The faster the better? Advanced internet access and student performance

Investments in high-speed broadband have received considerable attention from policymakers and researchers. Governments are committing to increasing available internet connection speeds through massive public investments. These policies are motivated by arguments according to which improvements in broadband connections play an important role in fostering productivity, economic growth, innovation, and knowledge. Despite the ubiquitous usage of the internet among children and youth, very little is known about its effects on their academic performance. How advanced broadband internet affects student performance remains an empirical question, and the existing literature on the topic does not provide a conclusive answer. The goal of this paper is to shed some light on this issue using a municipality-level data set on the diffusion of ultra-broadband connections in Italy, matched with the national standardized test scores in Italian language and Mathematics in 2nd, 5th, and 8th grades. Results show that more broadband availability is detrimental to school performance for students in 8th grade, whereas we find no effect on students in the 2nd and 5th grades, most likely because they are too young to engage in distracting online activities.