RUHR ECONOMIC PAPERS Does Large Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty? Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program #555 Luciane Lenz Anicet Munyehirwe Jörg Peters Maximiliane Sievert
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
RUHRECONOMIC PAPERS
Does Large Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty?Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program
#555
Luciane LenzAnicet MunyehirweJörg PetersMaximiliane Sievert
Imprint
Ruhr Economic Papers
Published by
Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Department of EconomicsUniversitätsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Technische Universität Dortmund, Department of Economic and Social SciencesVogelpothsweg 87, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
Universität Duisburg-Essen, Department of EconomicsUniversitätsstr. 12, 45117 Essen, Germany
Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI)Hohenzollernstr. 1-3, 45128 Essen, Germany
Editors
Prof. Dr. Thomas K. BauerRUB, Department of Economics, Empirical EconomicsPhone: +49 (0) 234/3 22 83 41, e-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang LeiningerTechnische Universität Dortmund, Department of Economic and Social SciencesEconomics – MicroeconomicsPhone: +49 (0) 231/7 55-3297, e-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Volker ClausenUniversity of Duisburg-Essen, Department of EconomicsInternational EconomicsPhone: +49 (0) 201/1 83-3655, e-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Roland Döhrn, Prof. Dr. Manuel Frondel, Prof. Dr. Jochen KluveRWI, Phone: +49 (0) 201/81 49-213, e-mail: [email protected]
Editorial Offi ce
Sabine WeilerRWI, Phone: +49 (0) 201/81 49-213, e-mail: [email protected]
Ruhr Economic Papers #555
Responsible Editor: Manuel Frondel
All rights reserved. Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Germany, 2015
ISSN 1864-4872 (online) – ISBN 978-3-86788-636-9The working papers published in the Series constitute work in progress circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comments. Views expressed represent exclusively the authors’ own opinions and do not necessarily refl ect those of the editors.
Ruhr Economic Papers #555
Luciane Lenz, Anicet Munyehirwe,Jörg Peters, and Maximiliane Sievert
Does Large Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty?
Impacts of Rwanda’s ElectricityAccess Roll-Out Program
Bibliografi sche Informationen der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der deutschen National-bibliografi e; detaillierte bibliografi sche Daten sind im Internet über: http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufb ar.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4419/86788636ISSN 1864-4872 (online)ISBN 978-3-86788-636-9
Luciane Lenz, Anicet Munyehirwe, Jörg Peters, and Maximiliane Sievert1
Does Large Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty?Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program
Abstract
The United Nations’ objective to provide electricity to the 1.3 billion people without access in developing countries comes at high costs. Little evidence exists on socio-economic impacts of electrifi cation. This paper rigorously investigates eff ects of a large grid extension program in Rwanda on all rural benefi ciary groups: households, micro-enterprises, health centers, and schools. While the program has led to a tremendous increase of connections, appliance uptake and electricity consumption remain low. We fi nd only weak evidence for impacts on classical poverty indicators. To inform future policy design, we call for thorough cost-benefi t comparison between on-grid and off -grid solutions.
JEL Classifi cation: O13, O18, Q41
Keywords: Energy access; diff erence-in-diff erences; electrifi cation; mixed-methods; Sub-Saharan Africa
April 2015
1 Luciane Lenz, RWI; Anicet Munyehirwe, IB&C Rwanda; Jörg Peters, RWI and AMERU, Johannesburg, South Africa; Maximiliane Sievert, RWI. – We thank Christoph M. Schmidt and seminar participants at Gothenburg University for valuable comments and Leo Czajka and Leonce Röth for supervising the fi eld work. The data underlying this research was collected for an impact evaluation commissioned by the Policy and Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs of the Netherlands (IOB). Peters and Sievert gratefully acknowledge the support of a special grant (Sondertatbestand) from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Aff airs and Energy and the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.– All correspondence to: Jörg Peters, RWI, Hohenzollernstr. 1-3, 45128 Essen, Germany, e-mail: [email protected]
1
6
7
10
Educ
atio
n
Inco
me
Hea
lth
Ben
efic
iary
Hou
seho
lds
Hea
lth
stat
ions
Scho
ols
Grid
Ele
ctric
ity
App
lianc
e us
age
driv
en b
y gr
id
elec
trici
ty
Smal
l en
terp
rises
Elec
tric
ligh
ting
Mob
ile p
hone
Oth
er e
lect
ric a
pplia
nces
and
mac
hine
sR
efrig
erat
or
Bet
ter a
cces
s to
kno
wle
dge
and
info
rmat
ion
Mor
e ho
urs
unde
r lig
htPr
oduc
tive
mot
ive
pow
er
Less
pol
luta
nt
light
ing
sour
ces
Out
put
Fina
l Im
pact
Inte
rmed
iate
Im
pact
s
mon
ey a
nd ti
me
savi
ngs
New
and
mor
e ef
ficie
nt
busi
ness
es
Exte
nded
st
udy
hour
sEx
tend
ed
wor
king
hour
s
Bet
teri
ncom
eop
port
uniti
es
Elec
tric
ity
use
in
ente
rpris
es
Elec
tric
ity
use
in h
ealth
st
atio
n
Elec
tric
ity
use
in
scho
ols
TV /
Rad
io /
Inte
rnet
Hig
her
scho
olen
rolm
ent
13
15
17
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Related Documents
