Bits of Opportunity: Broadband Internet and Intergenerational Income Mobility

The roll-out of broadband internet represents a Skill-Biased Technological Change (SBTC) that transformed labor markets by expanding high-skill job opportunities and automating lower-skill tasks, ultimately reshaping structures underlying intergenerational income mobility. Using administrative registry data coupled with data on Norway’s broadband roll-out, I take a quasi-experimental approach to assess the effect of broadband access on the income correlation between fathers and sons. The findings show that the roll-out of broadband has significantly increased intergenerational mobility, with a reduction in the income rank correlation between fathers and sons, supporting the view that broadband can disrupt traditional economic advantages and foster greater mobility.