| This dissertation studies the evolution of the geographic distribution of advanced backbone information technology in computing and telecommunications. In the first chapter, we present evidence suggesting that the stock of advanced information technology capital, and the access to it, became more equally distributed across the U.S. between the mid 1980s and early 1990s. In the second chapter, we formulate a model which describes the relationship between the two basic components of the national information technology infrastructure--modern telecommunications infrastructure and computing capacity--, and we derive necessary conditions for the existence of strategic complementarity between them. We then perform statistical tests which do not reject the hypothesis of the existence of necessary conditions for the investment in modern telecommunications infrastructure to increase the marginal return of more investment in computing capacity in a region. In turn, the effect of more investment in computing capacity on the marginal return of investment in modern telecommunications infrastructure depends on the type of computing platform where this computing capacity is used. |
