ICT and exporting: the effects of broadband on the extensive margin of business service exports.

Kneller, Richard; Timmis, Jonathan

Abstract

Over recent decades the global economy has witnessed rapid growth of international trade in services. This has been particularly true of service-intensive countries such as the UK. Developments in information and communication technologies are an obvious explanation for this. We provide empirical evidence for the effects of broadband use on the firm-extensive margin of UK service exports. To deal with the issue of causality we build a novel instrument that exploits exogenous variation in access to broadband technologies due to the historic telephone network. We find evidence for a causal effect from the internet on trade in business services, but no evidence for an effect on trade in services more generally.

Citation

Kneller, R., & Timmis, J. (2016). ICT and exporting: the effects of broadband on the extensive margin of business service exports. Review of International Economics, 24(4), 757-796. https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12237

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 1, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jun 15, 2016
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 15, 2016
• Journal: Review of International Economics
• Print ISSN: 0965-7576
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9396
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 757-796
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12237
• Keywords: Broadband; Exports; Services; Instrumental variables
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/803015
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/roie.12237/abstract
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Kneller, R. and Timmis, J. (2016), ICT and Exporting: The Effects of Broadband on the Extensive Margin of Business Service Exports. Review of International Economics, 24: 757–796. doi:10.1111/roie.12237, which has been published in final form at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/roie.12237/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.