Immigration is a contentious issue, particularly in an economic downturn. But even now, employers in critical sectors ranging from information technology to finance are seeking highly skilled immigrants. These workers are in limited supply because foreign applicants face stringent caps on green cards and temporary work visas. Legislators and other policy makers need to make decisions on this issue on the basis of the overall effects of high-skilled immigrants on economic growth and innovation, the wages and employment of domestic workers, and the effects on government budgets, which are less well understood.
All Publications
Research Papers
Measuring the Digital Divide
Accurate measurement of digital divides is important for policy purposes, but existing methodologies and data have limited our ability to examine the issue. James Prieger and Wei-Min Hu compare the performance of alternative methods using a large dataset on DSL subscription, paying particular attention to whether women, blacks, and Hispanics catch up to others in broadband adoption. Duration analysis, which sheds light on how groups progress along adoption curves, reveals the most useful information about digital divides and how they change over time. Policymakers can use the information to identify groups for which a divide is widening rather than closing. Their results support the collection of broadband statistics in panel form, where the same households are followed over time.
Research Papers
The Broadband Bonus: Accounting for Broadband Internet
Professor Shane Greenstein, Elinor and Wendell Hobbs Professor at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, estimates that broadband adds about $10 billion per year in new GDP and another $5 billion in unmeasured consumer surplus. These are large effects, but smaller than some previous estimates. The reason for the difference is that most studies attribute all gains from the Internet to broadband, rather than just the gains that came from upgrading to broadband from dialup. Professor Greenstein’s research, based on the economics of new goods, will help give policymakers a more accurate estimate of the benefits of broadband subsidies. Professor Greenstein will discuss his findings at our event this Friday on Capitol Hill.
Research Papers
New research on broadband and economic growth
Kellogg School of Management Professor Shane Greenstein estimates that broadband adds about $10 billion per year in new GDP and another $5 billion in unmeasured consumer surplus. These are large effects, but smaller than some previous estimates. The reason for the difference is that most studies attribute all gains from the Internet to broadband, rather than just the gains that came from upgrading to broadband from dialup. Professor Greenstein’s research, based on the economics of new goods, will help give policymakers a more accurate estimate of the benefits of broadband subsidies.
Event Multimedia
Broadband, Economic Growth, and the Financial Crisis: Informing the Stimulus Package
How best to include broadband in an economic stimulus package depends, in part, on understanding two critical issues: how broadband affects economic growth, and how the credit crisis has affected broadband investment. In particular, one might favor aggressive government intervention if broadband stimulates growth and investment is now lagging. Alternatively, money might be better spent elsewhere if the effects on growth are smaller than commonly believed or private investment is continuing despite the crisis.
Press Releases
Paul Rubin on Instant Info as a Two-Edged Sword
TPI senior fellow and Emory University professor Paul Rubin writes in the Wall Street Journal that, while the Internet has greatly increased the efficiency of markets, it may also have facilitated the formation of bubbles. He suggests that “regulators have a difficult task: It will be very hard for them to eliminate the downside of the Internet and other improvements in financial markets without simultaneously eliminating the benefits.”
Commentaries and Op-Eds
Instant Info Is a Two-Edged Sword
Bubbles have always been part of markets. The 17th century Dutch Tulip mania and the 18th century’s South Sea Bubble are part of capitalist folklore. Recently, there seems to be an increase in the number and severity of bubbles and crashes — Internet stock prices, housing prices and the stock market come to mind.
Press Releases
New Publications of Note
The Technology Policy Institute has posted three new Publications of Note by outside authors on subjects of interest to our audience:
- Tim Brennan, ‘Night of the Living Dead’ or ‘Back to the Future’? Electric Utility Decoupling, Reviving Rate-of-Return Regulation, and Energy Efficiency
- Bronwyn Howell, The End or the Means? The Pursuit of Competition in Regulated Telecommunications Markets
- Andrea Renda, I own the pipes, you call the tune: The net neutrality debate and its (ir)relevance for Europe