IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i20p6493-d653221.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unveiling the Nexus between Access to Electricity, Firm Size and SME’s Performance in Bangladesh: New Evidence Using PSM

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Abir Shahid Chowdhury

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Shuai Chuanmin

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Marcela Sokolová

    (Department of Management, Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, 500 03 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic)

  • ABM Munibur Rahman

    (Business School, Wuchang University of Technology, Wuchang, Wuhan 430223, China)

  • Ahsan Akbar

    (Department of Management, Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, 500 03 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
    International Business School, Guangzhou City University of Technology, Guangzhou 510080, China)

  • Zahid Ali

    (Department of Commerce and Management, University of Malakand, Malakand 23050, Pakistan)

  • Muhammad Usman

    (Department of Economics and Business Administration, Faisalabad Campus, University of Education, Lahore 38000, Pakistan)

Abstract

Uninterrupted availability of energy and power resources is essential for the productivity and smooth functioning of an enterprise. However, constrained by financial resources, smaller firms in developing economies face a plethora of challenges concerning the access to electricity. However, less attention has been paid in the extant literature to explore this phenomenon. The present study investigates the impact of access to electricity on labor productivity in Bangladesh in the presence of electricity constraints, electricity obstacles, and SME firm size. It employs the OLS regression and propensity score matching (PSM) technique for treatment effect to deal with the selection bias and endogeneity issue using the World Bank Enterprise Survey’s cross-sectional firm-level data for 3196 sample firms over the period of 2007–2013. The results provide evidence in support of SMEs’ labor productivity in response to electricity access. Lack of electricity access was partially found to affect SMEs’ labor productivity significantly negatively. Further, the results show a positive impact of firm size on firm performance. However, results from this model appear that constrained SMEs’ access to electricity has a negative relationship with firm performance. The article then suggests several policy implications on changing government regulations regarding the efficient use of renewable energy resources to enhance electricity generation for optimized SME performance and sustainable economic development in Bangladesh.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Abir Shahid Chowdhury & Shuai Chuanmin & Marcela Sokolová & ABM Munibur Rahman & Ahsan Akbar & Zahid Ali & Muhammad Usman, 2021. "Unveiling the Nexus between Access to Electricity, Firm Size and SME’s Performance in Bangladesh: New Evidence Using PSM," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:20:p:6493-:d:653221
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/20/6493/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/20/6493/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abdisa, Lamessa Tariku, 2018. "Power Outages, Its Economic Cost and Firm Performance: Evidence From Ethiopia," MPRA Paper 88217, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Mozas-Moral, Adoración & Moral-Pajares, Encarnación & Medina-Viruel, Miguel Jesús & Bernal-Jurado, Enrique, 2016. "Manager's educational background and ICT use as antecedents of export decisions: A crisp set QCA analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 1333-1335.
    3. Stojčić, Nebojša & Anić, Ivan-Damir & Aralica, Zoran, 2019. "Do firms in clusters perform better? Lessons from wood-processing industries in new EU member states," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. repec:aer:wpaper:148 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Ammar Hussain & Minhas Akbar & Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Ahsan Akbar & Mirela Panait & Marian Catalin Voica, 2020. "When Does Earnings Management Matter? Evidence across the Corporate Life Cycle for Non-Financial Chinese Listed Companies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    6. 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.
    7. Foster, Vivien & Steinbuks, Jevgenijs, 2009. "Paying the price for unreliable power supplies : in-house generation of electricity by firms in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4913, The World Bank.
    8. Rud, Juan Pablo, 2012. "Electricity provision and industrial development: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 352-367.
    9. Jaeseok Lee & Jongmin Yu, 2019. "Heterogenous Energy Consumption Behavior by Firm Size: Evidence from Korean Environmental Regulations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-15, June.
    10. Fan, Shenggen & Jitsuchon, Somchai & Methakunnavut, Nuntaporn, 2004. "The importance of public investment for reducing rural poverty in middle-income countries: the case of Thailand," DSGD discussion papers 7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Fedderke, J.W. & Bogetic, Z., 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1522-1539, September.
    12. Caio Piza & Tulio Antonio Cravo & Linnet Taylor & Lauro Gonzalez & Isabel Musse & Isabela Furtado & Ana C. Sierra & Samer Abdelnour, 2016. "The Impact of Business Support Services for Small and Medium Enterprises on Firm Performance in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries: A Systematic Review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), pages 1-167.
    13. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Mansur, Erin T. & Wang, Qiong (Juliana), 2015. "Electricity shortages and firm productivity: Evidence from China's industrial firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 172-188.
    14. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2016. "Matching on the Estimated Propensity Score," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 781-807, March.
    15. Grimm, Michael & Paffhausen, Anna Luisa, 2015. "Do interventions targeted at micro-entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized firms create jobs? A systematic review of the evidence for low and middle income countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 67-85.
    16. M. Hsu & B‐L. Chen, 2000. "Labor productivity of small and large manufacturing firms: the case of Taiwan," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(3), pages 270-283, July.
    17. 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.
    18. Oseni, Musiliu O. & Pollitt, Michael G., 2015. "A firm-level analysis of outage loss differentials and self-generation: Evidence from African business enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 277-286.
    19. Fallahi, Firouz & Sakineh, Sojoodi & Mehin Aslaninia, Nasim, 2010. "Determinants of Labor Productivity in Iran’s Manufacturing Firms: With Emphasis on Labor Education and Training," MPRA Paper 27447, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    21. Michael Grimm & Renate Hartwig & Jann Lay, 2013. "Electricity Access and the Performance of Micro and Small Enterprises: Evidence from West Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 25(5), pages 815-829, December.
    22. Hunt Allcott & Allan Collard-Wexler & Stephen D. O'Connell, 2016. "How Do Electricity Shortages Affect Industry? Evidence from India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(3), pages 587-624, March.
    23. Flora Wang, 2016. "What are the biggest obstacles to growth of SMEs in developing countries? - A picture emerging from an enterprise survey," Working Papers IES 2016/09, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised May 2016.
    24. Harrison, Ann E. & Lin, Justin Yifu & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2014. "Explaining Africa’s (Dis)advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 59-77.
    25. Fernandes, Ana M., 2008. "Firm Productivity in Bangladesh Manufacturing Industries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1725-1744, October.
    26. Nichter, Simeon & Goldmark, Lara, 2009. "Small Firm Growth in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1453-1464, September.
    27. Abadie, Alberto & Imbens, Guido W., 2011. "Bias-Corrected Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 29(1), pages 1-11.
    28. Yao Wang, 2016. "What are the biggest obstacles to growth of SMEs in developing countries? – An empirical evidence from an enterprise survey," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 16(3), pages 167-176, September.
    29. Tovar, Beatriz & Javier Ramos-Real, Francisco & de Almeida, Edmar Fagundes, 2011. "Firm size and productivity. Evidence from the electricity distribution industry in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 826-833, February.
    30. Lorraine Uhlaner & André Stel & Valérie Duplat & Haibo Zhou, 2013. "Disentangling the effects of organizational capabilities, innovation and firm size on SME sales growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 581-607, October.
    31. Sheoli Pargal & Sudeshna Ghosh Banerjee, 2014. "More Power to India : The Challenge of Electricity Distribution," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18726.
    32. Reinikka, Ritva & Svensson, Jakob, 2002. "Coping with poor public capital," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 51-69, October.
    33. Paul Nduhuura & Matthias Garschagen & Abdellatif Zerga, 2021. "Impacts of Electricity Outages in Urban Households in Developing Countries: A Case of Accra, Ghana," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-26, June.
    34. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    35. Becchetti, Leonardo & Trovato, Giovanni, 2002. "The Determinants of Growth for Small and Medium Sized Firms: The Role of the Availability of External Finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 291-306, December.
    36. Yohei Kobayashi, 2014. "Effect of R&D tax credits for SMEs in Japan: a microeconometric analysis focused on liquidity constraints," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 311-327, February.
    37. Feroz Ahmed & Monimul Haque, 2011. "Constraints of Manufacture based Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development in Bangladesh," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 1(3), pages 91-100.
    38. Adenikinju, Adeola F., 2003. "Electric infrastructure failures in Nigeria: a survey-based analysis of the costs and adjustment responses," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(14), pages 1519-1530, November.
    39. Abdisa, Lamessa T., 2018. "Power outages, economic cost, and firm performance: Evidence from Ethiopia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 111-120.
    40. Philippe Alby & Jean-Jacques Dethier & Stéphane Straub, 2013. "Firms Operating under Electricity Constraints in Developing Countries," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 27(1), pages 109-132.
    41. Hofert, Marius & Oldford, Wayne, 2018. "Visualizing dependence in high-dimensional data: An application to S&P 500 constituent data," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 161-183.
    42. Tulio Cravo & Caio Piza, 2016. "The Impact of Business Support Services for Small and Medium Enterprises on Firm Performance in Low -and Middle- Income Countries: A Meta-Analysis," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 94938, Inter-American Development Bank.
    43. Marc Cowling & Weixi Liu & Ning Zhang, 2018. "Did firm age, experience, and access to finance count? SME performance after the global financial crisis," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 77-100, January.
    44. Moyo, Busani, 2013. "Power infrastructure quality and manufacturing productivity in Africa: A firm level analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1063-1070.
    45. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2013. "Like milk or wine: Does firm performance improve with age?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 173-189.
    46. Cravo, Tulio & Piza, Caio, 2016. "The Impact of Business Support Services for Small and Medium Enterprises on Firm Performance in Low -and Middle- Income Countries: A Meta-Analysis," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7745, Inter-American Development Bank.
    47. Danny Leung & Césaire Meh & Yaz Terajima, 2008. "Firm Size and Productivity," Staff Working Papers 08-45, Bank of Canada.
    48. Reyes Aterido & Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2011. "Whose business is it anyway?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 443-464, November.
    49. Jens Matthias Arnold & Aaditya Mattoo & Gaia Narciso, 2008. "Services Inputs and Firm Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Firm-Level Data," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 17(4), pages 578-599, August.
    50. Steinbuks, J. & Foster, V., 2010. "When do firms generate? Evidence on in-house electricity supply in Africa," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 505-514, May.
    51. Marco Caliendo & Reinhard Hujer & Stephan L. Thomsen, 2008. "The employment effects of job-creation schemes in Germany: A microeconometric evaluation," Advances in Econometrics, in: Modelling and Evaluating Treatment Effects in Econometrics, pages 381-428, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    52. Bart van Ark & Mary O'Mahoney & Marcel P. Timmer, 2008. "The Productivity Gap between Europe and the United States: Trends and Causes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 25-44, Winter.
    53. Carsten Lynge Jensen, Lars Garn Hansen, Troels Fjordbak, and Erik Gudbjerg, 2012. "Providing Free Autopoweroff Plugs: Measuring the Effect on Households' Electricity Consumption through a Field Experiment," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    54. Bilal Ahmed & Minhas Akbar & Tanazza Sabahat & Saqib Ali & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Xie Hongming, 2020. "Does Firm Life Cycle Impact Corporate Investment Efficiency?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    55. Fakih Ali & Ghazalian Pascal & Ghazzawi Nancy, 2020. "The Effects of Power Outages on the Performance of Manufacturing Firms in the MENA Region," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1-28, December.
    56. Zehri, Fatma & Chouaibi, Jamel, 2013. "Adoption determinants of the International Accounting Standards IAS/IFRS by the developing countries," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Universidad ESAN, vol. 18(35), pages 57-62.
    57. Saqib Ali & Petra Poulova & Ahsan Akbar & Hafiz Muhammad Usama Javed & Muhammad Danish, 2020. "Determining the Influencing Factors in the Adoption of Solar Photovoltaic Technology in Pakistan: A Decomposed Technology Acceptance Model Approach," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, December.
    58. Minhas Akbar & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Irfan Ullah, 2021. "The dynamic association between healthcare spending, CO2 emissions, and human development index in OECD countries: evidence from panel VAR model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 10470-10489, July.
    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. Victor Motta, 2020. "Lack of access to external finance and SME labor productivity: does project quality matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 119-134, January.
    2. Acar, Pinar & Berk, Istemi, 2022. "Power infrastructure quality and industrial performance: A panel data analysis on OECD manufacturing sectors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    3. Yu, Jian & Liu, Peng & Fu, Dahai & Shi, Xunpeng, 2023. "How do power shortages affect CO2 emission intensity? Firm-level evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    4. Oseni, Musiliu O. & Pollitt, Michael G., 2015. "A firm-level analysis of outage loss differentials and self-generation: Evidence from African business enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 277-286.
    5. Edwin Teye Sosi & Philip Akrofi Atitianti, 2021. "How constraining are electricity fluctuations to Ghanaian firms’ performance?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(11), pages 1-23, November.
    6. Lamessa T. Abdisa & Alemu L. Hawitibo, 2021. "Firm performance under financial constraints: evidence from sub-Saharan African countries," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Ghani, Ejaz & Goswami, Arti Grover & Kerr, William R., 2014. "Spatial dynamics of electricity usage in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7055, The World Bank.
    8. Stephie Fried & David Lagakos, 2023. "Electricity and Firm Productivity: A General-Equilibrium Approach," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 67-103, October.
    9. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Occhiali, Giovanni & Strobl, Eric, 2018. "Power outages and firm performance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 150-159.
    10. Perez Sebastian,Fidel & Steinbuks,Jevgenijs & Feres,Jose Gustavo & Trotter,Ian Michael, 2020. "Electricity Access and Structural Transformation : Evidence from Brazil's Electrification," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9182, The World Bank.
    11. Lamessa Tariku ABDISA, 2018. "Power Outages, its Economic Cost and Firm Performance: Evidence from Ethiopia," Departmental Working Papers 2018-01, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    12. Ly, Alpha & Chakir, Raja & Creti, Anna, 2024. "Electrification or deforestation? Evidence from household practices in Côte d’Ivoire," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    13. Falentina, Anna T. & Resosudarmo, Budy P., 2019. "The impact of blackouts on the performance of micro and small enterprises: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Singer, Gregor, 2024. "Complementary inputs and industrial development: can lower electricity prices improve energy efficiency?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122365, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Guo, Dongmei & Li, Qin & Liu, Peng & Shi, Xunpeng & Yu, Jian, 2023. "Power shortage and firm performance: Evidence from a Chinese city power shortage index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    16. Geginat, Carolin & Ramalho, Rita, 2018. "Electricity connections and firm performance in 183 countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 344-366.
    17. Abdisa, Lamessa T., 2018. "Power outages, economic cost, and firm performance: Evidence from Ethiopia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 111-120.
    18. World Bank Group, "undated". "Africa's Pulse, No. 17, April 2018," World Bank Publications - Reports 29667, The World Bank Group.
    19. Elliott, Robert J.R. & Nguyen-Tien, Viet & Strobl, Eric A., 2021. "Power outages and firm performance: A hydro-IV approach for a single electricity grid," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    20. Musiliu 0. Oseni & Michael G. Pollitt, 2013. "The Economic Costs of Unsupplied Electricty: Evidence from Backup Generation among African Firms," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1351, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.

    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:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:20:p:6493-:d:653221. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.