IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/scotjp/v71y2024i3p276-294.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lightening the path to financial development: The power of electricity

Author

Listed:
  • Lei Pan
  • Richard Adjei Dwumfour
  • Veasna Kheng

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of access to electricity on financial development. In doing so, we use a number of instrumental variables (IV) approaches. Using panel data for 38 countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa over the period 2000–2018, the results suggest that more people having access to electricity can promote financial development. In addition, mobile phone and commercial bank branches diffusion serve as potential channels through which access to electricity affects financial development. Our results are robust to sample‐splitting and different estimation techniques. The results have important implications for policies in overcoming barriers to electricity access.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Pan & Richard Adjei Dwumfour & Veasna Kheng, 2024. "Lightening the path to financial development: The power of electricity," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 71(3), pages 276-294, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scotjp:v:71:y:2024:i:3:p:276-294
    DOI: 10.1111/sjpe.12368
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/sjpe.12368
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/sjpe.12368?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bittencourt, Manoel, 2011. "Inflation and financial development: Evidence from Brazil," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 91-99.
    2. Taryn Dinkelman, 2011. "The Effects of Rural Electrification on Employment: New Evidence from South Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3078-3108, December.
    3. Alberto Alesina & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2011. "Segregation and the Quality of Government in a Cross Section of Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(5), pages 1872-1911, August.
    4. Asongu, Simplice A. & Le Roux, Sara & Biekpe, Nicholas, 2018. "Enhancing ICT for environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 209-216.
    5. Alam, Md. Samsul & Miah, Mohammad Dulal & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2018. "The nexus between access to electricity and labour productivity in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 715-726.
    6. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas & Newey, Whitney & Rosen, Harvey S, 1988. "Estimating Vector Autoregressions with Panel Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(6), pages 1371-1395, November.
    7. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    8. Bipasha Baruah, 2015. "Creating Opportunities for Women in the Renewable Energy Sector: Findings from India," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 53-76, April.
    9. Grogan, Louise & Sadanand, Asha, 2013. "Rural Electrification and Employment in Poor Countries: Evidence from Nicaragua," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 252-265.
    10. Robert G. King & Ross Levine, 1993. "Finance and Growth: Schumpeter Might Be Right," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 717-737.
    11. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    12. Calderon, Cesar & Liu, Lin, 2003. "The direction of causality between financial development and economic growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 321-334, October.
    13. Nathan Nunn & Diego Puga, 2012. "Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(1), pages 20-36, February.
    14. Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham & Isaac Sorkin & Henry Swift, 2020. "Bartik Instruments: What, When, Why, and How," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(8), pages 2586-2624, August.
    15. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Naeem, Muhammad & Ahad, Muhammad & Tahir, Iqbal, 2018. "Is natural resource abundance a stimulus for financial development in the USA?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 223-232.
    16. Robert Jensen, 2007. "The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 879-924.
    17. Mr. Jiaqian Chen & Mr. Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli & Ms. Ratna Sahay, 2014. "Spillovers from United States Monetary Policy on Emerging Markets: Different This Time?," IMF Working Papers 2014/240, International Monetary Fund.
    18. David M. G. Newbery & Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1984. "Pareto Inferior Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(1), pages 1-12.
    19. Ross Levine, 1997. "Financial Development and Economic Growth: Views and Agenda," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 688-726, June.
    20. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Energy poverty and health: Panel data evidence from Australia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    21. Huang, Yongfu, 2010. "Political Institutions and Financial Development: An Empirical Study," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1667-1677, December.
    22. Ang, James B. & McKibbin, Warwick J., 2007. "Financial liberalization, financial sector development and growth: Evidence from Malaysia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 215-233, September.
    23. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    24. Bhattacharyya, Sambit & Hodler, Roland, 2014. "Do Natural Resource Revenues Hinder Financial Development? The Role of Political Institutions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 101-113.
    25. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    26. Armey, Laura E. & Hosman, Laura, 2016. "The centrality of electricity to ICT use in low-income countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 617-627.
    27. Rud, Juan Pablo, 2012. "Electricity provision and industrial development: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 352-367.
    28. Ackermann, Klaus & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Mobile phone coverage and violent conflict," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 269-287.
    29. Pan, Lei & Biru, Ashenafi & Lettu, Sandra, 2021. "Energy poverty and public health: Global evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    30. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    31. Boyd, John H. & Levine, Ross & Smith, Bruce D., 2001. "The impact of inflation on financial sector performance," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 221-248, April.
    32. Oum, Sothea, 2019. "Energy poverty in the Lao PDR and its impacts on education and health," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 247-253.
    33. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "The great reversals: the politics of financial development in the twentieth century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 5-50, July.
    34. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2005. "An Evaluation of Instrumental Variable Strategies for Estimating the Effects of Catholic Schooling," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(4), pages 791-821.
    35. Billmeier, Andreas & Massa, Isabella, 2009. "What drives stock market development in emerging markets--institutions, remittances, or natural resources?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 23-35, March.
    36. Chen, Ping-Yu & Chen, Sheng-Tung & Chen, Chi-Chung, 2012. "Energy consumption and economic growth—New evidence from meta analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 245-255.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2019. "Financial Development and Tax Revenue in Developing Countries: Investigating the International Trade and Economic Growth Channels," EconStor Preprints 206628, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Nazima Ellahi & Adiqa Kausar Kiani & Muhammad Awais & Hina Affandi & Rabia Saghir & Sarah Qaim, 2021. "Investigating the Institutional Determinants of Financial Development: Empirical Evidence From SAARC Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    3. Cotter, Christopher & Rousseau, Peter L. & Vu, Nam T., 2021. "Electrification, telecommunications, and the finance-growth nexus: Evidence from firm-level data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Pan, Lei & Biru, Ashenafi & Lettu, Sandra, 2021. "Energy poverty and public health: Global evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Djeunankan, Ronald & Tadadjeu, Sosson & Kamguia, Brice, 2024. "Linking energy poverty and industrialization: Empirical evidence from African countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    6. Samargandi, Nahla & Fidrmuc, Jan & Ghosh, Sugata, 2015. "Is the Relationship Between Financial Development and Economic Growth Monotonic? Evidence from a Sample of Middle-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 66-81.
    7. Wahidin, Deni & Akimov, Alexandr & Roca, Eduardo, 2021. "The impact of bond market development on economic growth before and after the global financial crisis: Evidence from developed and developing countries," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    8. Chris Doucouliagos & Jakob de Haan & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2022. "What drives financial development? A Meta-regression analysis [A new database of financial reforms]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 840-868.
    9. Balcilar, Mehmet & Gupta, Rangan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Olasehinde-Williams, Godwin, 2018. "The synergistic effect of insurance and banking sector activities on economic growth in Africa," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 637-648.
    10. Joshua Yindenaba Abor & Richard Adjei Dwumfour & Elikplimi Komla Agbloyor & Lei Pan, 2024. "Foreign direct investment and inclusive finance: do financial markets and quality of institutions matter?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(2), pages 773-815, August.
    11. Effiong, Ekpeno, 2015. "Financial Development, Institutions and Economic Growth: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 66085, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Alali, Walid Y., 2010. "Impact of Institutions and Policy on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 115610, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Opperman, Pieter & Adjasi, Charles Komla Delali, 2019. "Remittance volatility and financial sector development in sub-Saharan African countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 336-351.
    14. Vighneswara Swamy & Munusamy Dharani, 2021. "Thresholds in finance–growth nexus: Evidence from G‐7 economies," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 1-40, March.
    15. Raja Almarzoqi & Sami Ben Naceur & Akshay Kotak, 2015. "What Matters for Financial Development and Stability?," IMF Working Papers 2015/173, International Monetary Fund.
    16. Abdul Bahri, Elya Nabila & Mohd Nor, Abu Hassan Shaari & Sarmidi, Tamat & Haji Mohd Nor, Nor Hakimah, 2018. "Nonlinear Relationship between Financial Development and Economic Growth: Evidence from Post Global Financial Crisis Panel Data," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 52(1), pages 15-30.
    17. Bensch, Gunther & Gotz, Gunnar & Peters, Jörg, 2020. "Effects of rural electrification on employment: A comment on Dinkelman (2011)," Ruhr Economic Papers 840, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    18. Simplice Asongu & Rexon Nting, 2021. "The role of finance in inclusive human development in Africa revisited," Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(2), pages 345-370, February.
    19. Muhammad Shahbaz & Hrushikesh Mallick & Mantu Kumar Mahalik & Shawkat Hammoudeh, 2018. "Is globalization detrimental to financial development? Further evidence from a very large emerging economy with significant orientation towards policies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 574-595, February.
    20. Asongu, Simplice & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2015. "Finance and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Africa," MPRA Paper 71787, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:scotjp:v:71:y:2024:i:3:p:276-294. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sesssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.