Suchergebnisse

The Internet has become an important part of the daily lives of millions of Americans. Despite its importance, there is little empirical knowledge about the spatial pattern of Internet growth. Using the number of ISPs (Internet service providers) as an indicator of Internet diffusion and adoption, the authors attempt to understand the spatial pattern of Internet adoption and the factors responsible. Specifically, they seek to answer three research questions: Do U.S. counties exhibit differences in Internet adoption? If so, what is the pattern of adoption? and How do county-level socioeconomic and geographical factors affect the adoption of Internet services? For the spatial analysis, polygon pattern analysis is used to see the pattern of Internet adoption. Three spatial error models (for all counties, metro counties, and nonmetro counties) are used to investigate the relationship between various county-level demand indicators and Internet service status. The result shows that market demand is the driving force as counties that are more urban, have more educated people, more business establishments, and higher housing value also have higher ISP presence. This finding implies that the remote and rural areas will continue to suffer from poor Internet access.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I: Who Lives in Rural America Today? -- New Directions in Population Change and Diversity -- 1 Unpredictable Directions of Rural Population Growth and Migration -- 2 African Americans in Rural America -- 3 American Indians -- 4 Latinos in Rural America -- Reshuffling and Remaking Rural Families -- 5 What Do Rural Families Look Like Today? -- 6 Older Rural Families -- 7 Rural Children and Youth at Risk -- 8 Rural Women -- 9 Rural Poverty -- Part II: A Transformed Rural Economy -- 10 How People Make a Living in Rural America -- 11 Who Benefits from Economic Restructuring? -- 12 Commuting -- 13 Continuities and Disjunctures in the Transformation of the U.S. Agro-Food System -- 14 Tourism and Natural Amenity Development -- Part III: The Rural Community: Is It Local? Is It a Community? -- Perspectives on Community -- 15 Community Agency and Local Development -- 16 Social Capital -- 17 Civil Society, Civic Communities, and Rural Development -- The Social Institutions That Maintain and Reproduce Community -- 18 The Global/Local Interface -- 19 Competition, Cooperation, and Local Governance -- 20 Religion -- 21 Promoting Educational Achievement -- 22 Rural Health Policy -- Part IV: People and the Environment: Tough Tradeoffs in an Era with Vanishing Buffers -- 23 Transforming Rural America -- 24 Community and Resource Extraction in Rural America -- 25 Fur, Fins, and Feathers -- Part V: Changing National and International Policies: New Uncertainties and New Challenges -- 26 What Role Can Community Play in Local Economic Development? -- 27 Devolution -- 28 Welfare Reform in Rural Areas -- 29 The Impact of Global Economic Practices on American Farming -- 30 Catalytic Community Development -- Conclusion -- References -- Contributors -- Index