Handicapping Countries in the Race to Digital Switching

This paper examines the diffusion of digital switching in 19 countries by specifying a model of technology choice and testing the significance of the implied determinants of adoption. The results are compared and contrasted with previous analyses of the adoption of digital switching within the U.S. In particular, the results suggest that previous analyses of the effects of telecommunications infrastructure on GDP, such as Roller and Waverman (2001), may achieve greater statistical power by accounting for the type of infrastructure as well as the level of infrastructure.