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This article provides a systematic review of the quantitative social science research on broadband Internet technology in rural areas. Specifically, we summarize the literature on 1) rural broadband availability and adoption behaviors and 2) the implications of these behaviors for rural businesses, public policy initiatives, and regional development. In the studies reviewed, rural areas suffer from both lower availability and lower adoption rates compared to their urban counterparts. However, researchers disagree on whether supply frictions inherent to rural areas or heterogeneous demand and adoption behaviors are the major cause of this outcome. Researchers widely agree that high-speed Internet improves economic outcomes of rural areas, whether it is through increases in business activity or in more general economic development measures (e.g. productivity, jobs, income). Impact evaluations of rural broadband policy initiatives produced mixed results, highlighting the need for a better understanding of agents' incentives. This review points to four areas for future research. One, assessments of the long-term impact of broadband on rural economies. Two, analyses of the net effect of broadband on economic development outcomes (e.g. migrants, job creation). Three, assessments of economic development impacts associated with broadband speed. Four, assessments of the efficacy of broadband policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews sources of uncertainty in broadband provision data from Federal Communications Commission's Form 477 database, which is the largest publicly available broadband database for the United States. This uncertainty analysis reveals that reporting thresholds result in understating of broadband in rural areas serviced by smaller providers in the 1999–2004 ZIP code area dataset. In this same time series, the routine used to aggregate data to larger spatial units (i.e., counties) produces variations in the amount of autocorrelation detected by diagnostic spatial statistics. The amount of autocorrelation in the data also varies with the strategy implemented for interpolating suppressed data. This investigation also highlights the value of a spatial approach to visualizing and analyzing the impact of uncertainty on broadband availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are concerns across government, industry, and academia over the inadequacies of data on broadband Internet connections. These inadequacies are important to consider because government policies and regulations, industry strategies, and scholarly research can be impacted by inaccurate or distorted data. Given that there are ongoing discussions about policy initiatives to improve these data, this article sets out to critically review publicly available data, identify important limitations of these data, and profile studies that have used these data successfully. In this review, the dynamic nature of broadband data will be discussed and the tradeoffs of pursuing further investments to create better databases evaluated. This evaluation suggests a more fruitful research path would be to recognize and work around existing data drawbacks, using the studies profiled in this article as examples, to explore a multitude of issues related to broadband availability, adoption, and use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although broadband Internet infrastructure is acknowledged as a key ingredient to competitiveness, an unfortunate aspect of current work is the dominant focus on households. Given the need for more research on the multidimensional relationship between broadband and businesses, or the broadband-business nexus, this study estimates econometric models to evaluate the impact of early broadband availability on future levels of business activity. Model results suggest regions with an early advantage in broadband provision had more business growth than other regions. Model results also highlight long-lasting spatial effects on business activity stemming from broadband spillovers from core hubs to neighboring areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is recognized that the Internet and entrepreneurial opportunity are linked, the majority of studies analyzing business use of the Internet focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To address a need for adoption studies focused on new ventures, which differ from SMEs in terms of organizational stage and number of employees, this study analyzes survey data from entrepreneurs to understand factors that influence the adoption of multiple Internet and social media platforms, and the role of business incubation facilities in providing information technology assistance to these ventures. Regression analysis of survey data reveal that prior entrepreneurial experience was the most important factor in explaining a diverse number of Internet application and social media use. This finding likely stems from differences in cognitive frameworks between novice and experienced entrepreneurs, which impacts their ability to recognize opportunities and respond to technological change. The location of a new venture within a business incubation facility did not help in the diverse use of Internet applications. This result did vary by gender as model results highlighted that women in business incubation facilities were more likely to use a diversity of Internet applications than those not located in these facilities. These findings point to policy implications regarding the implementation of technology training programs for female entrepreneurs, and digital awareness/ training for novice entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigate the connection between broadband and new business activity. • Instrumental variables approach based on development of the Internet by the U.S. military. • Broadband availability was associated with an increase in new business activity. • Broadband was associated net creation of new businesses. • Broadband may have crowded out business activity in the manufacturing industry. Research investigating the linkages between broadband and new business activity in countries around the world produce mixed results related to important nuances in this relationship pertaining to industry characteristics, geography, and the skill level of the workforce. Given these nuances, the goal of this study is to investigate the connection between broadband availability and new business activity, building on regional and rural-focused studies within the United States. Specifically, our paper conducts a nationwide assessment of the relationship between broadband and new business activity, in the early years of broadband in the late 1990s/early 2000s when it had the most potential to disrupt industries and open up new entrepreneurial opportunities. Using an instrumental variables approach based on the development of the Internet by the U.S. military, we estimate the impact of broadband availability on total and net new business creation. Results suggest that access to broadband was associated with an increase in new business activity and net creation of new businesses. We also find evidence that access to broadband was important in the creation of businesses in knowledge- oriented industries who benefited from the rise of the Internet. At the same time, we also find broadband may have crowded out business activity in the manufacturing industry. Combined, our results suggest disruptive innovations related to broadband Internet connections are important for small business creation in many, but not all industries. Given these linkages, expanding access to broadband may help generate new business activity and business growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Problems with currently available broadband data sources highlight the pressing need for novel data analytical methods and tools that enable policy makers to explore broadband market dynamics. Given this pressing need, the goal of this paper is to discuss the current state-of-the-art in geovisual analytic tools that could be applied to broadband analysis and demonstrate how these toolkits may be applied to answer important policy questions about the spatio-temporal evolution of broadband markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of broadband expansion on rural firms in the United States. It acknowledges the historical disparities in broadband availability between rural and urban areas and discusses the government's efforts to improve infrastructure. The article examines how broadband access affects local economies and innovation networks, and predicts changes in rural firms' innovative activities with improved access. It also discusses the benefits and challenges of broadband access for rural businesses, including increased competition. The article emphasizes the importance of policy support for rural innovation and suggests programs to educate rural business owners on utilizing broadband effectively. Overall, the article highlights the potential benefits of broadband access for rural firms and calls for further research and policy formulation to support rural growth. [Extracted from the article]