Working Paper
Broadband Internet and Political Participation - Evidence for Germany
Nina Czernich
ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, München, 2011
Ifo Working Paper No. 104
ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, München, 2011
Ifo Working Paper No. 104
![](https://www.ifo.de/DocImg/IfoWorkingPaper-104.jpg?c=1689237208)
Previous studies found the introduction of the today well established media radio and television to affect political participation. This paper evaluates the effect of the relatively recent introduction of a new medium, broadband internet. OLS results suggest a positive association between DSL availability and voter participation across German municipalities. However, the roll-out of DSL networks is not random. The paper exploits the fact that DSL availability depends on a unicipality’s distance to the nearest interconnection point to the existing voice-telephony network. Instrumental-variable results using this distance to predict DSL availability confirm the effect of DSL availability on voter participation.
JEL Classification: D720, L960, O330