IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natene/v7y2022i8d10.1038_s41560-022-01044-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evidence of multidimensional gender inequality in energy services from a large-scale household survey in India

Author

Listed:
  • Alice Tianbo Zhang

    (Columbia University
    Washington and Lee University)

  • Sasmita Patnaik

    (Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW))

  • Shaily Jha

    (Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW))

  • Shalu Agrawal

    (Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW))

  • Carlos F. Gould

    (Columbia University
    Stanford University)

  • Johannes Urpelainen

    (Johns Hopkins University)

Abstract

Energy access delivers broad socio-economic benefits, but few studies have examined how benefits are allocated within the household. Here we conduct a large-scale survey with 4,624 respondents across six Indian states to provide results on intra-household differences across multiple outcome dimensions of energy service, including knowledge, satisfaction, utilization and opinion. Using a Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) to measure household-level gender equality, we find that women in low-WEI households are less aware of energy services and use less electricity than their spouses. This awareness gap manifests in differences in satisfaction, as women in higher-WEI households show more concern with energy services and fuel sources. Overall, these results signify that the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach of providing energy access may not effectively meet the goal of sustainable energy for all. Bridging the gender gap through targeted information and learning campaigns that empower and educate women could unlock additional support for sustainable energy policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Alice Tianbo Zhang & Sasmita Patnaik & Shaily Jha & Shalu Agrawal & Carlos F. Gould & Johannes Urpelainen, 2022. "Evidence of multidimensional gender inequality in energy services from a large-scale household survey in India," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(8), pages 698-707, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:7:y:2022:i:8:d:10.1038_s41560-022-01044-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-022-01044-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01044-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41560-022-01044-3?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. Anderson, Michael L., 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 103(484), pages 1481-1495.
    2. Becker, Gary S, 1974. "A Theory of Social Interactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1063-1093, Nov.-Dec..
    3. Rathi, Sambhu Singh & Vermaak, Claire, 2018. "Rural electrification, gender and the labor market: A cross-country study of India and South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 346-359.
    4. George Akpandjar & Carl Kitchens, 2017. "From Darkness to Light: The Effect of Electrification in Ghana, 2000–2010," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(1), pages 31-54.
    5. Shahidur R. Khandker, Hussain A. Samad, Rubaba Ali, and Douglas F. Barnes, 2014. "Who Benefits Most from Rural Electrification? Evidence in India," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    6. 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.
    7. Damon Jones & David Molitor & Julian Reif, 2019. "What do Workplace Wellness Programs do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1747-1791.
    8. Robert Jensen & Emily Oster, 2009. "The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1057-1094.
    9. Beck, Nathaniel, 2020. "Estimating Grouped Data Models with a Binary-Dependent Variable and Fixed Effects via a Logit versus a Linear Probability Model: The Impact of Dropped Units," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(1), pages 139-145, January.
    10. Molly Lipscomb & A. Mushfiq Mobarak & Tania Barham, 2013. "Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 200-231, April.
    11. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    12. Grant Miller & A. Mushfiq Mobarak, 2013. "Gender Differences in Preferences, Intra-Household Externalities, and Low Demand for Improved Cookstoves," NBER Working Papers 18964, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Paul A. Samuelson, 1956. "Social Indifference Curves," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 1-22.
    14. van de Walle, Dominique & Ravallion, Martin & Mendiratta, Vibhuti & Koolwal, Gayatri, 2013. "Long-term impacts of household electrification in rural India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6527, The World Bank.
    15. Srinivasan, Suchita & Carattini, Stefano, 2020. "Adding fuel to fire? Social spillovers in the adoption of LPG in India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    16. Shahidur R. Khandker, Douglas F. Barnes, and Hussain A. Samad, 2012. "The Welfare Impacts of Rural Electrification in Bangladesh," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    17. Jacqueline D. Lau & Danika Kleiber & Sarah Lawless & Philippa J. Cohen, 2021. "Gender equality in climate policy and practice hindered by assumptions," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(3), pages 186-192, March.
    18. Rosamaría Dasso & Fernando Fernandez, 2015. "The effects of electrification on employment in rural Peru," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, December.
    19. Grogan, Louise & Sadanand, Asha, 2013. "Rural Electrification and Employment in Poor Countries: Evidence from Nicaragua," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 252-265.
    20. Abhishek Kar & Shonali Pachauri & Rob Bailis & Hisham Zerriffi, 2019. "Using sales data to assess cooking gas adoption and the impact of India’s Ujjwala programme in rural Karnataka," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(9), pages 806-814, September.
    21. Carlos F. Gould & Johannes Urpelainen, 2020. "The Gendered Nature of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Stove Adoption and Use in Rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(7), pages 1309-1329, June.
    22. Naila Kabeer, 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 435-464, July.
    23. Subramaniam, Ramesh, 1996. "Gender-Bias in India: The Importance of Household Fixed-Effects," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(2), pages 280-299, April.
    24. Tanguy Bernard, 2012. "Impact Analysis of Rural Electrification Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 27(1), pages 33-51, February.
    25. Burke, Paul J. & Dundas, Guy, 2015. "Female Labor Force Participation and Household Dependence on Biomass Energy: Evidence from National Longitudinal Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 424-437.
    26. Krishnapriya, P.P. & Chandrasekaran, Maya & Jeuland, Marc & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K., 2021. "Do improved cookstoves save time and improve gender outcomes? Evidence from six developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    27. Shyamal K. Chowdhury, 2010. "Impact of infrastructures on paid work opportunities and unpaid work burdens on rural women in Bangladesh," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 997-1017.
    28. Meital Rosenberg & Daniel Erian Armanios & Michaël Aklin & Paulina Jaramillo, 2020. "Evidence of gender inequality in energy use from a mixed-methods study in India," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(2), pages 110-118, February.
    29. Peng, Wei & Yang, Junnan & Lu, Xi & Mauzerall, Denise L., 2018. "Potential co-benefits of electrification for air quality, health, and CO2 mitigation in 2030 China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 511-519.
    30. Deepa Narayan, 2002. "Empowerment and Poverty Reduction : A Sourcebook," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15239.
    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. Chen, Jiahui & Liao, Hua & Zhang, Tong, 2024. "Empowering women substantially accelerates the household clean energy transition in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    2. Grabher, Harald F. & Erb, Karlheinz & Singh, Simron & Haberl, Helmut, 2024. "Household energy systems based on biomass: Tracing material flows from source to service in rural Ethiopia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    3. Astha Kushwaha & Brinda Viswanathan, 2024. "Multidimensional Inequality Index among Indian Women," Working Papers 2024-258, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    4. Khan, Hafiz Anwar Ullah & Ünel, Burçin & Dvorkin, Yury, 2023. "Electricity Tariff Design via Lens of Energy Justice," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 117(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. Obsa Urgessa Ayana & Jima Degaga, 2022. "Effects of rural electrification on household welfare: a meta-regression analysis," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(2), pages 209-261, June.
    2. Santosh Kumar & Ganesh Rauniyar, 2018. "The impact of rural electrification on income and education: Evidence from Bhutan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 1146-1165, August.
    3. Kenneth Lee & Edward Miguel & Catherine Wolfram, 2020. "Does Household Electrification Supercharge Economic Development?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 122-144, Winter.
    4. Aditi Bhattacharyya & Daisy Das & Arkadipta Ghosh, 2017. "Electrification and Welfare of Poor Households in Rural India," Working Papers 1702, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    5. Cummins, Mark & Gillanders, Robert, 2020. "Greasing the Turbines? Corruption and access to electricity in Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    6. Richard S. J. Tol, 2023. "Navigating the energy trilemma during geopolitical and environmental crises," Papers 2301.07671, arXiv.org.
    7. Enrico Nano, 2022. "Electrifying Nigeria: the Impact of Rural Access to Electricity on Kids' Schooling," IHEID Working Papers 03-2022, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    8. Chhay, Panharoth & Yamazaki, Koji, 2021. "Rural electrification and changes in employment structure in Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Simone Tagliapietra & Giovanni Occhiali & Enrico Nano & Robert Kalcik, 2020. "The impact of electrification on labour market outcomes in Nigeria," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(3), pages 737-779, October.
    10. Thomas, Daniel Robert & Harish, S.P. & Kennedy, Ryan & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2020. "The effects of rural electrification in India: An instrumental variable approach at the household level," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    11. Rathi, Sambhu Singh & Vermaak, Claire, 2018. "Rural electrification, gender and the labor market: A cross-country study of India and South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 346-359.
    12. Fujii, Tomoki & Shonchoy, Abu S. & Xu, Sijia, 2018. "Impact of Electrification on Children’s Nutritional Status in Rural Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 315-330.
    13. Richmond, Jennifer & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2019. "Electrification and appliance ownership over time: Evidence from rural India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    14. Huang, Ruting & Yao, Xin, 2023. "The role of power transmission infrastructure in income inequality: Fresh evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    15. Pueyo, Ana & Carreras, Marco & Ngoo, Gisela, 2020. "Exploring the linkages between energy, gender, and enterprise: Evidence from Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    16. Duncan Chaplin & Arif Mamun & Ali Protik & John Schurrer & Divya Vohra & Kristine Bos & Hannah Burak & Laura Meyer & Anca Dumitrescu & Christopher Ksoll & Thomas Cook, "undated". "Grid Electricity Expansion in Tanzania by MCC: Findings from a Rigorous Impact Evaluation, Final Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 144768f69008442e96369195e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    17. Christopher Ksoll & Kristine Bos & Sarah Hughes & Anthony Harris & Arif Mamun, "undated". "Evaluation Design Report for the Benin Power Compact's Electricity Generation Project and Electricity Distribution Project," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 9f8974513ee745aaac3b5c62e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    18. Pradhan Shrestha, Rosy & Jirakiattikul, Sopin & Lohani, Sunil Prasad & Shrestha, Mandip, 2023. "Perceived impact of electricity on productive end use and its reality: Transition from electricity to income for rural Nepalese women," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    19. Michael Grimm & Robert Sparrow & Luca Tasciotti, 2015. "Does Electrification Spur the Fertility Transition? Evidence From Indonesia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(5), pages 1773-1796, October.
    20. Ly, Alpha & Chakir, Raja & Creti, Anna, 2024. "Electrification or deforestation? Evidence from household practices in Côte d’Ivoire," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

    More about this item

    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:nat:natene:v:7:y:2022:i:8:d:10.1038_s41560-022-01044-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.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.