Electricity sector reform in developing countries: a survey of empirical evidence on determinants and performance

Tooraj Jamasb, Raffaella Mota, David M Newbery and Michael Pollitt

No 3549, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Driven by ideology, economic reasoning, and early success stories, vast amounts of financial resources and effort have been spent on reforming infrastructure industries in developing countries. It is therefore important to examine whether evidence supports the logic of reforms. The authors review the empirical evidence on electricity reform in developing countries. They find that country institutions and sector governance play an important role inthe success and failure of reform. And reforms also appear to have increased operating efficiency and expanded access to urban customers. However, the reforms have to a lesser degree passed on efficiency gains to customers, tackled distributional effects, and improved rural access. Moreover, some of the literature is not methodologically robust and on par with general development economics literature. Further, findings on some issues are limited and inconclusive, while other important areas are yet to be addressed. Until we know more, implementation of reforms will be more based on ideology and economic theory rather than solid economic evidence.

Keywords: Environmental Economics&Policies; Enterprise Development&Reform; Electric Power; Children and Youth; Public Sector Economics&Finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-eff and nep-ene
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (79)

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Working Paper: Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries: A Survey of Empirical Evidence on Determinants and Performance (2004)
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