IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pid/journl/v53y2014i3p239-254.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Empirical Study of Electricity Theft from Electricity Distribution Companies in Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Faisal Jamil

    (National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad.)

  • Eatzaz Ahmad

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Economics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.)

Abstract

Electricity theft is a common problem in many countries and energy worth billions of dollars is stolen annually from electricity grids. The problem has socioeconomic, political, environmental and technical roots, but the solution is generally sought solely through technical measures. This paper empirically investigates the effects of various factors including electricity price, per capita income, probability of detection, fines collected from offenders, weighted temperature index and load shedding, that may explain the theft. The study employed annual panel data obtained from nine electricity distribution companies in Pakistan for the period 1988–2010. The study estimates the Fixed Effects models through the least squares dummy variable (LSDV) technique and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM). Our results indicate that per capita income has significant negative and electricity price a positive effect on electricity theft with sufficiently high coefficient values. The probability of detection variable appears with a positive sign in both estimations indicating a poor deterrence. The results of LSDV show a positive impact of fine on conviction on electricity theft. But in GMM estimation, this variable appears with a right sign. The results from both models are robust in the case of load shedding and temperature variables. The findings show that economic variables are most significant in explaining electricity theft. The findings may also be applicable in other developing countries where hefty amounts of revenues are lost due to electricity theft.

Suggested Citation

  • Faisal Jamil & Eatzaz Ahmad, 2014. "An Empirical Study of Electricity Theft from Electricity Distribution Companies in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 239-254.
    • Handle: RePEc:pid:journl:v:53:y:2014:i:3:p:239-254
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.pide.org.pk/pdf/PDR/2014/Volume3/239-254.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    2. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Gary S. Becker & George J. Stigler, 1974. "Law Enforcement, Malfeasance, and Compensation of Enforcers," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Dal Bo, Ernesto & Rossi, Martin A., 2007. "Corruption and inefficiency: Theory and evidence from electric utilities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 939-962, June.
    5. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    6. Alam, M.S. & Kabir, E. & Rahman, M.M. & Chowdhury, M.A.K., 2004. "Power sector reform in Bangladesh: Electricity distribution system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1773-1783.
    7. Jamil, Faisal, 2013. "On the electricity shortage, price and electricity theft nexus," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 267-272.
    8. David S. Loughran and Jonathan Kulick, 2004. "Demand-Side Management and Energy Efficiency in the United States," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 19-44.
    9. Maximilian Auffhammer & Carl Blumstein & Meredith Fowlie, 2008. "Demand-Side Management and Energy Efficiency Revisited," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 91-104.
    10. Nagayama, Hiroaki, 2010. "Impacts on investments, and transmission/distribution loss through power sector reforms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3453-3467, July.
    11. Joseph, Kelli L., 2010. "The politics of power: Electricity reform in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 503-511, January.
    12. Kessides, Ioannis N., 2013. "Chaos in power: Pakistan's electricity crisis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 271-285.
    13. Nakano, Makiko & Managi, Shunsuke, 2008. "Regulatory reforms and productivity: An empirical analysis of the Japanese electricity industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 201-209, January.
    14. 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.
    15. Bar-Ilan, Avner & Sacerdote, Bruce, 2004. "The Response of Criminals and Noncriminals to Fines," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(1), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Clarke, George R. G. & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2004. "Privatization, competition, and corruption: how characteristics of bribe takers and payers affect bribes to utilities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2067-2097, August.
    17. Smith, Thomas B., 2004. "Electricity theft: a comparative analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(18), pages 2067-2076, December.
    18. Pacudan, Romeo & de Guzman, Elaine, 2002. "Impact of energy efficiency policy to productive efficiency of electricity distribution industry in the Philippines," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 41-54, January.
    19. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    20. Judson, Ruth A. & Owen, Ann L., 1999. "Estimating dynamic panel data models: a guide for macroeconomists," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 9-15, October.
    21. Jamil, Faisal & Ahmad, Eatzaz, 2011. "Income and price elasticities of electricity demand: Aggregate and sector-wise analyses," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5519-5527, September.
    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. Arkorful, Vincent Ekow, 2022. "Unravelling electricity theft whistleblowing antecedents using the theory of planned behavior and norm activation model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Babar, Zainab & Jamil, Faisal & Haq, Wajiha, 2022. "Consumer's perception towards electricity theft: A case study of Islamabad and Rawalpindi using a path analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Nadeem, Ahmad & Arshad, Naveed, 2021. "A data-driven approach to reduce electricity theft in developing countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Yakubu, Osman & Babu C., Narendra & Adjei, Osei, 2018. "Electricity theft: Analysis of the underlying contributory factors in Ghana," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 611-618.
    5. Jamil, Faisal, 2018. "Electricity theft among residential consumers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 147-154.
    6. Wabukala, Benard M. & Mukisa, Nicholas & Watundu, Susan & Bergland, Olvar & Rudaheranwa, Nichodemus & Adaramola, Muyiwa S., 2023. "Impact of household electricity theft and unaffordability on electricity security: A case of Uganda," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    7. Yousef Abdel Jawad & Issam Ayyash, 2020. "Analyze the Loss of Electricity in Palestine Case Study: Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(1), pages 7-15.
    8. Miller, Mark & Alberini, Anna, 2016. "Sensitivity of price elasticity of demand to aggregation, unobserved heterogeneity, price trends, and price endogeneity: Evidence from U.S. Data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 235-249.
    9. Jamil, Faisal & Ahmad, Eatzaz, 2019. "Policy considerations for limiting electricity theft in the developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 452-458.
    10. Adongo, Charles Atanga & Taale, Francis & Bukari, Shaibu & Suleman, Shafic & Amadu, Iddrisu, 2021. "Electricity theft whistleblowing feasibility in commercial accommodation facilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    11. Ahmad, Hafsa & Jamil, Faisal, 2024. "Investigating power outages in Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    12. Sajad Ali & Min Yongzhi & Wajid Ali, 2023. "Prevention and Detection of Electricity Theft of Distribution Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, March.
    13. Otuoze, Abdulrahaman Okino & Mustafa, Mohd Wazir & Abdulrahman, Abdulhakeem Temitope & Mohammed, Olatunji Obalowu & Salisu, Sani, 2020. "Penalization of electricity thefts in smart utility networks by a cost estimation-based forced corrective measure," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(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. Ejaz Gul & Imran Sharif Chaudhry, 2016. "Socio-Economic Analysis of Household Energy Security: Evidence from 3D Energy Losses Surface Maps (ELSMs)of a Town Using Conjuncture of Factors Matrix, Digital and Mathematical Analysis," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 1019-1041.
    2. Jamil, Faisal, 2018. "Electricity theft among residential consumers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 147-154.
    3. Jamil, Faisal & Ahmad, Eatzaz, 2019. "Policy considerations for limiting electricity theft in the developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 452-458.
    4. Faisal Jamil & Eatzaz Ahmad, 2013. "An Economic Investigation of Corruption and Electricity Theft," Working Papers id:5372, eSocialSciences.
    5. Jamil, Faisal, 2013. "On the electricity shortage, price and electricity theft nexus," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 267-272.
    6. Babar, Zainab & Jamil, Faisal & Haq, Wajiha, 2022. "Consumer's perception towards electricity theft: A case study of Islamabad and Rawalpindi using a path analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    7. Imam, Mahmud I. & Jamasb, Tooraj & Llorca, Manuel, 2019. "Sector reforms and institutional corruption: Evidence from electricity industry in Sub-Saharan Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 532-545.
    8. Mahmud I Imam & Tooraj Jamasb & Manuel Llorca, 2019. "Political Economy of Reform and Regulation in the Electricity Sector of Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers EPRG1917, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    9. Imam, M. & Jamasb, T. & Llorca, M. & Llorca, M., 2018. "Power Sector Reform and Corruption: Evidence from Electricity Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1801, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    10. Qu, Guangjun & Sylwester, Kevin & Wang, Feng, 2016. "Anticorruption and Growth: Evidence from China," MPRA Paper 72190, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Hsiao, Cheng & Hashem Pesaran, M. & Kamil Tahmiscioglu, A., 2002. "Maximum likelihood estimation of fixed effects dynamic panel data models covering short time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 107-150, July.
    12. El-Shagi, Makram & Fidrmuc, Jarko & Yamarik, Steven, 2020. "Inequality and credit growth in Russian regions," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 550-558.
    13. Tooraj Jamasb & Rabindra Nepal & Govinda Timilsina & Michael Toman, 2014. "Energy Sector Reform, Economic Efficiency and Poverty Reduction," Discussion Papers Series 529, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    14. Melo, Patricia C. & Ramli, Ahmad Razi, 2014. "Estimating fuel demand elasticities to evaluate CO2 emissions: Panel data evidence for the Lisbon Metropolitan Area," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 30-46.
    15. Mongi Lassoued, 2021. "Control of corruption, microfinance, and income inequality in MENA countries: evidence from panel data," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(7), pages 1-19, July.
    16. Robert J. Sonora, 2022. "A panel analysis of income inequality and energy use," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(1), pages 83-97, January.
    17. Badi H. Baltagi, 2021. "Dynamic Panel Data Models," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, in: Econometric Analysis of Panel Data, edition 6, chapter 0, pages 187-228, Springer.
    18. Cabral, Joilson de Assis & Freitas Cabral, Maria Viviana de & Pereira Júnior, Amaro Olímpio, 2020. "Elasticity estimation and forecasting: An analysis of residential electricity demand in Brazil," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Singh, Sunny Kumar & Bhattacharya, Kaushik, 2017. "Does easy availability of cash affect corruption? Evidence from a panel of countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 236-247.
    20. Nicolas Dias Gomes & Pedro André Cerqueira & Luís Alçada Almeida, 2013. "Determinants of Worldwide Software Piracy Losses," GEMF Working Papers 2013-19, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.

    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:pid:journl:v:53:y:2014:i:3:p:239-254. 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: Khurram Iqbal (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/pideipk.html .

    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.