Bring Back our Light: Power Outages and Industrial Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Justice Tei Mensah

No 236587, 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: Power cuts have become a characteristic feature of many Sub-Saharan African economies. This paper attempts to estimate the firm level impact of power out- ages using panel data on firms from 15 Sub-Saharan African countries. Further, I evaluate the impact of electricity self-generation in ameliorating the effects of power outages on firm performance using a quasi-experimental approach. Results from the analysis reveal significant negative effects of electricity short- ages on firm productivity, size and labor employment. Finally, contrary to the notion that self-generation may be helpful for firms during outage periods, evidence from this paper suggest that reliance on self-generation is associated with productivity losses albeit short run revenue gains.

Keywords: Productivity Analysis; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28
Date: 2016-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-eff, nep-ene and nep-net
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea16:236587

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.236587

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