000			02589cam a22003377 4500
001			w5770
003			NBER
005			20211020114100.0
006			m o d
007			cr cnu||||||||
008			210910s1996 mau fo 000 0 eng d
100	1		_aGreenstein, Shane M. _911848
245	1	0	_aEstimating the Welfare Effects of Digital Infrastructure / _cShane M. Greenstein, Pablo T. Spiller.
260			_aCambridge, Mass. _bNational Bureau of Economic Research _c1996.
300			_a1 online resource: _billustrations (black and white);
490	1		_aNBER working paper series _vno. w5770
500			_aSeptember 1996.
520	3		_aWhile much economic policy presumes that more information infrastructure yields higher economic returns, little empirical work measures the magnitudes of these returns. We examine investment by local exchange telephone companies in fiber optic cable, ISDN lines and signal seven software, infrastructure which plays an essential role in bringing digital technology to local telephone networks. We estimate the elasticity of the derived demand for infrastructure investment faced by local exchange companies, controlling for factors such as local economic activity and the political disposition of state regulators. Our model postulates a regulated profit maximizing local exchange firm and a regulatory agency with predetermined political leanings in favor of consumer prices or firm profits. The model accounts for variation in state regulation and local economic conditions. In all our estimates we find that consumer demand is sensitive to investment in modern infrastructure, particularly as represented by fiber optic cable. Our estimates imply that infrastructure investment is responsible for a substantial fraction of the recent growth in consumer surplus and business revenue in local telecommunication services.
530			_aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
538			_aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
538			_aMode of access: World Wide Web.
588	0		_aPrint version record
690		7	_aL51 - Economics of Regulation _2Journal of Economic Literature class.
690		7	_aO30 - General _2Journal of Economic Literature class.
700	1		_aSpiller, Pablo T.
710	2		_aNational Bureau of Economic Research.
830		0	_aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) _vno. w5770.
856	4	0	_uhttps://www.nber.org/papers/w5770
856			_yAcceso en línea al DOI _uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w5770
942			_2ddc _cW-PAPER
999			_c342541 _d301103