Showing papers by "Brian E. Whitacre published in 2014"

Does rural broadband impact jobs and income? Evidence from spatial and first-differenced regressions

Abstract: In order to better understand the association between broadband and jobs/income in non-metropolitan counties, this study conducts spatial and first-differenced regressions using recent data from the Federal Communications Commission and the National Broadband Map. The relationships between broadband adoption/availability and jobs/income in rural areas are analyzed after controlling for a host of potentially influential variables such as age, race, educational attainment, transportation infrastructure, and the presence of natural amenities. Results from spatial error models using 2011 data provide evidence that high levels of broadband adoption in non-metro counties are positively related to the number of firms and total employees in those counties. The first-differenced regressions use data from 2008 and 2011 to suggest that increases in broadband adoption levels are associated with increases in median household income and the percentage of non-farm proprietors in non-metro counties. Interestingly, simply obtaining increases in broadband availability (not adoption) over this time has no statistical impact on either jobs or income.

How Connected Are Our Farms

Abstract: Policymakers are typically aware of the discrepancy in broadband availability and adoption between rural and urban areas. The latest data from the National Broadband Map (NBM) suggests that while 100% of urban residents have access to at least one wired broadband provider, only 78% of rural residents do (National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA), 2014). This has sig nificant implications for rural households and businesses, and the issue has received attention in the form of federal broadband grants and loans for rural populations (Kruger and Gilroy, 2013). However, one piece of the puzzle has been notably missing from discussions regarding rural broadband and future economic growth: the importance of fast, reliable internet access for growth in agricultural productivity. The rise of “precision agriculture” combined with increasing interest in the use of “telematics” and “big data” for agriculture, raises the question of how available broadband connectivity is for U.S. farms. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2012 Census of Agriculture indicates that 70% of all farms have internet access, up from 57% in 2007 (USDA, 2009; and USDA, 2014a). However, a significant number of those connections were via technologies that may not be adequate when it comes to accessing and delivering the large quantities of data that are associated with some precision agriculture processes. In particular, many farmers use dialup (7%), satellite (13%), or mobile broadband (13%)— typically via cellular networks. The Federal Communica tions Commission (FCC) currently defines broadband as 4 Megabytes per second (Mbps) download speed and 1 Mbps upload. The availability of broadband for farm of fices and land in production has serious implications for the future of agriculture. In particular, a lack of broadband connectivity could hinder the adoption of precision agricultural processes and negatively impact any associated productivity and efficiency gains. We take an introductory look at the connectivity available on U.S. farms by examining the broadband availability for counties with high levels of crop production. These are also the areas where precision agriculture adoption rates would be the highest; they could be the most likely to employ telematics and participate in the usage of big data in decision making initially.

Do broadband adoption rates impact a community's health?

Abstract: As broadband Internet access becomes more common, researchers have focused on the ways that it might improve society. As part of this effort, we seek to determine whether increasing levels of broad...

Long-Term Economic Impacts of USDA Water and Sewer Infrastructure Investments in Oklahoma

Abstract: One of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s most popular programs is the funding for public water and sewer infrastructure projects in rural communities. This article reviews the water and sewer infrastructure projects funded in the state of Oklahoma between 1990 and 2000 and evaluates their impact on different measures of economic growth over both the short (one to 10 years) and long (10 to 20 years) term. Evaluation techniques include multivariate regression and average treatment effects. Results suggest that although most economic growth measures (population, income levels, and poverty levels) are not impacted by the program, housing values do show a statistically significant increase in communities receiving water or sewer infrastructure funding over the long term.