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The distributional effects of rural electrification on household welfare: Evidence from Senegal

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  • Magbondé, Kadoukpè Gildas
  • Reilly, Barry
  • Kauma, Bridget

Abstract

This study uses a cross-sectional dataset of 3215 rural Senegalese households from the 2018/19 Harmonized Survey on Households Living Standards to assess the distributional household welfare effects of electricity access. The paper conducts separate analyses for both on-grid and off-grid electricity access and uses an array of empirical strategies to compute the relevant effects. We find that household access to grid electricity is associated with increased food and non-food expenditures, while off-grid solar electricity is only associated with increased levels of the latter. In addition, access to grid electricity appears to impact household expenditures more than solar electricity, with the off-grid effect not detected at the top end of the non-food expenditure distribution. In contrast, on-grid electricity has a greater welfare impact on higher-income households. The results further suggest that access to solar electricity can reduce inequality in total non-food household expenditures more than on-grid electricity. The findings encourage consideration of policies designed to extend solar energy to the more remote rural areas to reduce inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Magbondé, Kadoukpè Gildas & Reilly, Barry & Kauma, Bridget, 2024. "The distributional effects of rural electrification on household welfare: Evidence from Senegal," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:91:y:2024:i:c:s0957178724001401
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2024.101846
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mean and distributional effects; Off-grid and on-grid electricity; Welfare; Rural households; Senegal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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