Broadband and Uneven Spatial Development: The Case of Cardiff City-Region

Jones, Calvin (2018): Broadband and Uneven Spatial Development: The Case of Cardiff City-Region.

Abstract

The internet and e-connectivity more generally are increasingly held to be an important element of business success. Evidence however suggests that the productive impacts of such technologies are contingent on factors that include firm size and sector, and human capital. It follows that if companies with these characteristics are unevenly distributed across space, the increasing importance of broadband in economic activity might impact unevenly on economic outcomes across space. We examine the Cardiff City-Region in South Wales, where the distribution of businesses and skills suggests that without policy intervention the roll out of broadband might further increase economic disparities between the relatively prosperous coastal belt and the poorer post-industrial hinterland.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: City-regions; broadband; economic development; automation
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes

References

Akerman A, Gaarder I and Mogstad M (2015) The skill complementarity of broadband internet The Quarterly Journal of Economics 130(4): 1781-1824. DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjv028.

Arvanitis S and Loukis EN (2009) Information and communication technologies, human capital, workplace organization and labour productivity: A comparative study based on firm-level data for Greece and Switzerland. Information Economics and Policy, 21(1): 43-61.

Arntz M, Gregory T and Zierahn U (2016) The risk of automation for jobs in OECD countries: A comparative analysis. OECD Social, Employment, and Migration Working Papers, (189)

Autor DH (2015) Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace automation. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 29(3): 3-30.

Bailey D and De Propris L (2015) Reshoring and Regions: A View from the West Midlands. Regions Magazine, 299(1): 4-5.

Barry M (2016) The next steps for the South Wales Metro Wales WalesOnline http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/next-steps-south-wales-metro-11313133 (accessed 17th May 2016)

Bentley G and Pugalis L (2013) New directions in economic development: Localist policy discourses and the Localism Act. Local Economy, 28(3): 257-274.

Becker SO, Egger PH and von Ehrlich M (2010) Going NUTS: The Effect of EU Structural Funds on Regional Performance, Journal of Public Economics, 94(1–2): 578–590.

Bertschek I, Cerquera D and Klein GJ (2013) More bits–more bucks? Measuring the impact of broadband internet on firm performance. Information Economics and Policy, 25(3): 190-203. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1852365

Boschma R, Iammarino S and Steinmueller E (2013) Editorial: Geography, Skills and Technological Change. Regional Studies, 47(10): 1615-1617.

Brynjolfsson E and Hitt LM (2003) Computing productivity: Firm-level evidence. Review of economics and statistics, 85(4): 793-808. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3211806

Brynjolfsson E and McAfee A (2014) The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. WW Norton and Company.

Cingano F and Rosolia A (2012) People I know: job search and social networks. Journal of Labor Economics, 30(2): 291-332. DOI: 10.1086/663357

Colombo MG, Croce A and Grilli L (2013) ICT services and small businesses’ productivity gains: An analysis of the adoption of broadband Internet technology. Information Economics and Policy, 25(3): 171-189. DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2012.11.001

Czernich N, Falck O, Kretschmer T and Woessmann L (2011) Broadband infrastructure and economic growth. The Economic Journal, 121(552): 505-532. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2011.02420.x

Díaz-Chao Á, Sainz-González J and Torrent-Sellens J (2015) ICT, innovation, and firm productivity: New evidence from small local firms. Journal of Business Research, 68(7): 1439-1444. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.01.030

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2017) The UK’s Industrial Strategy November 2017 https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy (accessed February 2nd 2018)

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2015) Broadband Delivery UK Guidance Note https://www.gov.uk/guidance/broadband-delivery-uk (accessed 16th May 2016)

Dicks B (2014) Participatory community regeneration: A discussion of risks, accountability and crisis in devolved Wales. Urban studies, 51(5): 959-977. DOI: 10.1177/0042098013493023

Drakakis-Smith D (2012) Urbanisation, housing and the development process. Routledge.

Federal Communications Commission (2015) US Broadband Deployment Not Keeping Pace https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-finds-us-broadband-deployment-not-keeping-pace (accessed 20th May, 2016)

Floud R, Humphries J and Johnson P eds (2014) The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain: Volume 1, Industrialisation, 1700–1870. Cambridge University Press; Cambridge,UK

Foden M, Fothergill S and Gore T, (2014) The state of the coalfields: Economic and social conditions in the former mining communities of England, Scotland and Wales. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research Sheffield Hallam University, June 2014

Forman C, Goldfarb A and S. Greenstein (2003) Which industries use the Internet? Advances in Applied Microeconomics 12: 47–72. DOI: 10.1016/S0278-0984(03)12002-0

Fornefeld M, Delaunay G and Elixmann D (2008) The impact of broadband on growth and productivity. A study on behalf of the European Commission. European Commission http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/citi/sites/citi/files/Panel%203.Martin%20Fornefeld%20paper.pdf (accessed 20th May 2016)

Frey CB and Osborne MA (2017) The future of employment: how susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Technological Forecasting and Social Change 114: 254-280.

Future Advocacy (2017) The Impact of AI in UK Constituencies: Where will automation hit hardest? http://futureadvocacy.com/publications/ (accessed 2nd February 2018)

Goldberg K and Kehoe B (2013) Cloud robotics and automation: A survey of related work. EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley, Tech. Rep. UCB/EECS-2013-5.

Goos M and Manning A (2007) Lousy and lovely jobs: The rising polarization of work in Britain. The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 89, no. 1: 118–133

Graham S (2002). Bridging urban digital divides? Urban polarisation and information and communications technologies (ICTs). Urban studies, 39(1), 33-56.

Grimes A, Ren C and Stevens P (2012) The need for speed: impacts of internet connectivity on firm productivity. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 37(2): 187-201.

HM Cabinet Office, 2016 City-Deals and Growth Deals https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/city-deals-and-growth-deals (accessed 20th May 2016)

HM Treasury, 2016. Cardiff Capital Region City Deal https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508268/Cardiff_Capital_Region_City_Deal.pdf (accessed 16th May 2016)

Hall BH, Lotti F and Mairesse J (2013) Evidence on the impact of R&D and ICT investments on innovation and productivity in Italian firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 22(3): 300-328. DOI: 10.1080/10438599.2012.708134

Haller SA and Lyons S (2015) Broadband adoption and firm productivity: evidence from Irish manufacturing firms. Telecommunications Policy, 39(1): 1-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2014.10.003

Hempell T (2005). What’s spurious, what’s real? Measuring the productivity impacts of ICT at the firm-level. Empirical economics, 30(2), 427-464. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.325261

Higón DA (2012) The impact of ICT on innovation activities: Evidence for UK SMEs. International Small Business Journal, 30(6): 684-699. DOI: 10.1177/0266242610374484

Hildreth P and Bailey D (2013) The economics behind the move to ‘localism’ in England. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 6(2): 233-249.

Holt L and Jamison M (2009) Broadband and contributions to economic growth: Lessons from the US experience. Telecommunications Policy, 33(10): 575-581. DOI: 10.1093/cjres/rst004

Huber P and Nowotny K (2013) Moving across borders: who is willing to migrate or to commute. Regional Studies, 47(9): 1462-1481. DOI:10.1080/00343404.2011.624509

Johnston DA, Wade M and McClean R (2007). Does e‐business matter to SMEs? A comparison of the financial impacts of internet business solutions on European and North American SMEs. Journal of Small Business Management, 45(3): 354-361.

Jones C (2015) On capital, space and the world system: a response to Ron Martin. Territory, Politics, Governance, 3(3): 273-293. DOI:10.1080/21622671.2015.1064827

Jones M, Orford S and Macfarlane V eds. (2015) People, Places and Policy: Knowing Contemporary Wales Through New Localities. Routledge; Abingdon

Katz RL, Vaterlaus S, Zenhäusern P and Suter S (2010) The impact of broadband on jobs and the German economy. Intereconomics, 45(1): 26-34.

Kellernam A (2010) Mobile Broadband Services and the Availability of Instant Access to Cyberspace Environment and Planning A, 42(1), 12:. 2990-3005 DOI: 10.1068/a43283

Kenny R and Kenny C (2011) Superfast broadband: is it really worth a subsidy? info, 13(4): 3-29. DOI: 10.1108/14636691111146127

Kerry C and Danson M (2016) Open innovation, Triple Helix and regional innovation systems: Exploring CATAPULT Centres in the UK. Industry and Higher Education, 30(1),. 67-78. DOI: 10.5367/ihe.2016.0292

Kolko J (2012) Broadband and local growth. Journal of Urban Economics, 71(1): 100-113.

Koutroumpis P (2009) The economic impact of broadband on growth: A simultaneous approach. Telecommunications Policy, 33(9): 471-485. DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2009.07.004

Levy F and Murnane RJ (2012) The new division of labor: How computers are creating the next job market. Princeton University Press.

McCoy D, Lyons S, Morgenroth E, Palcic D and Allen L (2016) The impact of local infrastructure on new business establishments. MPRA Working Paper 69074 https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/69074/

McQuaid RW (2002) Entrepreneurship and ICT industries: support from regional and local policies. Regional Studies, 36(8): 909-919.

Mack EA (2014) Businesses and the need for speed: The impact of broadband speed on business presence. Telematics and Informatics, 31(4): 617-627. DOI: 10.1016/j.tele.2013.12.001

Mack EA (2015) Variations in the Broadband‐Business Connection across the Urban Hierarchy. Growth and Change, 46(3): 400-423. DOI: 10.1111/grow.12095

Mack EA and Faggian A (2013) Productivity and Broadband The Human Factor. International Regional Science Review, 36(3): 392-423. DOI: 10.1177/0160017612471191

Mack EA and Grubesic TH (2009) Broadband provision and firm location in Ohio: An exploratory spatial analysis. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 100(3): 298-315. 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2008.00487.x

Mack EA and Rey SJ (2013). An econometric approach for evaluating the linkages between broadband and knowledge intensive firms. Telecommunications Policy, 38(1): 105-118. DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2013.06.003

Martin R, Pike A, Tyler P and Gardiner B (2015) Spatially Rebalancing the UK Economy: Towards a New Policy Model? Regional Studies: 1-16. DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2015.1118450

Meegan R, Kennett P, Jones G and Croft J (2014) Global economic crisis, austerity and neoliberal urban governance in England. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 7(1): 137-153.

Morgan K (2016) Nurturing novelty: Regional innovation policy in the age of smart specialisation. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 35, no. 4 (2017): 569-583. doi: 10.1177/0263774X16645106

Murray R (2016) The Challenge to Connect the Countryside Huffington Post UK http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ross-murray2/the-challenge-to-connect-_b_9883534.html (accessed 14th May 2016)

O'Brien, P. and Pike, A., 2015. City Deals, decentralisation and the governance of local infrastructure funding and financing in the UK. National Institute Economic Review, 233(1): R14-R26.

Ofcom, 2015. Communications Market Report: Wales http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr15/2015_CMR_Wales.pdf (accessed 20th May 2016)

Office for National Statistics, 2015. Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings http://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/previousReleases (accessed 20th November 2016)

Office for National Statistics, 2016a. UK Business Counts – Enterprises https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/construct/summary.asp?menuopt=200andsubcomp(accessed 13th May 2016)

Office for National Statistics, 2016b. Annual Population Survey https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/948.aspx (accessed 12th May 2016)

Office for National Statistics, 2017 Gross Value Added https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossvalueaddedgva (accessed 2nd February 2018)

Pilat, D (2005). The ICT productivity paradox. OECD economic studies, 2004(1), 37-65.

Pike A et al (2016) Austerity States, Institutional Dismantling and the Governance of Sub-National Economic Development: The Demise of the Regional Development Agencies in England SERC DISCUSSION PAPER 206

http://www.spatialeconomics.ac.uk/textonly/SERC/publications/download/sercdp0206.pdf (accessed 23rd November 2016)

Pugh RE (2014) ‘Old wine in new bottles’? Smart Specialisation in Wales. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 1(1): 152-157. DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2014.944209

Röller LH and Waverman L (2001) Telecommunications infrastructure and economic development: A simultaneous approach. American economic review 91(4): 909-923.

Stroud D, Fairbrother P, Evans C and Blake J (2015) Governments matter for capitalist economies: Regeneration and transition to green and decent jobs. Economic and Industrial Democracy, DOI: 10.1177/0143831X15601731

Triplett JE (1999) The Solow productivity paradox: what do computers do to productivity?. The Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'Economique, 32(2): 309-334.

Welsh Government, 2012. City-Regions Final Report http://gov.wales/docs/det/publications/120710-city-regions-final-report-en.pdf (accessed 16th May 2016)

Welsh Government. 2013. Local Authority Population Projections http://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/local-authority-population-projections/?lang=en (accessed 16th May 2016)

Welsh Government, 2016. Commuting https://statswales.wales.gov.uk/Catalogue/Business-Economy-and-Labour-Market/People-and-Work/Employment/Commuting (accessed 20th May 2016)

Whitacre B, Gallardo R and Strover S (2014). Does rural broadband impact jobs and income? Evidence from spatial and first-differenced regressions. The Annals of Regional Science, 53(3): 649-670. DOI: 10.1007/s00168-0