Impact of very high-speed broadband on company creation and entrepreneurship: Empirical Evidence

This paper analyzes to what extend the local presence of very high-speed broadband networks has a causal impact on the creation of new businesses and sole proprietorships. Estimations are performed using micro-level panel data covering almost 5000 municipalities in metropolitan France, from 2010 to 2015. A count modeling approach with time- and municipal-fixed effects is first developed. It shows heterogeneous effects across sectors. Municipalities with a very high-speed broadband network tend to be more attractive for companies, with a positive effect on establishment creation within the tertiary sector and the construction sector. In addition, these municipalities seem to provide a more favorable environment for entrepreneurship. However, the benefits of very high-speed broadband are not equally distributed across municipalities and depend on the educational attainment of the population.