Broadband availability dramatically changed the nature of job markets, allowing businesses to reach larger pools of qualified applicants, as evidenced by the fact that the percentage of U.S. job seekers who used the Internet for their job searches tripled between 2000 and 2011.

Fact of the Week: Broadband Availability Shortened Job Vacancies in Norway by 9 Percent

Economists from Telecom Advisory Services estimate that greater broadband adoption and faster speeds contributed $1.3 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product between 2010 and 2020

Fact of the Week: Improvements to Broadband Speed and Adoption Contributed $1.3 Trillion to US GDP Between 2010 and 2020

After the deployment of high-speed Internet in 12 African countries, 10 percent of employment growth could be attributed to that development, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: When 12 African Nations Gained Access to High-Speed Internet, it Raised Employment Rates by an Average of 10 Percent

A recent working paper found that a 10 percent increase in broadband Internet access among county residents leads to 0.11 fewer suicide deaths per county, a 1.02 percent reduction in suicides overall.

Fact of the Week: Increase in Access to Broadband Internet in American Counties Results in a Decrease in Suicides

The rise of the Internet has allowed billions of people to access services that would not exist otherwise, while driving the growth of technologies that power them. A new study has attempted to quantify this effect, examining the rate of Internet usage across 76 countries between 1995 and 2016.

Fact of the Week: The Internet Increased the Global Economic Growth Rate by 0.7 Percentage Points Between 1995 and 2016

If high-speed mobile broadband drives productivity in normal years, then the economic benefits of increasing speeds should be even more pronounced in today’s labor market where so many jobs and services have transitioned to some level of remote work.

Fact of the Week: Increasing Mobile Broadband Speed 10 Percent Boosts Labor Productivity 0.2 Percent

For Latin American firms, the higher their Internet activity intensity, the greater their productivity gains, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: Latin American Firms That Used Broadband Internet Service in 2010 Were 11 Percent More Productive Than Those That Didn’t.

Fact of the Week: Latin American Firms That Used Broadband Internet Service in 2010 Were 11 Percent More Productive Than Those That Didn't.

A recent working paper finds that increasing Internet coverage from 0 to 50 percent in home countries increases the subjective well-being of immigrants.

Fact of the Week: Improving Internet Access Positively Affects the Health and Well-Being of First-Generation Immigrants

Since 2011, the U.S. government has spent over $400 million to provide broadband Internet access to 1.6 million people. A recent study investigated the impact that policies like these can have by examining the construction of broadband infrastructure across China, finding that every 10 percent increase in a regions’s infrastructure increased firms’ productivity by 1.1 percent and workers’ wages by 4.2 percent.

Fact of the Week: Access to Broadband Internet Increases Intergenerational Mobility by up to 12.3 Percent

Related

Fact of the Week: Broadband Availability Shortened Job Vacancies in Norway by 9 Percent

Fact of the Week: Improvements to Broadband Speed and Adoption Contributed $1.3 Trillion to US GDP Between 2010 and 2020

Fact of the Week: When 12 African Nations Gained Access to High-Speed Internet, it Raised Employment Rates by an Average of 10 Percent