IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/56177.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Regional inequalities in the impact of broadband on productivity: Evidence from Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Jung, Juan

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to perform an analysis of the impact of broadband on regional productivity in Brazil. The possibility of performing a regional approach, instead of the usual country-level analysis, constitutes an opportunity to decode the economic impact of broadband at territories which share a common institutional and regulatory framework as are the regions inside a same country. The main focus of this paper is to find out if the economic impact of broadband is uniform across all territories of the country. Results suggest that the impact of broadband on productivity is not uniform across regions, and seems to be yielding higher productivity gains for less developed regions, a result which is robust after controlling for differences in quality, network effects, human capital, sectorial composition, urbanism and the age of the workforce. Another important result verified in this paper is that faster download speed and critical mass to account for network externalities enhance of the economic impact of broadband. The fact that most underdeveloped regions in Brazil seem to be benefiting more from broadband may suggest that broadband can constitute a factor favoring regional cohesion in Brazil, although further research will be needed to confirm that asseveration.

Suggested Citation

  • Jung, Juan, 2014. "Regional inequalities in the impact of broadband on productivity: Evidence from Brazil," MPRA Paper 56177, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:56177
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/56177/1/MPRA_paper_56177.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 679-741, Elsevier.
    2. Lars-Hendrik Roller & Leonard Waverman, 2001. "Telecommunications Infrastructure and Economic Development: A Simultaneous Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 909-923, September.
    3. Menzie D. Chinn & Robert W. Fairlie, 2007. "The determinants of the global digital divide: a cross-country analysis of computer and internet penetration," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 16-44, January.
    4. Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2015. "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3150-3182, October.
    5. 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.
    6. Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman & Erik Bohlin, 2012. "Does broadband speed really matter as a driver of economic growth? Investigating OECD countries," International Journal of Management and Network Economics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(4), pages 336-356.
    7. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    8. Basant, Rakesh & Commander, Simon & Harrison, Rupert & Menezes-Filho, Naercio, 2006. "ICT Adoption and Productivity in Developing Countries: New Firm Level Evidence from Brazil and India," IZA Discussion Papers 2294, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Rohman, Ibrahim Kholilul & Bohlin, Erik, 2012. "Does broadband speed really matter for driving economic growth? Investigating OECD countries," 23rd European Regional ITS Conference, Vienna 2012 60385, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    10. Barrios, Salvador & Navajas Cawood, Elena, 2008. "The Location of ICT activities in EU regions. Implications for regional policies," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 13, pages 179-210.
    11. Elizabeth Mack & Alessandra Faggian, 2013. "Productivity and Broadband," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 36(3), pages 392-423, July.
    12. Vicente, María Rosalía & López, Ana Jesús, 2011. "Assessing the regional digital divide across the European Union-27," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 220-237, April.
    13. Bertschek, Irene & Cerquera, Daniel & Klein, Gordon J., 2011. "More bits - more bucks? Measuring the impact of broadband internet on firm performance," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-032, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    14. -, 2011. "Fast-tracking the digital revolution: broadband for Latin America and the Caribbean," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35345, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    15. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for cross-country income differences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 5266, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Frieden, Rob, 2005. "Lessons from broadband development in Canada, Japan, Korea and the United States," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 595-613, September.
    17. Margarita Billon & Roberto Ezcurra & Fernando Lera‐López, 2009. "Spatial Effects in Website Adoption by Firms in European Regions," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 54-84, March.
    18. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    19. Nina Czernich & Oliver Falck & Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 505-532, May.
    20. Quah, Danny, 2000. "Internet cluster emergence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 2220, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. Harrison, R. Wes, 2013. "R. Wes Harrison," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 45, pages 1-2, August.
    22. Nicholas Bloom & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2012. "Americans Do IT Better: US Multinationals and the Productivity Miracle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 167-201, February.
    23. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2000. "Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 23-48, Fall.
    24. Norton, Seth W, 1992. "Transaction Costs, Telecommunications, and the Microeconomics of Macroeconomic Growth," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 175-196, October.
    25. Koutroumpis, Pantelis, 2009. "The economic impact of broadband on growth: A simultaneous approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 471-485, October.
    26. Quah, Danny, 2000. "Internet cluster emergence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(4-6), pages 1032-1044, May.
    27. Thomas Hempell, 2005. "What’s spurious, what’s real? Measuring the productivity impacts of ICT at the firm-level," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 427-464, September.
    28. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for cross-country income differences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 3567, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    29. Lei Ding & Kingsley Haynes & Yanchun Liu, 2008. "Telecommunications infrastructure and regional income convergence in China: panel data approaches," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(4), pages 843-861, December.
    30. Barrios, Salvador & Mas, Matilde & Navajas, Elena & Quesada, Javier, 2008. "Mapping the ICT in EU Regions: Location, Employment, Factors of Attractiveness and Economic Impact," MPRA Paper 6998, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    31. Leff, Nathaniel H, 1984. "Externalities, Information Costs, and Social Benefit-Cost Analysis for Economic Development: An Example from Telecommunications," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 255-276, January.
    32. Galperin, Hernán & Ruzzier, Christian A., 2013. "Price elasticity of demand for broadband: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 429-438.
    33. Arvanitis, Spyros & Loukis, Euripidis N., 2009. "Information and communication technologies, human capital, workplace organization and labour productivity: A comparative study based on firm-level data for Greece and Switzerland," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 43-61, February.
    34. Danny Quah, 2000. "Internet Cluster Emergence," CEP Discussion Papers dp0441, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    35. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    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. Đorđe Mitrović, 2015. "Broadband Adoption, Digital Divide, And The Global Economic Competitiveness Of Western Balkan Countries," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 60(207), pages 95-116, September.

    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. Jung, Juan & López-Bazo, Enrique, 2020. "On the regional impact of broadband on productivity: The case of Brazil," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    2. Edquist, Harald, 2022. "The economic impact of mobile broadband speed," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    3. Calvin Jones & Dylan Henderson, 2019. "Broadband and uneven spatial development: The case of Cardiff City-Region," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(3), pages 228-247, May.
    4. Gómez-Barroso, José Luis & Marbán-Flores, Raquel, 2020. "Telecommunications and economic development – The 21st century: Making the evidence stronger," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2).
    5. Angrist,Noam & Djankov,Simeon & Goldberg,Pinelopi Koujianou & Patrinos,Harry Anthony, 2019. "Measuring Human Capital," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8742, The World Bank.
    6. Koopman, Eline & Wacker, Konstantin M., 2023. "Drivers of growth accelerations: What role for capital accumulation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    7. Jones, C.I., 2016. "The Facts of Economic Growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 3-69, Elsevier.
    8. Lenkei, Balint & Mustafa, Ghulam & Vecchi, Michela, 2018. "Growth in emerging economies: Is there a role for education?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 240-253.
    9. Gallardo-Albarrán, Daniel, 2018. "Health and economic development since 1900," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 228-237.
    10. García-Belenguer, Fernando & Santos, Manuel S., 2013. "Investment rates and the aggregate production function," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 150-169.
    11. Nurullah Gur, 2015. "Trust and the wealth of nations," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 15(2), pages 107-124, April.
    12. Edquist, Harald & Goodridge, Peter & Haskel, Jonathan & Li, Xuan & Lindquist, Edward, 2018. "How important are mobile broadband networks for the global economic development?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 16-29.
    13. Arif, Imran, 2019. "How Tall Are the Paper Walls? Barriers to International Mobility and Technology Diusion," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 49(2), October.
    14. Uwe Sunde & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & Armin Falkbriq & David Huffman & Gerrit Meyerheim, 2022. "Patience and Comparative Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2806-2840.
    15. Abdulqadir, Idris A. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-61.
    16. Kose,Ayhan & Ohnsorge,Franziska Lieselotte & Ye,Lei Sandy & Islamaj,Ergys, 2017. "Weakness in investment growth : causes, implications and policy responses," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7990, The World Bank.
    17. Oscar Hernán Cerquera Losada & María de los Ángeles Clavijo Tovar & Carla Yanella Pérez Peña, 2022. "Capital humano y crecimiento económico: evidencia empírica para Suramérica," Apuntes del Cenes, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, vol. 41(73), pages 143-167, February.
    18. Piyusha Mutreja & Michael Sposi & B. Ravikumar, 2018. "Capital Goods Trade, Relative Prices and Economic Development," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 27, pages 101-122, January.
    19. Rui Castro & Pavel Ševčík, 2024. "Occupational choice, human capital and financial constraints," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 674-703, August.
    20. Dalgaard, Carl-Johan & Strulik, Holger, 2013. "The history augmented Solow model," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 134-149.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Broadband; Information and Communication Technologies; Regional Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    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:pra:mprapa:56177. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.