Investment in Rural Broadband Technologies

Internet use has grown rapidly over the last two decades and so has the digital economy’s integration into the rural economy. Connecting to the Internet via high-speed technology such as DSL lines, cable, satellite, and wireless networks increases bandwidth and makes the Internet much more useful to businesses, households, and governments. Rural communities have not been left out of the ever changing Information economy, though there has been an issue of equal access across the rural-urban milieu, but what is driving the investment of broadband Internet technologies in rural areas. We use recently collected data on broadband availability and historical economic and demographic data in our exploration of causal relationships. We use logistic regressions and the geographic levels of measurement are county and sub-county areas. Our analysis, consistent with profit-maximizing firm behavior, clearly shows the effect of population density and per capita income levels have on industry investment and indicate the challenges rural communities have in obtaining and maintaining modern Internet access.

A SIMULATION MODEL OF A POLITICAL ECONOMY

Political Economy,

Rural Broadband Internet Access Supply and Demand

Internet use has grown rapidly over the last 15 years and so has its integration into the rural economy. Connecting to the Internet via high-speed technology such as DSL lines, cable, satellite, and wireless networks increases bandwidth and makes the Internet much more useful to businesses, households, and governments. Rural households are almost as likely as urban households to use the Internet. Broadband Internet access in rural areas has been less prevalent than in much more densely populated areas of the country. Evidence suggests that the difference may lie in the higher cost or less availability of broadband Internet access in rural areas. The paucity of national geographically-specific data, however, presents a challenge in trying to analyze questions of broadband take-up. Data from the June Agricultural Surveys, however, address this. The other difficulty has been obtaining local price in demand analysis. We use ARMS and industry data to develop local broadband service price indices. We use descriptive statistics and binomial logit models in our analysis. The data shows sharp differences in conversion rates across the country, and when also considering the changes over time giving some credence to the common hypothesis that people do choose to use broadband if given the option. Farms were unlikely to make the direct jump from no Internet use to Internet use with broadband access; farms that already had Internet access were more likely to convert to broadband Internet access. Some of the farms that did not convert already had broadband Internet access by 2005, roughly 24 percent of all farms using the Internet in 2005. The preponderance of DSL service for farms indicates both the mostly rural location of most farms as well as Internet users finding satellite a less desirable option. While broadband Internet access availability is necessary for take-up of broadband Internet access, there are other factors that are also limiting broadband Internet use such as price of access, age of user, household income, and educational attainment.broadband Internet access, rural communities, farm communities, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, O33, R0,

COMMUNITY ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF POPULATION CHANGE IN THE MID-CONTINENT REGION

Population estimates for counties in the Mid-Continent Region were compiled by multi-county economic area for 1950, 1960, 1970, 1974, and 1976. Net migration estimates were compiled, also, by economic area. Finally, community economic effects for a metropolitan area and a nonmetropolitan area in Minnesota were estimated in terms of local government and personal income and expenditures and their relation to population change.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

MINNESOTA ECONOMIC INDICATORS: PART II METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF EXPORT-PRODUCING INDUSTRY IN MINNESOTA

In this report, the role and importance of export-producing industries in Minnesota are discussed. Major emphasis is on agricultural-related industries and their economic importance to the State in value of gross output and contribution to gross state product.Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Relations/Trade,

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF EXPORT-PRODUCING INDUSTRY IN MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL METROPOLITAN REGION

Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Relations/Trade,

The Determinants of On-Farm Renewable Energy Adoption

Agribusiness, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE-RELATED INDUSTRY IN MINNESOTA

This report is the third in a series on interindustry and interregional relationships and their implications for the economy of Minnesota and its substate development regions. In this report, the role and importance of agriculture-related industries in Minnesota are discussed. A total of 19 agriculture and 35 food products manufacturing industries are identified as the principal agriculture-related industries in the state and the nation. Their interindustry and interregional (Minnesota and rest-of-nation) linkages are derived for the 1977 calendar year.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

MINNESOTA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH IN RECESSION AND RECOVERY: PART I

This report presents statistical reference series for the study and projection of Minnesota's economic outlook in the 1980's. The reference series serve as baseline forecasts for the assessment on Minnesota's job and income prospects in its basic industries, including agriculture, forestry, mining, manufacturing and services for nonresidents in work and leisure activities. In Part I, two sets of baseline forecasts are presented, namely, short-term quarter-year and long-term five-year forecasts of industry employment and personal earnings and income.Community/Rural/Urban Development,