Information and energy policy preferences: a survey experiment on public opinion about electricity pricing reform in rural India

Michaël Aklin, Patrick Bayer (), S. Harish and Johannes Urpelainen

Economics of Governance, 2014, vol. 15, issue 4, 305-327

Abstract: A common argument for the lack of economic reform in developing countries is popular opposition. If current economic policies are dysfunctional, could information about alternatives sway the voters? We examine if a simple argument emphasizing the need to increase electricity prices for improved supply can change public opinion in the case of India’s power sector reforms. The evidence comes from a survey experiment in rural Uttar Pradesh, which is both India’s largest state and has one of the lowest levels of household electrification. As expected, people respond to information about the relationship between electricity pricing, capacity investment, and reliability of supply by increasing their support for higher prices. However, no corresponding increase is observed for privatization of electricity generation. For external validity, we analyze an existing national survey on electricity privatization conducted in 2004/2005, finding patterns that support our argument. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Keywords: Electricity; Power sector; Survey experiment; Investment; India; Rural development; O13; Q48; Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10101-014-0146-5

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