Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/147383 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 6129
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This article analyzes the impact of a local broadband expansion policy on electoral turnout and party vote share. We exploit a unique policy intervention involving staged broadband infrastructure installation across rural municipalities in the Province of Trento (Italy), thus generating a source of exogenous (spatial and temporal) variation in the provision of advanced broadband technology (ADSL2+). Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we find positive effects of broadband availability on overall electoral turnout at national parliamentary elections. Party vote share analysis shows significant shifts across the ideological spectrum. These shifts, however, are likely transitory rather than persistent. Placebo estimations support a causal interpretation of our results. We provide further evidence that broadband availability is linked to actual adoption in that the broadband policy increased overall Internet and broadband take-up among private households.
Subjects: 
broadband internet
political participation
voting behavior
quasi-natural experiment
JEL: 
D72
L82
L86
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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