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引用次数: 51
摘要
在本文中,我旨在量化更高的宽带速度(10 Mbps vs 25 Mbps)与美国县重要经济成果(包括就业、个人收入和劳动收入)增长率之间的关系。这样做暴露了宽带经济影响研究中存在严重选择偏差的可能性,本研究使用粗化精确匹配来解决这一问题。一旦平衡,数据显示,2013年和2015年(当数据可用时)之间的15 Mbps速度差异没有任何经济回报。我还回顾了一项早期被广泛引用的关于宽带对就业影响的研究,以评估选择偏差的可能影响,并得出结论,该特定研究中报告的宽带的积极好处可能是虚假的。选择偏差问题可能会影响其他关于宽带互联网服务经济影响的研究。未来关于宽带经济影响的研究应该明确解决选择偏差。
Is Faster Better? Quantifying the Relationship between Broadband Speed and Economic Growth
Abstract In this paper, I aim to quantify the relationship between higher broadband speeds (10 Mbps versus 25 Mbps) and the growth rates in important economic outcomes in U.S. counties including jobs, personal income, and labor earnings. Doing so exposes the potential for severe selection bias in studies of broadband's economic impact, which is addressed in this study using Coarsened Exact Matching. Once balanced, the data reveal no economic payoff from the 15 Mbps speed difference between the years 2013 and 2015 (when data is available). I also revisit an early and widely-cited study on broadband's effect on employment to evaluate the possible impacts of selection bias, and conclude that the positive benefits of broadband reported in that particular study are likely spurious. The selection bias problem may infect other studies on the economic impacts of broadband Internet services. Future research on broadband's economic impact should explicitly address selection bias.