Rising Broadband Exposure: Differential Effects on Labour Market Outcomes

The effect of broadband exposure on labour market outcomes is important from both an academic and policy perspective. From an academic perspective, understanding the impacts of digitalisation faces significant data limitations. As a result, much of the empirical evidence on wages is focused within the manufacturing sector such as Acemoglu & Restrepo (2020) and Graetz & Michaels (2018). This does not provide us with a complete understanding of the effects of digitalisation. Broadband affects every sector of the labour market, and several economic outcomes. Therefore it can provide a fuller picture of the impacts of digitalisation. The effect on wages remains unclear (Genz, Janser & Lehmer, 2019) with results often being ambiguous. Further, the literature has also yet to find clear answers on how certain groups within the labour force are affected by ongoing digitalisation (Frey & Osborne, 2017).
From a policy perspective, broadband access has the potential to significantly change labour market opportunities and the demography of the workforce yet there is limited empirical evidence (Dettling, 2013; Autor, 2001; Genz, Janser & Lehmer, 2019). The potential effects of broadband access are vast. For example, it can directly impact job opportunities, help facilitate work-family balance (Dettling, 2013) and facilitate job searching (Bhuller et al., 2019). Understanding the differential effects in terms of wages and other outcomes is crucial for policymakers to protect workers (Acemoglu & Restrepo, 2020). Further, developing a greater understanding of how the demography of the labour force changes may provide important insight into future labour market trends (Walwei, 2016).
By studying the effects of broadband exposure on the Norwegian Labour Market, I aim to address the following research questions:
RQ1: What is the effect of increased broadband exposure to wages across different sectors of the labour market?
RQ2: How does ongoing digitalisation, though increasing broadband exposure, affect workplace demographics? Is there a heterogenous impact across different groups?