Living in a town with no cell service or Wi-Fi (for science!) has actually left people there with worse schools and weaker community bonds.
March 20, 2026
Original Paper
In the shadows of silence Wireless restrictions and long-term socioeconomic outcomes1
SSRN · 6430176
The Takeaway
One might expect a lack of digital distraction to be a benefit or a neutral byproduct of scientific research. Instead, this natural experiment shows that being excluded from wireless infrastructure for 60 years systematically gutted local libraries, social organizations, and employment opportunities compared to neighbors just across the border.
From the abstract
We study the long-run consequences of exclusion from communication infrastructure using a unique historical natural experiment: the 1958 creation of the U.S. National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), which has restricted wireless transmissions across parts of rural Appalachia for more than six decades. We implement a geographic regression discontinuity design at the NRQZ boundary, and interpret the estimated discontinuities as long-run equilibrium differences induced by a persistent restriction regime a