Electricity and female employment: Evidence from Tajikistan’s winter energy crisis

Adrian Poignant

Journal of Development Economics, 2025, vol. 172, issue C

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of electricity rationing on female employment during Tajikistan’s winter energy crisis, 2009–2015. Reduced access to electricity led to a decline in female employment as women left the workforce to become homemakers. The negative employment effect is specific to women and does not appear to be driven by changes in labor demand, involuntary unemployment, labor migration or fertility patterns. However, the decline in female employment is accompanied by a lower adoption of labor-saving electrical appliances. These findings suggest that electricity provision releases women from unpaid domestic work. Furthermore, they suggest that the quality of the electricity supply is vital for realizing the full benefits of electrification in developing countries.

Keywords: Electricity; Female employment; Labor supply (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 J16 J22 O13 O18 O53 Q40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:172:y:2025:i:c:s0304387824001329

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103383

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