “Tech” from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China," NBER Working Papers 26953, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Naik, Gopal & Chitre, Chetan & Bhalla, Manaswini & Rajan, Jothsna, 2020. "Impact of use of technology on student learning outcomes: Evidence from a large-scale experiment in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    12. Kirabo Jackson & Alexey Makarin, 2018. "Can Online Off-the-Shelf Lessons Improve Student Outcomes? Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 226-254, August.
    13. Derksen, Laura & Michaud-Leclerc, Catherine & Souza, Pedro C.L., 2022. "Restricted access: How the internet can be used to promote reading and learning," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    14. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas S. & Gugler, Klaus, 2019. "A retrospective study on the regional benefits and spillover effects of high-speed broadband networks: Evidence from German counties," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-026, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. Gregorio Gimenez & Luis Vargas-Montoya, 2021. "ICT Use and Successful Learning: The Role of the Stock of Human Capital," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(14), pages 1-15, July.
    16. Jongseok Ahn, 2020. "Unequal Loneliness in the Digitalized Classroom: Two Loneliness Effects of School Computers and Lessons for Sustainable Education in the E-Learning Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, September.
    17. Hisaki Kono & Yasuyuki Sawada & Abu S. Shonchoy, 2016. "DVD-based Distance-learning Program for University Entrance Exams: Experimental Evidence from Rural Bangladesh," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1027, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    18. Bulman, George & Fairlie, Robert W., 2015. "Technology and Education: Computers, Software, and the Internet," IZA Discussion Papers 9432, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Fairlie, Robert W. & Kalil, Ariel, 2017. "The effects of computers on children's social development and school participation: Evidence from a randomized control experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 10-19.
    20. Ava Gail Cas, 2016. "Typhoon Aid and Development: The Effects of Typhoon-Resistant Schools and Instructional Resources on Educational Attainment in the Philippines," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 33(1), pages 183-201, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fibre broadband; UFB; Education; Difference in difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:mtu:wpaper:17_03. 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: Maxine Watene (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/motuenz.html .

    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.