Arbeitspapier

Broadband Internet and Social Capital

We study how the diffusion of broadband Internet affects social capital using two data sets from the UK. Our empirical strategy exploits the fact that broadband access has long depended on customers position in the voice telecommunication infrastructure that was designed in the 1930s. The actual speed of an Internet connection, in fact, rapidly decays with the distance of the dwelling from the specific node of the network serving its area. Merging unique information about the topology of the voice network with geocoded longitudinal data about individual social capital, we show that access to broadband Internet caused a significant decline in forms of offline interaction and civic engagement. Overall, our results suggest that broadband penetration substantially crowded out several aspects of social capital.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: MUNI ECON Working Paper ; No. 2018-01

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡
Thema
ICT
broadband infrastructure
networks
Internet
social capital
civic capital

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Geraci, Andrea
Nardotto, Mattia
Reggiani, Tommaso
Sabatini, Fabio
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Masaryk University, Faculty of Economics and Administration
(wo)
Brno
(wann)
2018

DOI
doi:10.5817/WP_MUNI_ECON_2018-01
Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Geraci, Andrea
  • Nardotto, Mattia
  • Reggiani, Tommaso
  • Sabatini, Fabio
  • Masaryk University, Faculty of Economics and Administration

Entstanden

  • 2018

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