Tessa Conroy

About

Tessa Conroy is an economist who focuses on rural America and the Wisconsin economy. Her work includes analyzing rural inflation, highlighting that official inflation numbers often do not account for people living outside of cities, and showing that rural populations may be experiencing higher inflation. She has also studied the rise of nonemployer businesses, finding early evidence that their growth is connected to diverse populations. Additionally, Conroy has contributed to research on broadband access in rural communities, emphasizing its importance for economic well-being. Her findings link broadband availability to better business performance, increased farm profits, enhanced opportunities for rural entrepreneurship, higher home values, and improved educational outcomes at both grade school and high school levels. She is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and can be contacted via email at tessa.conroy@wisc.edu.

Research topics

• Business
• Telecommunications
• Economics
• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Economic growth
• Geography
• Industrial organization
• Marketing
• Demographic economics

Selected publications

• Rural broadband speeds and business startup rates

  American Journal of Agricultural Economics · 2021 · 86 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Using 2014 U.S. nonmetropolitan county‐level data, we explore the relationship between broadband speeds and business startup rates. Rural development policy discussions have presumed that access to broadband has become a necessary, although not sufficient, condition for economic growth and development. The relationship between broadband access on business startups, which are vital to local economic vibrancy, may be key to understanding the link between broadband and growth. In this stud…

  PublisherDOI

• Entrepreneurship, Broadband, and Gender: Evidence from Establishment Births in Rural America

  International Regional Science Review · 2021 · 50 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  Broadband access may have important implications for establishment births in rural areas, which feature thinner markets. Broadband may be especially important for rural nonemployer businesses, particularly those without a storefront, for access to nontraditional market channels. As women are more likely to run these types of small businesses, we further expect that broadband may have important implications for women-led businesses. With an effective instrumental variable approach, we find eviden…

  PublisherDOI

• Opportunity, necessity, and no one in the middle: A closer look at small, rural, and female‐led entrepreneurship in the United States

  Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · 2021-09-21 · 19 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Female entrepreneurs in rural America are rarely studied, despite local economic context likely shaping their (self‐) employment choices. Development literature suggests entrepreneurship is most prevalent at the lowest and highest income levels, creating a U‐shaped relationship between economic development measured with per capita income on the x‐axis and the entrepreneurship rate (startups) on the y‐axis. At the county level in the United States, we find that female‐led startup rates v…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Do “banking deserts” even exist? Examining access to brick-and-mortar financial institutions in the continental United States

  Applied Geography · 2024-02-22 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  This study compares competing definitions of “banking deserts” and their applicability in characterizing access to physical financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, or farm credit lenders. Geostatistical techniques are used to locate and spatially analyze financial institutions in census tracts across the lower 48 United States. Logistic regression is used to identify the demographic, economic, and geographic determinants of access to financial institutions. Mapping results indicate…

  PublisherDOI

• Immigration and rates of entrepreneurship in large US communities

  Local Development & Society · 2022-06-08 · 6 citations

  article

  Using US county-level data from the Business Information Tracking System, we revisit the influence of immigrants on business start-ups. We find that a higher density of foreign-born immigrants has a positive impact on new business formation, but the relationship varies by the ethnic background of the immigrants and by industry type. Specifically, Caucasian immigrants, and to a lesser extent Asians, drive the positive relationship. Higher concentrations of Latinx immigrants, however, have either…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Steven C. Deller

  University of Wisconsin–Extension

  47 shared

• Alexandra Tsvetkova

  12 shared

• Stephan Weiler

  9 shared

• Sarah A. Low

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  7 shared

• Matthew Kures

  Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

  7 shared

• Philip Watson

  Heidelberg University

  4 shared

• Jean‐Claude Thill

  3 shared

• Matt Kures

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  3 shared

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