This paper studies the broad effects of the introduction of fiber broadband, through the lens of student achievement. I link granular data on new fiber construction and advertised download speeds with administrative test score data and local labor market data. Exploiting variation in the introduction of fiber at the census block group level, I implement a difference-in-differences design and find a modest effect on educational outcomes, roughly on par with lowering class sizes by one student. In addition, I show fiber increases local employment and search intensity for supplementary educational materials (e.g., Khan Academy). Last, I show that increased competition from fiber providers drives quality improvements in other available technology.

This paper examines the impact of oil price and quantity shocks on income inequality in the US. Using micro income data, we construct measures of pre-tax money income inequality at the state level for the period 1980 2017. We find that a $10 increase in oil price increases inequality, measured by the ratio of pre-tax income of the 90th percentile to 10th percentile (p90/p10), by 3.8 percentage points in states with high levels of oil endowments per capita. The increase in capital income to households at the top of the distribution drives the observed change in inequality. In addition to price shocks, we study the impact of quantity shocks that arise from oil discoveries. Quantity shocks have no effect on the overall income distribution.

Broadband is a crucial aspect of modern-day economies, however, for many in rural America, access is limited. I exploit discontinuities in subsidy assignment from the Connect America Fund, and employ a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity design to estimate the effect of subsidies on access. I find subsidies to price cap carriers increases access to 10 Mbps/1 Mbps download-upload broadband by 4.25 percentage points, however, this effect is local around the least-costly eligible areas. Furthermore, I show that the technology, as well as, the the number of providers in targeted regions are unaffected by these subsidies. The results suggest that the subsidy amount may not have been enough to provide universal service for all targeted areas.