Depopulation of EU Lower-income Regions: Can Digitalisation via Broadband Access Reduce it?

Abstract

Depopulated rural or post-industrial areas, which are often low-income with fewer job opportunities, represent an open challenge for the European Union. Sharp demographic declines especially in Eastern and Southern Europe, due to the intra-EU migration of younger, skilled workers from these areas have become a serious obstacle to the sustainable development of many EU lowerincome regions. The European Parliament highlights the gap in ICT connectivity among other reasons. This paper aims to provide empirical evidence, by applying Panel Data Analysis, that digitalisation of European NUTS-2 regions with lower incomes via Broadband Access may contribute to reversing negative demographic trends.