IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v178y2019icp832-852.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Downstream electric utility restructuring and upstream generation efficiency: Productivity dynamics of Indian coal and gas based electricity generators

Author

Listed:
  • Sugathan, Anish
  • Malghan, Deepak
  • Chandrashekar, S.
  • Sinha, Deepak K.

Abstract

This paper investigates the producer-level temporal dynamics of total factor productivity and operational performance changes in coal- and gas-based generators during the 2000–20013 period of major structural reforms in the downstream utilities in India. The total factor productivity is estimated using a recently developed improvement in the Stochastic Frontier panel method that controls for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity, and the productivity change is decomposed into components of changes in technology frontier, efficiency, scale and allocation. A unique dataset of station-level data for coal and gas plants, that represents about two-thirds of all power generation in India during this period, is constructed for the analysis. The study shows that while there is improvement in the coal generator productivity at the mean rate of 0.20% per year that converges towards a point of higher efficiency for most plants, the gas generators show a trend of stagnant efficiency and declining total factor productivity at the mean rate of −0.80% per year. Unbundling and multi-dimensional utility reform indices are significantly associated with improvement in thermal efficiency and capacity utilization for coal generators. In contrast, utility reforms shows no significant positive influence on gas generators, instead a decline in capacity utilization is observed following unbundling.

Suggested Citation

  • Sugathan, Anish & Malghan, Deepak & Chandrashekar, S. & Sinha, Deepak K., 2019. "Downstream electric utility restructuring and upstream generation efficiency: Productivity dynamics of Indian coal and gas based electricity generators," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 832-852.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:178:y:2019:i:c:p:832-852
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.04.107
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544219307406
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2019.04.107?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yin-Fang Zhang & David Parker & Colin Kirkpatrick, 2008. "Electricity sector reform in developing countries: an econometric assessment of the effects of privatization, competition and regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 159-178, April.
    2. Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria & Svento, Rauli, 2011. "Observed and unobserved heterogeneity in stochastic frontier models: An application to the electricity distribution industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 304-310, March.
    3. Yadav, Vinod Kumar & Padhy, N.P. & Gupta, H.O., 2010. "A micro level study of an Indian electric utility for efficiency enhancement," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4053-4063.
    4. Kuosmanen, Timo & Saastamoinen, Antti & Sipiläinen, Timo, 2013. "What is the best practice for benchmark regulation of electricity distribution? Comparison of DEA, SFA and StoNED methods," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 740-750.
    5. Oh, Dong-hyun & Lee, Yong-Gil, 2016. "Productivity decomposition and economies of scale of Korean fossil-fuel power generation companies: 2001–2012," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 1-9.
    6. Madhu Khanna & Kusum Mundra & Aman Ullah, 1999. "Parametric and semi-parametric estimation of the effect of firm attributes on efficiency: the electricity generating industry in India," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 419-430.
    7. Shukla, Umesh Kumar & Thampy, Ashok, 2011. "Analysis of competition and market power in the wholesale electricity market in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2699-2710, May.
    8. Anupama Sen & Tooraj Jamasb, 2010. "The Economic Effects of Electricity Deregulation: An Empirical Analysis of Indian States," Working Papers EPRG 1001, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    9. Yadav, Vinod Kumar & Padhy, N.P. & Gupta, H.O., 2011. "Performance evaluation and improvement directions for an Indian electric utility," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7112-7120.
    10. Jaume Puig‐Junoy, 2001. "Technical Inefficiency and Public Capital in U.S. States: A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 75-96, February.
    11. Wang, Hung-Jen & Ho, Chia-Wen, 2010. "Estimating fixed-effect panel stochastic frontier models by model transformation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 157(2), pages 286-296, August.
    12. Madhu Khanna & David Zilberman, 1999. "Barriers to Energy-Efficiency in Electricity Generation in India," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 25-41.
    13. Hung-jen Wang & Peter Schmidt, 2002. "One-Step and Two-Step Estimation of the Effects of Exogenous Variables on Technical Efficiency Levels," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 129-144, September.
    14. Ghosh, Ranjan & Kathuria, Vinish, 2016. "The effect of regulatory governance on efficiency of thermal power generation in India: A stochastic frontier analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 11-24.
    15. Siddiqui, Md Zakaria & de Maere d'Aertrycke, Gauthier & Smeers, Yves, 2012. "Demand response in Indian electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 207-216.
    16. Kira R. Fabrizio & Nancy L. Rose & Catherine D. Wolfram, 2007. "Do Markets Reduce Costs? Assessing the Impact of Regulatory Restructuring on US Electric Generation Efficiency," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1250-1277, September.
    17. Schmidt, Peter & Sickles, Robin C, 1984. "Production Frontiers and Panel Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 2(4), pages 367-374, October.
    18. David M. Newbery & Michael G. Pollitt, 1997. "The Restructuring and Privatisation of Britain's CEGB—Was It Worth It?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 269-303, September.
    19. Shrivastava, Naveen & Sharma, Seema & Chauhan, Kavita, 2012. "Efficiency assessment and benchmarking of thermal power plants in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 159-176.
    20. Joga Singh, 1991. "Plant size and Technical Efficiency in the Indian Thermal Power Industry," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 26(2), pages 239-252, July.
    21. Singh, Anoop, 2006. "Power sector reform in India: current issues and prospects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(16), pages 2480-2490, November.
    22. Thakur, Tripta & Deshmukh, S. G. & Kaushik, S. C. & Kulshrestha, Mukul, 2005. "Impact assessment of the Electricity Act 2003 on the Indian power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1187-1198, June.
    23. Antonio Alvarez & Christine Amsler & Luis Orea & Peter Schmidt, 2006. "Interpreting and Testing the Scaling Property in Models where Inefficiency Depends on Firm Characteristics," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 201-212, June.
    24. Jamasb, T. & Pollitt, M., 2000. "Benchmarking and regulation: international electricity experience," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 107-130, September.
    25. Singh, Anoop, 2010. "Towards a competitive market for electricity and consumer choice in the Indian power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4196-4208, August.
    26. Sarıca, Kemal & Or, Ilhan, 2007. "Efficiency assessment of Turkish power plants using data envelopment analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1484-1499.
    27. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-332.
    28. Greene, William, 2005. "Reconsidering heterogeneity in panel data estimators of the stochastic frontier model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 269-303, June.
    29. Thakur, Tripta & Deshmukh, S.G. & Kaushik, S.C., 2006. "Efficiency evaluation of the state owned electric utilities in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(17), pages 2788-2804, November.
    30. Oh, Dong-hyun, 2015. "Productivity growth, technical change and economies of scale of Korean fossil-fuel generation companies, 2001–2012: A dual approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 113-121.
    31. T. G. Arun & F. I. Nixson, 1998. "The reform of the power sector in India: 1991-1997," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(4), pages 417-426.
    32. Subal Kumbhakar & M. Denny & M. Fuss, 2000. "Estimation and decomposition of productivity change when production is not efficient: a paneldata approach," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 312-320.
    33. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February.
    34. Willam Greene, 2005. "Fixed and Random Effects in Stochastic Frontier Models," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 7-32, January.
    35. Federico Belotti & Silvio Daidone & Giuseppe Ilardi & Vincenzo Atella, 2013. "Stochastic frontier analysis using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 13(4), pages 718-758, December.
    36. Vaninsky, Alexander, 2006. "Efficiency of electric power generation in the United States: Analysis and forecast based on data envelopment analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 326-338, May.
    37. L. Dean Hiebert, 2002. "The Determinants of the Cost Efficiency of Electric Generating Plants: A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(4), pages 935-946, April.
    38. Du, Limin & He, Yanan & Yan, Jianye, 2013. "The effects of electricity reforms on productivity and efficiency of China's fossil-fired power plants: An empirical analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 804-812.
    39. Jamasb, T. & Mota, R. & Newbery, D. & Pollitt, M., 2004. "‘Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries: A Survey of Empirical Evidence on Determinants and Performance’," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0439, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    40. K.R. Shanmugam & Praveen Kulshreshtha, 2005. "Efficiency analysis of coal-based thermal power generation in India during post-reform era," International Journal of Global Energy Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 23(1), pages 15-28.
    41. Lin, Boqiang & Du, Kerui, 2014. "Measuring energy efficiency under heterogeneous technologies using a latent class stochastic frontier approach: An application to Chinese energy economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 884-890.
    42. Lancaster, Tony, 2000. "The incidental parameter problem since 1948," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 391-413, April.
    43. Bhattacharyya, Subhes C., 2005. "The Electricity Act 2003: will it transform the Indian power sector?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 260-272, September.
    44. Pitt, Mark M. & Lee, Lung-Fei, 1981. "The measurement and sources of technical inefficiency in the Indonesian weaving industry," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 43-64, August.
    45. Luis R. Murillo‐Zamorano, 2004. "Economic Efficiency and Frontier Techniques," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 33-77, February.
    46. Diewert, W. E., 1976. "Exact and superlative index numbers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 115-145, May.
    47. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Poh, K.L., 2008. "A survey of data envelopment analysis in energy and environmental studies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 1-18, August.
    48. Aghdam, Reza Fathollahzadeh, 2011. "Dynamics of productivity change in the Australian electricity industry: Assessing the impacts of electricity reform," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3281-3295, June.
    49. Ferguson,C. E., 2008. "The Neoclassical Theory of Production and Distribution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521076296, September.
    50. Christopher R. Knittel, 2002. "Alternative Regulatory Methods And Firm Efficiency: Stochastic Frontier Evidence From The U.S. Electricity Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 530-540, August.
    51. Kumbhakar,Subal C. & Lovell,C. A. Knox, 2003. "Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521666633, September.
    52. Kabir Malik & Maureen Cropper & Alexander Limonov & Anoop Singh, 2011. "Estimating the Impact of Restructuring on Electricity Generation Efficiency: The Case of the Indian Thermal Power Sector," NBER Working Papers 17383, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    53. Choi, Ki-Hong & Ang, B.W., 2002. "Measuring thermal efficiency improvement in power generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 447-455.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paul, Satya & Shankar, Sriram, 2022. "Regulatory reforms and the efficiency and productivity growth in electricity generation in OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Sarangi, Gopal K. & Pradhan, Abhilas Kumar & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2021. "Performance assessment of state-owned electricity distribution utilities in India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 516-531.
    3. Sun, Kege & Wu, Libo, 2020. "Efficiency distortion of the power generation sector under the dual regulation of price and quantity in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    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. Ghosh, Ranjan & Kathuria, Vinish, 2016. "The effect of regulatory governance on efficiency of thermal power generation in India: A stochastic frontier analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 11-24.
    2. Jindal, Abhinav & Nilakantan, Rahul, 2021. "Falling efficiency levels of Indian coal-fired power plants: A slacks-based analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Kabir Malik, Maureen Cropper, Alexander Limonov and Anoop Singh, 2015. "The Impact of Electricity Sector Restructuring on Coal-fired Power Plants in India," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    4. Kabir Malik & Maureen Cropper & Alexander Limonov & Anoop Singh, 2011. "Estimating the Impact of Restructuring on Electricity Generation Efficiency: The Case of the Indian Thermal Power Sector," NBER Working Papers 17383, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jamasb, Tooraj & Llorca, Manuel & Khetrapal, Pavan & Thakur, Tripta, 2021. "Institutions and performance of regulated firms: Evidence from electricity distribution in India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 68-82.
    6. Shrivastava, Naveen & Sharma, Seema & Chauhan, Kavita, 2012. "Efficiency assessment and benchmarking of thermal power plants in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 159-176.
    7. Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo, 2009. "An analysis of cost efficiency in Swiss multi-utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 306-315, March.
    8. Liu, Xiao-Yan & Pollitt, Michael G. & Xie, Bai-Chen & Liu, Li-Qiu, 2019. "Does environmental heterogeneity affect the productive efficiency of grid utilities in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 333-344.
    9. Chen, Zhongfei & Barros, Carlos Pestana & Borges, Maria Rosa, 2015. "A Bayesian stochastic frontier analysis of Chinese fossil-fuel electricity generation companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 136-144.
    10. Paul, Satya & Shankar, Sriram, 2018. "Modelling Efficiency Effects in a True Fixed Effects Stochastic Frontier," MPRA Paper 87437, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Satya Paul & Sriram Shankar, 2020. "Estimating efficiency effects in a panel data stochastic frontier model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 163-180, April.
    12. Pontus Mattsson & Jonas Mansson & William H. Greene, 2018. "TFP Change and its Components for Swedish Manufacturing Firms During the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis," Working Papers 18-27, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    13. Jamasb, Tooraj & Llorca, Manuel & Khetrapal, Pavan & Thakur, Tripta, 2018. "Institutions and Performance of Regulated Firms: Evidence from Electric Utilities in the Indian States," Efficiency Series Papers 2018/03, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    14. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Yuan, Yan & Goto, Mika, 2017. "A literature study for DEA applied to energy and environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 104-124.
    15. Ali M. Oumer & Amin Mugera & Michael Burton & Atakelty Hailu, 2022. "Technical efficiency and firm heterogeneity in stochastic frontier models: application to smallholder maize farms in Ethiopia," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 213-241, April.
    16. Ajayi, Victor & Weyman-Jones, Tom, 2021. "State-level electricity generation efficiency: Do restructuring and regulatory institutions matter in the US?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    17. Li, Hong-Zhou & Tian, Xian-Liang & Zou, Tao, 2015. "Impact analysis of coal-electricity pricing linkage scheme in China based on stochastic frontier cost function," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 296-305.
    18. Gralka, Sabine, 2018. "Stochastic frontier analysis in higher education: A systematic review," CEPIE Working Papers 05/18, Technische Universität Dresden, Center of Public and International Economics (CEPIE).
    19. Belotti, Federico & Ilardi, Giuseppe, 2018. "Consistent inference in fixed-effects stochastic frontier models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 202(2), pages 161-177.
    20. Giovanni Marin & Alessandro Palma, 2015. "Technology Invention and Diffusion in Residential Energy Consumption. A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Working Papers 2015.104, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.

    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:eee:energy:v:178:y:2019:i:c:p:832-852. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    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.