Electrification and Welfare of Poor Households in Rural India

Aditi Bhattacharyya (), Daisy Das () and Arkadipta Ghosh
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Aditi Bhattacharyya: Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University

No 1702, Working Papers from Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business

Abstract: We examine the impact of electrification on the welfare of poor households in rural India. We use two rounds of survey data (2004-2005 and 2011-2012) from the National Sample Survey Organization, and examine household welfare as captured by monthly and annual expenditures on multiple categories of goods and services among the poorest households. Using inverse propensity score weighting and difference-in-differences estimation in two separate analyses for households across all states and in eight backward states, we find significant evidence for improved welfare from electrification. This includes higher monthly expenditures in total as well as on food, fuel, entertainment, nonfood, education, and durable goods across all states. We also find evidence for higher expenditures in selected categories of goods like fuel, entertainment, nonfood, and education items after electrification in backward states. Additionally, we find that the poorest rural households in backward states experienced reduced medical expenditures after electrification.

Keywords: Rural electrification; household welfare; poor households (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I30 O13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev and nep-ene
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:shs:wpaper:1702

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