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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Briglauer, Wolfgang; Katz, Raúl L.; Jung, Juan |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a comprehensive empirical analysis of the economic impact of submarine cable (SMC) infrastructure, which is critical for global digital connectivity and carries almost all intercontinental data traffic. Despite their fundamental role in the digital economy, robust evidence on the economic returns of SMC investments is very scarce. To address this, we use a panel dataset of developed countries and causal identification strategies, such as two-way fixed effects models and instrumental variables exploiting exogenous variation from factors like a country's coastline length and legacy market competition. First, our analysis establishes that increased international bandwidth (IBW) capacity resulting from submarine cable deployment significantly improves broadband quality by increasing speeds and reducing latency. We then quantify the impact on broadband demand, finding distinct yet robust demand elasticities for mobile and fixed services. We find that a 1% increase in IBW capacity drives mobile broadband demand up between 0.044% and 0.088%, while the increase for fixed broadband demand is slightly lower at between 0.041% and 0.062%. Finally, we translate these estimates into a simple cost-benefit framework using an illustrative transatlantic cable project connecting Ireland and the United States. This analysis shows that the substantial GDP spillovers - quantified at between US$121.05 billion and US$163.09 billion for the Irish landing site alone - overwhelmingly exceed the total private deployment costs of $180-$260 million. Our findings affirm that SMC deployments generate significant positive externalities and high social returns. While it has been argued that these effects are critical to developing nations lacking infrastructure, our findings indicate this to also be applicable to advanced economies. Consequently, we argue that policymakers in coastal nations have a strong economic incentive to facilitate private investment by reducing regulatory barriers and transaction costs associated with, for example, cable permits and landing stations. |
| Abstract: | Dieses Papier bietet eine umfassende empirische Analyse der wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen von Unterseekabel-Infrastruktur (SMC), die für die globale digitale Konnektivität von entscheidender Bedeutung ist und nahezu den gesamten interkontinentalen Datenverkehr trägt. Trotz ihrer fundamentalen Rolle in der digitalen Wirtschaft gibt es bislang nur sehr wenige belastbare Belege über die wirtschaftlichen Erträge von Investitionen in Unterseekabel. Um diese Lücke zu schließen, verwenden wir ein Panel-Datenset entwickelter Länder sowie kausale Identifikationsstrategien wie Zwei-Wege-Fixed-Effects-Modelle und Instrumentvariablen, die exogene Variationen aus Faktoren wie der Küstenlänge eines Landes und dem historischen Wettbewerbsniveau auf dem Markt nutzen. |
| Keywords: | Submarine cables, economic impact, costs and benefits, panel econometrics |
| JEL: | L50 L52 L86 L96 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ecoarp:328265 |
| By: | Marcos Delprato |
| Abstract: | The high prevalence of students not achieving the basic competencies in Latin America is concerning. Even more so given the region's deep structural inequalities and the larger post-pandemic regional learning losses. Within this scenario, this paper contributes to the identification of the determinants of bottom and low performers (below level 2) using recent advancements on explainable machine learning methods. In particular, relying on PISA 2022 data for 10 countries and using the Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) analysis, I identify critical factors impacting on the student performance across low performers groups. I find that a student with the highest probability of being a not achiever speaks a minority language and had repeated, has no digital devices at home, comes from a poor family and works for payment half of the week, and the school he/she attends has wide disadvantages such as bad school climate, weak ICT infrastructure and poor teaching quality (only a third of teachers being certified). Regarding countries' estimates, I find quite homogeneous patterns as far as global average contribution of top ranked factors is concerned, with repetition at primary, household wealth, and educational ICT inputs being top ten ranked covariates in at least 8 out of the 10 total countries. The paper findings contribute to the broad literature on strategies to identify and to target those most left behind in Latin American education systems. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.24508 |
| By: | Marc Bourreau (Telecom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, CREST, France, and CESifo); Lukasz Grzybowski (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Ángela Muñoz-Acevedo (Deloitte Finance) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the potential crowding out of private investment by public subsidies in the deployment of broadband fiber networks. We estimate a model of fiber entry using a rich dataset on fiber deployment for more than 34, 000 municipalities in mainland France from 2014 to 2019. We then assess whether private investment would have occurred in subsidized municipalities in the absence of state aid. We find that in 36% of cases, public subsidies were allocated to municipalities where private entry would have occurred within three years. We estimate that about 902 million euros of the total 2, 203 million euros in total subsidies disbursed by the end of 2019 may have crowded out private investment. However, we also show that the French broadband plan accelerated fiber coverage in subsidized municipalities in the early stages of deployment. |
| Keywords: | State Aid, Ex-Post Evaluation, Broadband, Entry, Coverage, Crowding Out |
| JEL: | D22 L1 L4 L33 L96 H44 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2025-24 |
| By: | Maarouf, Abdurahman; Greene, Kevin T.; Shapiro, Jacob N; Feuerriegel, Stefan (LMU Munich); Ribeiro, Manoel Horta |
| Abstract: | Short-form video platforms, such as TikTok, have rapidly transformed digital media consumption, with billions of active users worldwide. Their design features, such as algorithmic personalization, endless scrolling, and rapid novelty, have raised concerns about mobile overuse and its associated adverse effects on well-being. However, evidence on whether short-form videos increase mobile usage remains limited. To address this gap, we estimate the causal effect of short-form video platforms on mobile usage behavior using individual-level data (N=1, 764) drawn from a representative panel of U.S. mobile device users. Specifically, we compare TikTok adopters to adopters of Instagram/Facebook during the period when short-form video was the key distinguishing feature of TikTok (i.e., before these competitors introduced their own short-form video products), thereby shedding light on the effect of exposure to short-form videos. We find that using short-form video platforms significantly increases total mobile usage duration (up to 17%) and reduces average time away from the mobile phone (by -20%), but does not consistently affect the number of daily sessions. Effects are disproportionately higher among individuals who previously used their phones less, relative to those with higher baseline usage. Contrary to fears about nocturnal overuse, effects are only significant during daytime hours. Surprisingly, older individuals have significantly larger increases in mobile sessions per day from usage of short-form video platforms compared to younger individuals. Altogether, our results show a behavioral mechanism through which short-form video platforms contribute to mobile overuse, offering new insights into theories of digital addiction and highlighting the importance of promoting healthier digital engagement. |
| Date: | 2025–10–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:nge76_v1 |
| By: | Juiher El Mahdi (Université Ibn Zohr = Ibn Zohr University [Agadir]); Ourdi Hmad (Université Ibn Zohr = Ibn Zohr University [Agadir]); Guerguer Anass (Université Ibn Zohr = Ibn Zohr University [Agadir]) |
| Abstract: | The digital transformation of public administration depends to a large extent on user acceptance of the digital services on offer. This study explores the determinants of intention to adopt public e-services through an integrated model mobilizing variables from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and specific institutional dimensions. Using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method, a structural model was tested on a sample of 100 respondents. The results show that ease of use, source credibility and institutional virality have a significant and positive effect on adoption intention. On the other hand, perceived usefulness and subjective norms showed no positive effect, suggesting an appropriation dynamic influenced more by perceptions of reliability and institutional exemplarity than by classic dimensions of perceived performance. These results call for a rethinking of e-services communication and deployment strategies, with a focus on trust, fluid usage and institutional visibility. |
| Keywords: | Adoption of public e-services TAM model PLS-SEM Institutional credibility Digital transformation |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05250816 |
| By: | Jingyi Cui; Gabriel Dias; Justin Ye |
| Abstract: | We study how generative AI affects labor market signaling using the introduction of an AI-powered cover letter writing tool on Freelancer.com. Our data track both access to the tool and usage at the application level. Difference-in-differences estimates show that access to the AI tool increased textual alignment between cover letters and job posts--which we refer to as cover letter tailoring--and raised callback likelihoods. Workers with weaker pre-AI writing skills saw larger improvements in cover letters, indicating that AI substitutes for workers' own skills. Although only a minority of applications used the tool, the overall correlation between cover letter tailoring and callbacks fell by 51%, implying that cover letters became less informative signals of worker ability in the age of AI. Employers correspondingly shifted toward alternative signals, such as workers' past reviews, which became more predictive of hiring. Finally, within the treated group, greater time spent editing AI drafts was associated with higher hiring success. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.25054 |
| By: | Nicholas Economides (Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, NY, USA); Przemyslaw Jeziorski (Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA) |
| Abstract: | In many developing countries of Africa and Asia, cell phones are used (i) to transfer money across individuals; (ii) to securely self-transport money, and (iii) to save/store money. These banking networks ride on top of wireless telecommunications networks. Traditionally, each banking network was confined to the network of a telecom carrier, and transfers were available only within the carrier’s network, making it incompatible with banking networks of other carriers. In Tanzania, mobile banking under incompatibility was well established for a decade until September 2015 when the second, third, and fourth largest carriers established full compatibility of their banking networks. Analyzing a comprehensive dataset of banking transactions provided by a large telecom carrier in Tanzania, this paper discusses pricing under compatibility, contrasts with pricing under incompatibility. We analyze the transaction termination fees (cash-out fees) in this unregulated environment, and assess the individual and collective incentives for compatibility, noting that the largest carrier has remained incompatible. Despite very high prices for transfers across networks set up commercially under compatibility, the introduction of compatibility resulted in substantial consumer surplus gains. We calculate further potential welfare gains under a number of counterfactual regulatory scenarios. |
| Keywords: | mobile money network, compatibility, interoperability, transaction costs, Tanzania, banking, social network, Tanzania, Tigo, Airtel, Vodacom |
| JEL: | O16 O17 O33 L14 L15 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2510 |