Does broadband internet allow cities to ‘borrow size’? Evidence from the Swedish labour market

Duco de Vos; Urban Lindgren; Maarten van Ham; Evert Meijers

doi:10.1080/00343404.2019.1699238

Does broadband internet allow cities to ‘borrow size’? Evidence from the Swedish labour market

Duco de Vos^*, Urban Lindgren, Maarten van Ham, Evert Meijers

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Borrowed size refers to the idea that small cities near larger metropolitan centres can reap the advantages of large agglomerations, but without the costs of agglomeration. The study explores whether broadband internet helps such smaller cities to enjoy the labour market benefits of a larger city. Using Swedish micro-data from 2007 to 2015, together with unique data on broadband, suggestive evidence is found that broadband indeed allows smaller cities to reap such benefits. Borrowed size is primarily driven by the overall penetration of broadband in the place of residence, rather than by broadband availability at the residence.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1175-1186
Number of pages	12
Journal	Regional Studies
Volume	54
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1699238
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2020

Funding

This work benefited from a VIDI grant provided by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) [grant number 452-14-004]. The authors thank Jens Ingman, Swedish Post and Telecom Authority PTS, for help with the broadband data.

Keywords

agglomeration economies
borrowed size
broadband internet
commuting
employment

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Does broadband internet allow cities to ‘borrow size’? Evidence from the Swedish labour market

Abstract

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Keywords

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