Information infrastructure and knowledge diffusion: a quasi-natural experiment based on the ‘Broadband China’ strategy

ABSTRACT

‘Broadband China’ strategy launched in 2014 aimed to expand information infrastructure coverage of Chinese cities. This study shows that the information infrastructure facilitates knowledge diffusion among pilot cities of ‘Broadband China’, using this as a quasi-natural experiment. Further analysis reveals a positive interaction effect between information and transportation infrastructure on intercity knowledge diffusion. These findings imply that developing information infrastructure is vital for technological innovation.

KEYWORDS:

• Information infrastructure
• knowledge diffusion
• Broadband China
• transportation infrastructure

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• D83
• O31

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Projects of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research of Ministry of Education of China [21JZD022] and National Natural Science Foundation of China[72141305].