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Agarwal A, Canfield C. Analysis of rural broadband adoption dynamics: A theory-driven agent-based model. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302146. [PMID: 38843157 PMCID: PMC11156397 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Demand for broadband internet has far outpaced its availability. In addition, the "new normal" imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has further disadvantaged unserved and underserved areas. To address this challenge, federal and state agencies are funding internet service providers (ISPs) to deploy broadband infrastructure in these areas. To support goals to provide broadband service to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, policymakers and ISPs may benefit from better tools to predict take rates and formulate effective strategies to increase the adoption of high-speed internet. However, there is typically insufficient data available to understand consumer attitudes. We propose using an agent-based model grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, a behavioral theory that explains the consumer's decision-making process. The model simulates residential broadband adoption by capturing the effect of market competition, broadband service attributes, and consumer characteristics. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this type of tool via a use case in Missouri to show how simulation results can inform predictions of broadband adoption. In the model, broadband take rates increase as the presence of existing internet users in the area increases and price decreases. With further development, this type of simulation can guide decision-making for infrastructure and digital literacy investment based on demand as well as support the design of market subsidies that aim to reduce the digital divide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankit Agarwal
- Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Casey Canfield
- Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, United States of America
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Schultz AA, Nelson-Bakkum E, Nikodemova M, Luongo S, Barnet JH, Walsh MC, Bersch A, Sethi A, Peppard P, Cadmus-Bertram L, Engelman CD, Lubsen J, Jackson T, Mc Malecki K. Participant attrition from statewide, population-based Survey of the Health of Wisconsin into the longitudinal SHOW COVID-19 cohort. Ann Epidemiol 2024; 94:9-18. [PMID: 38604574 DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2024.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Longitudinal studies are essential for examining how social and institutional determinants of health, historical and contemporary, affect disparities in COVID-19 related outcomes. The unequal impacts of COVID-19 likely exacerbated selected attrition in longitudinal research. This study examines attrition and survey mode effects in the SHOW COVID-19 study which recruited from a statewide, representative cohort. MATERIALS & METHODS Participants were recruited from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) cohort. Online surveys, or phone interviews, were administered at three timepoints during 2020-2021. The surveys captured social, behavioral, and structural determinants of health and the lived experience. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to examine predictors of participation and survey mode effects. RESULTS A total of 2304 adults completed at least one COVID-19 online survey. Participants were more educated, older, and more likely to be female, married, non-Hispanic, and White compared to non-participants. Phone participants were older, less educated, and more likely be non-White, food insecure, and have co-morbidities compared to online participants. Mode effects were seen with reporting COVID-19 beliefs, loneliness, and anxiety. CONCLUSION The SHOW COVID-19 cohort offers unique longitudinal data but suffered from selected attrition. Phone interview is an important mode for retention and representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy A Schultz
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
| | - Erin Nelson-Bakkum
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Maria Nikodemova
- University of Florida, Public Health & Health Professions, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Sarah Luongo
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jodi H Barnet
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Matthew C Walsh
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Andrew Bersch
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Ajay Sethi
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Paul Peppard
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Lisa Cadmus-Bertram
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Kinesiology, School of Medicine and Public Health Madison, WI, USA
| | - Corinne D Engelman
- University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Julia Lubsen
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health Madison, WI, USA
| | - Tarakee Jackson
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Medicine, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Kristen Mc Malecki
- University of Illinois Chicago, School of Public Health, Chicago, IL, USA
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Song Y, Huang H, Li Y, Xia J. Towards inclusive green growth in China: Synergistic roles and mechanisms of new infrastructure construction. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 353:120281. [PMID: 38335597 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Inclusive green growth (IGG) has been widely discussed for its emphasis on coordinating economic growth quality, social equity, as well as environmentally sustainable development. New infrastructure, representing network and information infrastructure construction, has emerged as a pivotal national strategy to stimulate socioeconomic progress, and its impact on the inclusive green growth deserves careful exploration. Employing the staggered difference-in-difference (staggered DID) approach, this study investigates the influence of new infrastructure on IGG based on Chinese prefecture-level city data from 2011 to 2019, taking advantage of the "Broadband China" strategy (BCS) as a quasi-natural experiment. The results indicate a significant enhancement in IGG due to new infrastructure construction, which remains tenable after rigorous robustness assessments. Further testing with the spatial Durbin DID method reveals that BCS has a significant positive spillover impact on IGG in neighboring areas. For its underlying mechanisms, new infrastructure construction enhances IGG mainly by reinforcing industrial structure supererogation, improving the urban innovation level, and developing digital inclusive finance. There is also evidence that heterogeneity highlights the advancing effects of IGG in the central region, non-aging industrial base cities and non-resource-based cities. This research sheds new light on the understanding of the effect of new infrastructure on promoting IGG through both conceptual and empirical aspects and is conducive to future policymaking for developing countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuwei Song
- School of Economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang, 330013, China.
| | - Heping Huang
- School of Economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang, 330013, China.
| | - Ying Li
- School of Economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang, 330013, China
| | - Jinglin Xia
- School of Economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang, 330013, China
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Ritsch N, Armanios DE. Using broadband infrastructure as a social sensor to detect inequities in unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22031. [PMID: 38086882 PMCID: PMC10716178 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48019-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
This study explores the potential of using physical infrastructure as a "social sensor" for identifying marginalized communities. Prior work tends to explore biases in infrastructure as a retrospective "social autopsy". Instead, our study aims to create an introspective "social biopsy", using existing infrastructure gaps to inform how future policy and investment can address existing inequities more sharply and proactively. Specifically, this work explores the possibility of using U.S. county-level broadband penetration rates as a social sensor to predict rates of unemployment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is a 2 × 2 typology of where broadband as a social sensor is sharper (or coarser), as well as prone to error (either false positives or false negatives). We further explore combining broadband with other forms of physical infrastructure (i.e., bridges, buildings, and WiFi-enabled libraries) to create a sensor "array" to further enhance detection. Overall, this work proposes an "infrastructure-as-sensor" approach to better detect social vulnerability during times of crises in hopes of enhancing resilience through providing services more quickly and precisely to those who most need it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Ritsch
- Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 15213, USA.
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Valentín-Sívico J, Canfield C, Low SA, Gollnick C. Evaluating the impact of broadband access and internet use in a small underserved rural community. TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY 2023; 47:102499. [PMID: 36685614 PMCID: PMC9836830 DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2023.102499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Having adequate access to the internet at home enhances quality-of-life for households and facilitates economic and social opportunities. Despite increased investment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of households in the rural United States still lack adequate access to high-speed internet. In this study, we evaluate a wireless broadband network deployed in Turney, a small, underserved rural community in northwest Missouri. In addition to collecting survey data before and after this internet intervention, we collected pre-treatment and post-treatment survey data from comparison communities to serve as a control group. Due to technical constraints, some of Turney's interested participants could not connect to the network, creating an additional comparison group. These comparisons suggest two primary findings, (1) changes in using the internet for employment, education, and health could not be directly attributed to the internet intervention, and (2) the internet intervention was associated with benefits stemming from the ability to use multiple devices at once. This study has implications for the design of future broadband evaluation studies, particularly those examining underserved rather than unserved communities. Recommendations for identifying appropriate outcome variables, executing recruitment strategies, and selecting the timing of surveys are made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Valentín-Sívico
- Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 223 Engineering Management, 600 W. 14th St., Rolla, MO, 65409-0370, USA
| | - Casey Canfield
- Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 223 Engineering Management, 600 W. 14th St., Rolla, MO, 65409-0370, USA
| | - Sarah A Low
- Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, 224 Mumford Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
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Abrardi L, Sabatino L. Ultra-broadband investment and economic resilience: Evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic. TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY 2023; 47:102480. [PMID: 36467971 PMCID: PMC9708610 DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2022.102480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
We study the role of ultra-broadband infrastructures in reducing the economic recession caused by the 2020 pandemic. We exploit the variation in GDP and employment that happened between 2019 and 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, and we investigate whether UBB investments had an impact on economic resilience. We use micro-level data on UBB exposure in 2019 matched with municipality-level information on local GDP and employment levels based on tax declarations for the period 2019-2020. We address the endogeneity between UBB and local income by exploiting the distance from the closest backbone node of the upstream telecommunication network. We find that exposure to UBB mitigates the negative effect of the pandemic on local employment. One additional year of UBB exposure increases local employment by 1.3 percentage points. The effect is stronger in areas hit more severely by the pandemic, thus confirming the role of advanced broadband infrastructures on the economic resilience from negative shocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Abrardi
- Politecnico di Torino, Department of Management, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino, Italy
| | - Lorien Sabatino
- Politecnico di Torino, Department of Management, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino, Italy
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Zhou D, Zhan Q, Wen X. How does digital life influence the health service use among rural residents? Evidence from China. Technol Health Care 2023; 31:2091-2106. [PMID: 37483027 DOI: 10.3233/thc-220631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Healthy China strategy is an important development objective of the 14th Five-Year Plan and Vision 2035 in China, while health service use in rural China has been a weak link in this strategy. OBJECTIVE Nowadays, people's health service use will be influenced by digital technology due to the arrival of the Digital Age, and that is the reason why our interest is to discuss the effect of digital life on health service use among rural residents. METHODS We use the data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2020 to examine the effect of digital life on health service use among rural residents, and we use Instrumental Variables method to control the endogenous problem and use KHB model to discuss the mechanism of this effect. RESULTS It was found that digital life has increased the health service use among rural residents significantly, and this result has been verified by robust test and Instrumental Variables method. Besides, digital life can increase health service use through the information channel effect and the health literacy effect indirectly. Moreover, digital life has a more significant impact on the residents with low social capital, low physical capital and low social trust, which represents the inclusivity of digital life. CONCLUSION The results of our paper will be helpful to examine the effect of the digital policy on promoting the health service use in rural China, and our findings will provide evidence of how to use digital life to enhance health service use among rural residents. Based on this, the government should take measures to eliminate the digital divide between urban and rural areas by promoting the level of digital life among rural residents, paying more attention to the digital literacy development among them, and forging ahead toward the great goal of the Healthy China under the Digital Age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deshui Zhou
- School of Finance and Public Management, Anhui University of Finance & Economics, Bengbu, Anhui, China
| | - Qianqian Zhan
- School of Finance and Public Management, Anhui University of Finance & Economics, Bengbu, Anhui, China
| | - Xin Wen
- School of Humanities and Law (School of Public Administration), Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China
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Galperin H, Katz R, Valencia R. The impact of broadband on poverty reduction in rural Ecuador. TELEMATICS AND INFORMATICS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tele.2022.101905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Low SA, Rahe ML, Van Leuven AJ. Has COVID‐19 made rural areas more attractive places to live? Survey evidence from Northwest Missouri. REGIONAL SCIENCE POLICY & PRACTICE 2022. [PMCID: PMC9348122 DOI: 10.1111/rsp3.12543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
COVID‐19 disruptions encouraged some rural regions to think about proactively attracting newly footloose residents—but would the pandemic make rural areas seem more attractive to potential return migrants? Using econometric analysis of survey data, we find that for natives who had left the study region, attitudes about living in rural areas during COVID were lower on average than for those who stayed. Interestingly, we do find that owning a business and having a stronger sense of belonging are both associated with positive attitudinal shifts towards rural living, which has practical implications for rural migration policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A. Low
- Division of Applied Social Sciences University of Missouri United States
| | - Mallory L. Rahe
- Division of Applied Social Sciences University of Missouri United States
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