The impact of broadband diffusion in Trentino

The main scope of this project is to evaluate the impact of broadband infrastructure diffusion in the Province of Trento on a range of social and economic outcomes. The analyses exploit a unique policy intervention of a staged broadband infrastructure (20 Mbps) installation across municipalities, generating a source of exogenous (spatial and temporal) variation in high-speed internet accessibility. The policy addressed those municipalities in the region that, by 2011, were not yet equipped with broadband access points. The proposed research is of considerable policy relevance in view of a public strategy aimed at increasing economic development and competitiveness of mainly rural areas in the region. Furthermore, the contents of the project provide new contributions to a growing international literature investigating the economic effects of technological change. In particular, the project aims at evaluating effects at the firm level, with a strong focus on the economic performance of micro-enterprises. Additional aspects studied include the policies’ impact on social and political outcomes. The project has been carried out upon the agreement <Microimprese> signed by FBK-IRVAPP and ISPAT within the Memorandum of understanding for the Realization of Statistical Analyses.