寬頻網路基礎建設與經濟成長：OECD國家的經驗與實證

Broadband Network Infrastructure and Economic Growth: Experiences and Empirical Evidence from OECD Countries

With the widespread use of mobile devices and the vigorous development of digital technology, not only has there been a significant change in the economic structure, but a new impetus has also been given to economic growth. The realization of this new economic impetus relies on the establishment of broadband network infrastructure that provides low-cost, high-coverage, and fast networking services, thus significantly reducing the costs of information collection, communication, and decision-making and thereby promoting further economic growth. This research sets up an empirical model, taking OECD countries as the sample, to explore the impact of broadband network construction on economic growth. We find that the literature examining the economic growth effects of broadband networks has neglected the interaction between mobile broadband and fixed broadband markets, resulting not only in biased estimations of effects, but also overlooking the fact that mobile broadband has become the primary driving force behind the overall advancement of broadband networks. This paper addresses this gap, re-estimates the economic effects, and explores the interaction between mobile and fixed broadband markets. Findings show that the mobile broadband market and the fixed broadband market have significant mutual uplifting effects on the demand side, indicating complementarity in demand between the two. However, on the supply side, there appears to be an asymmetrical phenomenon where mobile broadband drives the supply of fixed broadband, but an rise in fixed broadband utilization does not benefit mobile broadband expansion.