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Efforts to attract entrepreneurs and "creative class" workers have become important components of economic development strategies for rural communities. One commonly held perception is that broadband access is important for these types of employees; however, empirical research on the relationship between the two is generally lacking. This study uses county-level data from the continental U.S. to estimate spatial and first-differenced regression models on the association between broadband and measures of entrepreneurship/creative-class employees in rural areas. The results suggest that high levels of broadband adoption may in fact serve to reduce the numbers of entrepreneurs and creative class employees in rural America. These findings serve as a reminder that broadband is not a panacea for all issues of importance to rural communities and provide evidence that there may be negative implications associated with efforts to increase levels of rural broadband access and adoption.

The deployment of faster household Internet speeds enables new opportunities for entertainment, social interaction, and personal development, and many consider such access an essential component of everyday life. However, rural residents face lower availability, slower speeds and limited provider options, putting them at a disadvantage when compared to their urban counterparts. Connected rural households, especially those with higher speeds, may experience a premium on their home value. Data from the National Broadband Map, the Federal Communications Commission, and over 2,700 housing transactions from June 2011 to June 2017 are used to examine the impact of broadband availability on housing values in two rural Oklahoma counties via a hedonic price model. The results find no support for the existence of a broadband premium, and stress that differences across counties are crucial in assessing rural housing prices.

Millenials are the generation everyone is talking about and the generation who loves to talk about themselves. More than just a media buzzword, researchers, marketers, and retailers are interested in how the soon-to-be-largest segment of the population is making food purchasing decisions. This paper uses the difference-in-difference method to determine the causal "millennial effect" on the share of income spent on various food expenditure categories. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey was used to identify how young people's food expenditures compare to older people's in 2015 and in 1980. Results indicate significant "millennial effects" that might have policy implications for future health care spending. Millennials have higher demand for cereal, beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and fresh fruit and lower demand for "other" food, and for food away from home relative to what would have been expected from the eating patterns of the young and old 35 years prior.

This paper presents the prototype of an electronic vibration bracelet designed to help the visually and hearing impaired to receive and send emergency alerts. The bracelet has two basic functions. The first function is to receive a wireless signal and respond with a vibration to alert the user. The second function is implemented by pushing one button of the bracelet to send an emergency signal. We report testing on a prototype system formed by a mobile application and two bracelets. The bracelets and the application form a complete system intended to be used in retirement apartment communities. However, the system is flexible and could be expanded to add new features or to serve as a research platform for gait analysis and location services. The medical and professional potential of the proposed system is that it offers a simple, modular, and cost-effective alternative to all the existing medical devices with similar functionality currently on the market. The proposed system has an educational potential as well: it can be used as a starting point for capstone projects and demonstration purposes in schools to attract students to STEM disciplines.