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Investigating the Relationship Between Internet Deserts and Socio-Economic Determinants of Prosperity in the United States

2023; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.2139/ssrn.4585587

1556-5068

Uma Kalkar,

Social Capital and Networks

Warnings of an America divided sounded by Robert Putnam in his seminal work, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, heed true twenty years since its publication. Putnam presented a critical thesis on American political disengagement, which over the past 30 years has been exacerbated by an inequitable distribution of digital access and inclusion. Despite significant scientific and social progress deriving from advances in communications technology, online connectivity, and digital spaces undertaken since the 1990s, many Americans are still bowling alone. This work examines the question: to what extent do discrepancies between urban and rural communities related to internet access (a) affect quality of life and (b) lead to the creation of internet and civic deserts downstream? Using k-means cluster analysis, this study identifies ‘Internet Deserts’ (ID) and ‘Internet Shangri-Las’ (IS) across 2016, 2018, and 2020. It then conducts multivariate linear regression analysis across the ten top ID and IS congressional districts. Quantitative results show that in both ID and IS, income-related internet subscription is the most statistically significant factor in levels of internet access and subscription rates. However, ID face structural issues of access (or lack thereof) that preclude income, demonstrating a need for policies to encourage domestic internet infrastructure investment.