Measuring Efficacy of the Rural Broadband Initiatives: Evidence from the Housing Market

Abstract

We use proprietary real estate sales data and a variety of empirical methods to account for selection to study the economic impacts of the Broadband Initiatives Program. Broadband Initiatives Program is the largest grant and loan high-speed infrastructure program implemented by USDA and targeted to rural areas. The empirical results suggest that new broadband infrastructure did not have measurable impacts on residential house sale prices.