Provision of electricity to African households: The importance of democracy and institutional quality

Energy Policy

Volumn 87, Issue , 2015, Pages 125-135

  Ahlborg, Helene ^a   Boräng, Frida ^b   Jagers, Sverker C ^b,c   Söderholm, Patrik ^c  

^a CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Sweden)

^b UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG   (Sweden)

^c LULEÅ UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Sweden)

Author keywords

Africa; Democracy; Household electricity use; Institutional quality

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; ELECTRIC POWER UTILIZATION; QUALITY CONTROL; REGRESSION ANALYSIS;

AFRICA; DEMOCRACY; ELECTRICITY USE; ENERGY SECTOR; HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION; HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION; INSTITUTION BUILDING; INSTITUTIONAL QUALITIES;

POWER QUALITY;

DEMOCRACY; DEVELOPING WORLD; ELECTRICITY GENERATION; ELECTRICITY SUPPLY; ENERGY USE; HOUSEHOLD ENERGY; INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK; POLICY REFORM;

AFRICA;

EID: 84945529281     PISSN: 03014215     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.09.002     Document Type: Article

References (76)

1. Abbott M. Is the security of electricity supply a public good?. Electr. J. 2001, 14(7):31-33.
2. Acemoglu D., Robinson J.A. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy 2006, Cambridge University Press, New York.
3. Ahlborg H. Electricity for Better Lives in Rural Tanzania and Mozambique. Understanding and Addressing the Challenges 2012, Department of Energy and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg.
4. Ahlborg H., Hammar L. Drivers and barriers to rural electrification in Tanzania and Mozambique - grid-extension, off-grid, and renewable energy technologies. Renew. Energy 2014, 61:117-124.
5. Auty R.M. The political economy of resource-driven growth. Eur. Econ. Rev. 2001, 45:839-846.
6. Baltagi B.H., Griffin J.M. Short and long-run effects in pooled models. Int. Econ. Rev. 1984, 25:631-645.
7. Barzel Y. A Theory of the State: Economic Rights, Legal Rights, and the Scope of the State 2002, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
8. Bazilian M., et al. Energy access scenarios to 2030 for the power sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Util. Policy 2012, 20:1-16.
9. Boix C., Adserà A., Payne M. Are you being served? Political accountability and quality of government. J. Law Econ. Organ. 2003, 19(2):445-490.
10. Bratton M., van de Walle N. Neopatrimonial regimes and political transitions in Africa. World Politics 1994, 46(4):453-489.
11. Bratton M., van de Walle N. Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective 1997, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
12. Brown D.S., Mobarak A.M. The transforming power of democracy: regime type and the distribution of electricity. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 2009, 103:193-214.
13. Bueno de Mequita B., Smith A., Siverson R.M., Morrow J.D. The Logic of Political Survival 2003, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
14. Chandra K. Why Ethnic Parties Succeed 2004, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK; New York, NY.
15. Davis M. Rural household energy consumption: the effects of access to electricity-evidence from South Africa. Energy Policy 1998, 26(3):207-217.
16. Deacon R. Dictatorship, Democracy and the Provision of Public Goods. Economics Working 2003, 11-99. University of California at Santa Barbara.
17. Diamond L. A quarter-century of promoting democracy. J. Democr. 2007, 18:118-120.
18. Doll C., Pachauri S. Estimating rural populations without access to electricity in developing countries through night-time light satellite imagery. Energy Policy 2010, 38:5661-5670.
19. Eberhard A., Rosnes O., Shkaratan M., Vennemo H. Africa's Power Infrastructure 2011, The World Bank, Washington, DC.
20. Ferguson J. Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order 2006, Duke University Press, Durham.
21. Foley G. Rural electrification. The institutional dimension. Utilities Policy 1992, 283-289.
22. Freedom House. 〈http://www.freedomhouse.org〉.
23. Gandhi J., Przeworski A. Cooperation, cooptation, and rebellion under dictatorships. Econ. Politics 2006, 18(1):1-26.
24. Goldthau A. Rethinking the governance of energy infrastructure: scale, decentralization and polycentrism. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 2014, 1:134-140.
25. Gupta S., Davoodi H., Tiongson E. Corruption and the provision of health care and education services. Working Paper 2000, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC.
26. Haanyika C.M. Rural electrification policy and institutional linkages. Energy Policy 2006, 34(17):2977-2993.
27. Hadenius, A., Teorell, J., 2005. Assessing alternative indices of democracy, C&M Working Paper 6, IPSA, August 2005. Available at (accessed 10.05.12). http://www.conceptsmethods.org/working_papers/20050812_16_PC%206%20Hadenius%20&%20Teorell.pdf.
28. Haggard S. Inflation and stabilization. Politics and policy making in developing countries. Perspectives on the New Political Economy 1991, 233-249. ICS Press, San Francisco. G.M. Meier (Ed.).
29. Haselip J., Desgain D., Mackenzie G. Non-financial constraints to the establishment and scaling up of energy SMEs in Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia. Energy Res. and Social Sci 2015, 5:78-89.
30. Hendry D.F. Dynamic Econometrics 1995, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
31. Holmberg S., Rothstein B., Nasiritousi N. Quality of government: what you get. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2009, 12:135-161.
32. Hultman L. The power to hurt in civil war: the strategic aim of RENAMO violence. J. South Afr. Stud. 2009, 35(4):821-834.
33. International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2004, OECD, Paris.
34. Jones G.J., Thompson G. Renewable energy for African development. Sol. Energy 1996, 58(1-3):103-109.
35. Karekezi S., Kimani J. Status of power sector reform in Africa: impact on the poor. Energy Policy 2002, 30(11-12):923-945.
36. Karekezi S., Majoro L. Improving modern energy services for Africa's urban poor. Energy Policy 2002, 30(11-12):1015-1028.
37. Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., 2002. Growth Without Governance. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper no. 2928 (November), Washington, DC.
38. Kaufmann D., Kraay A., Mastruzzi M. Governance Matters V: Aggregate and Individual Governance Indicators for 1996-2005 2006, The World Bank.
39. Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., Mastruzzi, M., 2009. Governance Matters VIII: Aggregate and Individual Governance Indicators for 1996-2008. World Bank Policy Research Paper No. 4978.
40. Keefer P. Clientelism, credibility and the policy choices of young democracies. Am. J. Polit. Sci. 2006, 51(October):804-821.
41. Khennas S. Understanding the political economy and key drivers of energy access in addressing national energy access priorities and policies: African perspective. Energy Policy 2012, 47(Suppl. 1):S21-S26.
42. Kirubi C., Jacobson A., Kammen D.M., Mills A. Community-based electric micro-grids can contribute to rural development: evidence from Kenya. World Dev. 2009, 37(7):1208-1221.
43. Lake D.A., Baum M. The invisible hand of democracy: political control and the provision of public services. Comp. Polit. Stud. 2001, 34(6):587-621.
44. Louw K., Conradie B., Howells M., Dekenah M. Determinants of electricity demand for newly electrified low-income African households. Energy Policy 2008, 36(8):2812-2818.
45. March J.G., Olsen J.P. Rediscovering Institutions: the Organizational Basis of Politics 1989, Free Press, New York.
46. Marshall M.G., Jaggers K. Polity IV Project: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800-2002: Dataset Users' Manual 2002, University of Maryland, Maryland.
47. Mauro P. Corruption and composition of government expenditure. J. Public Econ. 1998, 69:263-279.
48. McGuire M.C., Olson M. The economics of autocracy and majority rule: the invisible hand and the use of force. J. Econ. Lit. 1996, 34(1):72-96.
49. Min, B., 2008. Democracy and Light: electoral accountability and the provision of public goods. Working paper.
50. Nanka-Bruce O. The Socio Economic Drivers of Rural Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa, Surrey Energy Economics Discussion Paper Series 128 2010, Surrey Energy Economics Centre, University of Surrey, UK.
51. Nawaal Gratwick K., Eberhard A. An analysis of independent power projects in Africa: understanding development and investment outcomes. Dev. Policy Rev. 2008, 26(3):309-338.
52. North D. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance 1990, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
53. Nye J.S. Corruption and political development: a cost-benefit analysis. Am. Polit. Sci. Rev. 1967, 61:417-427.
54. Onyeji I., Bazilian M., Nussbaumer P. Contextualizing electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa. Energy Sust. Dev. 2012, 16:520-527.
55. Peters B.G. Institutional Theory in Political Science. The 'New Institutionalism' 1999, Continuum, London, New York.
56. Rothstein B. The Quality of Government: Corruption, Social Trust and Inequality in International Perspective 2011, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
57. Rothstein B., Teorell J. What is quality of government: a theory of impartial political institutions. Governance 2008, 21(2):165-190.
58. Schmitter P.C., Karl T.L. What democracy is. and is not. J. Dem. 1991, 2(3):75-88.
59. Sharpf F.W. Games Real Actors Play: Actor-centered Institutionalism in Policy Research 1997, Westview Press, Boulder.
60. Sokona Y., Mulugetta Y., Gujba H. Widening energy access in Africa: towards energy transition. Energy Policy 2012, 47(Suppl. 1):S3-S10.
61. Spalding-Fecher R. Health benefits of electrification in developing countries: a quantitative assessment in South Africa. Energy Sust. Dev. 2005, 9(1):53-62.
62. Teorell, J., Samanni, M., Holmberg, S., Rothstein, B., 2011. The QoG Standard Dataset version 6Apr11, University of Gothenburg: The Quality of Government Institute. http://www.qog.pol.gu.se.
63. United Nations Energy Statistics Database. United Nations Statistic Division 2013, (downloaded May 2013). http://data.un.org/.
64. United Nations, 2015. Sustainable development goals. (accessed 20.08.15). http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/.
65. Van der Ploeg F. Natural resources: curse or blessing?. J. Econ. Lit. 2011, 49(2):366-420.
66. van der Vleuten F., Stam N., van der Plas R. Putting solar home system programmes into perspective: what lessons are relevant?. Energy Policy 2007, 35(3):1439-1451.
67. VPC Productive Uses of Energy 2008, Vattenfall Power Consultant, Maputo.
68. Weisser D. Power sector reform in small island developing states: what role for renewable energy technologies?. Renew. Sust. Energy Rev. 2004, 8(2):101-102.
69. Winther T. The Impact of Electricity. Development, Desires and Dilemmas, 2008, Berghahn Books, New York.
70. World Bank The Welfare Impact of Rural Electrification: A Reassessment of the Cost and Benefits 2008, World Bank Independent Evaluation Group, Washington, DC.
71. World Bank Underpowered: The State of the Power Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnosis. Background paper 6 2009, The World Bank, Washington.
72. World Bank, 2013a. World Development Indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.
73. World Bank, 2013b. World Development Indicators. (downloaded May 2013). http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.
74. WB and IEA Sustainable Energy for All 2015: Progress Toward Sustainable Energy 2015, World Bank, Washington, DC.
75. Zomers A. Rural Electrification. Utilities' Chafe or Challenge? 2001, Twente University Press, Enchede.
76. Zomers A. The challenge of rural electrification. Energy Sust. Dev. 2003, 7(1):69-76.