The Impact of Broadband Infrastructure Construction on FDI Inflows ——Evidence from the Broadband China Pilot Policy

The Impact of Broadband Infrastructure Construction on FDI Inflows ——Evidence from the Broadband China Pilot Policy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Impact of Broadband Infrastructure Construction on FDI Inflows ——Evidence from the Broadband China Pilot Policy Qian Sun This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6192722/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Based on the city data in China from 2005 to 2020, the article empirically analyzes the impact of broadband infrastructure construction on FDI inflows by using the Broadband China Pilot Policy (BCPP) as a quasi-natural experiment with a staggered DID model. The study shows that the BCPP has a significant positive effect on FDI inflows, and passes the parallel trend tests and various robustness tests. The BCPP attracts FDI inflows by reducing transaction costs and expanding consumption size. Human capital and innovation capability can moderate the relationship between broadband infrastructure construction and FDI inflows. The higher the level of human capital, the stronger the urban innovation capability, the greater the promoting effect of broadband infrastructure construction on FDI inflows. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotion effect of the BCPP on FDI inflows is particularly significant in cities in the central and eastern regions, with large populations and good traditional infrastructures. The article not only extends the economic effects of the BCPP to international investment, but also provides a new explanation for stabilizing the scale of foreign investment from broadband infrastructure in China. JEF: F125 Broadband China broadband infrastructure FDI inflows transaction costs innovation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6192722","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":436840520,"identity":"7dd3cd32-5e8d-444b-aa50-38da0b96dcf1","order_by":0,"name":"Qian Sun","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAwklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACfobDBx98YDgA5kgQpUWy8Viy4QyStBgcPqMmzEOalmNn2Jht2+4kbjjAfPA2D4NdHmGHnTl77HFu2zNjgwNsydY8DMnFBLXw3TiXbpy77bCcwQEeM2mgCxMbCOq5/8ZM2nLbYR6DA/zfiNMicOCMmTQjxBY24rRINgADufffYWPJw2zGlnMMkglrAUfljzOHE/uONz+88abCjgi/wIDCYRBpQLR6IJAn3vRRMApGwSgYaQAABRNEEBryMK4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Wuhan College","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qian","middleName":"","lastName":"Sun","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-10 07:08:22","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6192722/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6192722/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89802403,"identity":"c3a5e0c4-0382-4531-95d3-1019ed7a9e55","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-25 08:24:59","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":462037,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"BroadbandChinawithauthor.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6192722/v1_covered_20ca09ce-f7cc-45ba-8707-c3947e32ee0a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Impact of Broadband Infrastructure Construction on FDI Inflows ——Evidence from the Broadband China Pilot Policy","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Broadband China, broadband infrastructure, FDI inflows, transaction costs, innovation ","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6192722/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6192722/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBased on the city data in China from 2005 to 2020, the article empirically analyzes the impact of broadband infrastructure construction on FDI inflows by using the Broadband China Pilot Policy (BCPP) as a quasi-natural experiment with a staggered DID model. 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