IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v78y2022ics0957178722000686.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of income inequality and governance on energy poverty alleviation: Implications for sustainable development policy

Author

Listed:
  • Acheampong, Alex O.
  • Shahbaz, Muhammad
  • Dzator, Janet
  • Jiao, Zhilun

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of income inequality and governance on access to electricity using a panel of 43 SSA countries from 1990 to 2017. The results from the two-step GMM estimator revealed that while income inequality substantially reduced access to electricity, governance has been ineffective in improving it. The findings showed that governance interacts with income inequality and economic growth to reduce access to electricity. Comparative analysis suggested that these findings vary among the SSA sub-regions. We argue that energy poverty alleviation requires firm political will and an effective governance system to close the income inequality gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Acheampong, Alex O. & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Dzator, Janet & Jiao, Zhilun, 2022. "Effects of income inequality and governance on energy poverty alleviation: Implications for sustainable development policy," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:78:y:2022:i:c:s0957178722000686
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2022.101403
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178722000686
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2022.101403?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. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2013. "Growth of African Economies: Productivity, Policy Syndromes and the Importance of Institutions," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(4), pages 523-551, August.
    4. Robert H. Bates, 2006. "Institutions and Development," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(1), pages 10-61, April.
    5. Khennas, Smail, 2012. "Understanding the political economy and key drivers of energy access in addressing national energy access priorities and policies: African Perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(S1), pages 21-26.
    6. Facundo Alvaredo & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Lucas Chancel & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "World Inequality Report 2018," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01885458, HAL.
    7. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    8. Eberhard, Anton & Shkaratan, Maria, 2012. "Powering Africa: Meeting the financing and reform challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 9-18.
    9. Kenny, Charles, 2007. "Infrastructure governance and corruption : where next ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4331, The World Bank.
    10. Bates, Robert H., 2006. "Institutions and Development," Scholarly Articles 37093808, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    11. Antonio Andres & Carlyn Ramlogan-Dobson, 2011. "Is Corruption Really Bad for Inequality? Evidence from Latin America," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(7), pages 959-976.
    12. Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong, 2002. "Corruption, economic growth, and income inequality in Africa," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 183-209, November.
    13. Ahlborg, Helene & Boräng, Frida & Jagers, Sverker C. & Söderholm, Patrik, 2015. "Provision of electricity to African households: The importance of democracy and institutional quality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 125-135.
    14. North, Douglass C., 1989. "Institutions and economic growth: An historical introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(9), pages 1319-1332, September.
    15. Sanjeev Gupta & Hamid Davoodi & Rosa Alonso-Terme, 2002. "Does corruption affect income inequality and poverty?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 23-45, March.
    16. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    17. Acheampong, Alex O. & Dzator, Janet & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2021. "Empowering the powerless: Does access to energy improve income inequality?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    18. Bardhan, Pranab, 1999. "Institutions, Governance and Political Economy of Development: Some Reflections," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 8(0), pages 149-167, December.
    19. John Cubbin & Jon Stern, 2006. "The Impact of Regulatory Governance and Privatization on Electricity Industry Generation Capacity in Developing Economies," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(1), pages 115-141.
    20. Acheampong, Alex O. & Erdiaw-Kwasie, Michael Odei & Abunyewah, Matthew, 2021. "Does energy accessibility improve human development? Evidence from energy-poor regions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    21. Ahlborg, Helene & Hammar, Linus, 2014. "Drivers and barriers to rural electrification in Tanzania and Mozambique – Grid-extension, off-grid, and renewable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 117-124.
    22. Stock, James H & Wright, Jonathan H & Yogo, Motohiro, 2002. "A Survey of Weak Instruments and Weak Identification in Generalized Method of Moments," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(4), pages 518-529, October.
    23. Brautigam, Deborah A & Knack, Stephen, 2004. "Foreign Aid, Institutions, and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 255-285, January.
    24. Galvin, Ray & Sunikka-Blank, Minna, 2018. "Economic Inequality and Household Energy Consumption in High-income Countries: A Challenge for Social Science Based Energy Research," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 78-88.
    25. Francois Bourguignon, 2004. "The Poverty-growth-inequality triangle," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 125, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    26. Augustin Fosu & Robert Bates & Anke Hoeffler, 2006. "Institutions, Governance and Economic Development in Africa: An Overview," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, April.
    27. Zhang, Tong & Shi, Xunpeng & Zhang, Dayong & Xiao, Junji, 2019. "Socio-economic development and electricity access in developing economies: A long-run model averaging approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 223-231.
    28. Frederick Solt, 2016. "The Standardized World Income Inequality Database," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1267-1281, November.
    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. Zhao, Wen-Xuan & Samour, Ahmed & Yi, Kefu & Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh, 2023. "Do technological innovation, natural resources and stock market development promote environmental sustainability? Novel evidence based on the load capacity factor," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Biancardi, Alberto & D'Adamo, Idiano & D'Amore, Franco & Moretti, Raimond, 2024. "Prosumers as drivers of SDG7 in Palestine: Net-benefit analysis of grid-connected photovoltaic systems," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    3. Shuaihe Zhuo & Lin Jia, 2023. "Energy Poverty, Internal Immigration, and Sustainable Development: Empirical Evidence from China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Soto, Gonzalo H & Martinez-Cobas, Xavier, 2024. "Green energy policies and energy poverty in Europe: Assessing low carbon dependency and energy productivity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    5. Stephen K. Dimnwobi & Kingsley I. Okere & Favour C. Onuoha & Chukwunonso Ekesiobi, 2022. "Energy Poverty, Environmental Degradation and Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 22/096, African Governance and Development Institute..
    6. Onuoha, Favour Chidinma & Dimnwobi, Stephen Kelechi & Okere, Kingsley Ikechukwu & Ekesiobi, Chukwunonso, 2023. "Funding the green transition: Governance quality, public debt, and renewable energy consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Acheampong, Alex O. & Nghiem, Xuan-Hoa & Dzator, Janet & Rajaguru, Gulasekaran, 2023. "Promoting energy inclusiveness: Is rural energy poverty a political failure?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Zhao, Weiping & Sun, Xiaomei & Jiang, Dayang, 2023. "Role of financial inclusion and green resources for alleviating energy poverty in the Republic of Korea," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Zhu, Hongge & Fang, Shuyi & Zhang, Shaopeng & Zhang, Xiaolei & Tian, Yuchen, 2024. "Effects of social capital on energy poverty: Evidence from the national key ecological function zones in Northeast China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    10. Ben Cheikh, Nidhaleddine & Ben Zaied, Younes & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2023. "Understanding energy poverty drivers in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    11. Rustagi, Niharika & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Acheampong, Alex O., 2024. "Does gender diversity in politics improve access to electricity and electrification inequality? A global analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    12. Sinha, Avik & Bekiros, Stelios & Hussain, Nazim & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Khan, Sana Akbar, 2023. "How social imbalance and governance quality shape policy directives for energy transition in the OECD countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Acheampong, Alex O. & Aluko, Olufemi Adewale, 2024. "Impact of rural-urban energy equality on environmental sustainability and the role of governance," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 304-335.
    14. Okere, Kingsley Ikechukwu & Dimnwobi, Stephen Kelechi & Ekesiobi, Chukwunonso & Onuoha, Favour Chidinma, 2023. "Turning the tide on energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa: Does public debt matter?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    15. Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo, 2024. "Exploring the heterogeneous impact of technological innovation on income inequality: Formulating the SDG policies for the BRICS-T economies," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(4), pages 1773-1792, June.
    16. Andrew Adewale Alola & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo, 2023. "Are green resource productivity and environmental technologies the face of environmental sustainability in the Nordic region?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 760-772, April.
    17. Said, Rabie & Acheampong, Alex O., 2023. "Financial inclusion and energy poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    18. Acheampong, Alex O. & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Amankwaa, Afua & Dzator, Janet, 2024. "Energy poverty and gender equality in education: Unpacking the transmission channels," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    19. Acheampong, Alex O. & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Dogah, Kingsley E., 2023. "The political economy of energy transition: The role of globalization and governance in the adoption of clean cooking fuels and technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PB).
    20. Anis Ochi & Yosra Saidi & Mohamed Ali Labidi, 2024. "Nonlinear Threshold Effect of Governance Quality on Poverty Reduction in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa: a Dynamic Panel Threshold Specification," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4239-4264, March.
    21. Murshed, Muntasir, 2023. "Efficacies of technological progress and renewable energy transition in amplifying national electrification rates: contextual evidence from developing countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    22. Arun Kumar Giri & Rahul Arora, 2024. "Energy Poverty and Human Development: Empirical Evidence from Rural Rajasthan, India," Millennial Asia, , vol. 15(4), pages 662-689, December.

    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. Acheampong, Alex O. & Dzator, Janet & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2021. "Empowering the powerless: Does access to energy improve income inequality?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Aluko, Olufemi Adewale & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Ibrahim, Muazu & Kufuor, Nana Kwabena, 2023. "Put on the light! Foreign direct investment, governance and access to electricity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Alex O. Acheampong & Janet Dzator & Matthew Abunyewah & Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie & Eric Evans Osei Opoku, 2023. "Sub-Saharan Africa’s Tragedy: Resource Curse, Democracy and Income Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 471-509, August.
    4. Kouadio, Hugues Kouassi & Gakpa, Lewis-Landry, 2022. "Do economic growth and institutional quality reduce poverty and inequality in West Africa?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 41-63.
    5. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2022. "Institutions and African Economic Development," Working Papers 202202, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    6. David Castells-Quintana & Maria del Pilar Lopez-Uribe & Tom McDermott, 2015. "Climate change and the geographical and institutional drivers of economic development," GRI Working Papers 198, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    7. Lawrence Adu Asamoah, 2021. "Institutional Quality and Income Inequality in Developing Countries: A Dynamic Panel Threshold Analysis," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 21(2), pages 123-143, April.
    8. Acheampong, Alex O. & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Amankwaa, Afua & Dzator, Janet, 2024. "Energy poverty and gender equality in education: Unpacking the transmission channels," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    9. Ugur, Mehmet & Dasgupta, Nandini, 2011. "Corruption and economic growth: A meta-analysis of the evidence on low-income countries and beyond," MPRA Paper 31226, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 May 2011.
    10. Acheampong, Alex O. & Nghiem, Xuan-Hoa & Dzator, Janet & Rajaguru, Gulasekaran, 2023. "Promoting energy inclusiveness: Is rural energy poverty a political failure?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2020. "Democracy and Development in Africa," Working Papers 202026, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    12. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Knowledge Economy and Financial Sector Competition in African Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 333-346, June.
    13. Berggren, Niclas & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2020. "Corruption, judicial accountability and inequality: Unfair procedures may benefit the worst-off," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 341-354.
    14. Joseph Kwadwo Tuffour & Thelma Mensah, 2018. "The Effects of Governance Type and Economic Crises on Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in Ghana," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 53(2), pages 63-80, May.
    15. Bernhard P. Zaaruka & Johannes W. Fedderke, 2011. "Measuring Institutions: Indicators of Political and Economic Institutions in Namibia: 1884 – 2008," Working Papers 236, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    16. Osvaldo Lagares, 2016. "Capital, Economic Growth and Relative Income Differences in Latin America," Discussion Papers 16/03, Department of Economics, University of York.
    17. Lopez-Uribe, Maria del Pilar & Castells-Quintana, David & McDermott, Thomas K. J., 2017. "Geography, institutions and development: a review ofthe long-run impacts of climate change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65147, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Boateng, Elliot & Agbola, Frank W. & Mahmood, Amir, 2021. "Foreign aid volatility and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does institutional quality matter?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 111-127.
    19. Sher Khan, 2022. "Investigating the Effect of Income Inequality on Corruption: New Evidence from 23 Emerging Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(3), pages 2100-2126, September.
    20. Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Acheampong, Alex O., 2023. "Energy justice and economic growth: Does democracy matter?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 160-186.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy poverty; Governance; Income inequality; Sustainable development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies
    • 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:eee:juipol:v:78:y:2022:i:c:s0957178722000686. 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: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    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.