Broadband Internet and Fact-Resistant Beliefs - The Case of Climate Change Skepticism
Type
conference speech
Date Issued
2023-06-29
Author(s)
Abstract
I explore the role of broadband internet in forming and spreading fact-resistant attitudes, specifically climate change skepticism. My approach uses fine-grained broadband quality data in the U.S. along with an identification strategy relying on terrain-induced variations in the cost of broadband deployment. Overall, the results provide only minor indications that better broadband internet access can encourage unwarranted skepticism, despite the public discourse narratives to the contrary. At the same time, some suggestive evidence indicates that middle-aged segments of the population may drive any negative overall impacts. Lastly, I point to a potential mechanism behind the effects. Shifts in political ideology appear to explain a significant part of the observed link between internet quality and climate change skepticism.
Event Title
Annual Congress 2023 of the Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES)
Event Location
Neuchatel, CH
Event Date
29 June 2023