RUHRECONOMIC PAPERS
Does Large Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty?Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program
#555
Luciane LenzAnicet MunyehirweJörg PetersMaximiliane Sievert
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Ruhr Economic Papers
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Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Department of EconomicsUniversitätsstr. 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Technische Universität Dortmund, Department of Economic and Social SciencesVogelpothsweg 87, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
Universität Duisburg-Essen, Department of EconomicsUniversitätsstr. 12, 45117 Essen, Germany
Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI)Hohenzollernstr. 1-3, 45128 Essen, Germany
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Prof. Dr. Thomas K. BauerRUB, Department of Economics, Empirical EconomicsPhone: +49 (0) 234/3 22 83 41, e-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang LeiningerTechnische Universität Dortmund, Department of Economic and Social SciencesEconomics – MicroeconomicsPhone: +49 (0) 231/7 55-3297, e-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Volker ClausenUniversity of Duisburg-Essen, Department of EconomicsInternational EconomicsPhone: +49 (0) 201/1 83-3655, e-mail: [email protected]
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Sabine WeilerRWI, Phone: +49 (0) 201/81 49-213, e-mail: [email protected]
Ruhr Economic Papers #555
Responsible Editor: Manuel Frondel
All rights reserved. Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Germany, 2015
ISSN 1864-4872 (online) – ISBN 978-3-86788-636-9The working papers published in the Series constitute work in progress circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comments. Views expressed represent exclusively the authors’ own opinions and do not necessarily refl ect those of the editors.
Ruhr Economic Papers #555
Luciane Lenz, Anicet Munyehirwe,Jörg Peters, and Maximiliane Sievert
Does Large Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty?
Impacts of Rwanda’s ElectricityAccess Roll-Out Program
Bibliografi sche Informationen der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der deutschen National-bibliografi e; detaillierte bibliografi sche Daten sind im Internet über: http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufb ar.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4419/86788636ISSN 1864-4872 (online)ISBN 978-3-86788-636-9
Luciane Lenz, Anicet Munyehirwe, Jörg Peters, and Maximiliane Sievert1
Does Large Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty?Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program
Abstract
The United Nations’ objective to provide electricity to the 1.3 billion people without access in developing countries comes at high costs. Little evidence exists on socio-economic impacts of electrifi cation. This paper rigorously investigates eff ects of a large grid extension program in Rwanda on all rural benefi ciary groups: households, micro-enterprises, health centers, and schools. While the program has led to a tremendous increase of connections, appliance uptake and electricity consumption remain low. We fi nd only weak evidence for impacts on classical poverty indicators. To inform future policy design, we call for thorough cost-benefi t comparison between on-grid and off -grid solutions.
JEL Classifi cation: O13, O18, Q41
Keywords: Energy access; diff erence-in-diff erences; electrifi cation; mixed-methods; Sub-Saharan Africa
April 2015
1 Luciane Lenz, RWI; Anicet Munyehirwe, IB&C Rwanda; Jörg Peters, RWI and AMERU, Johannesburg, South Africa; Maximiliane Sievert, RWI. – We thank Christoph M. Schmidt and seminar participants at Gothenburg University for valuable comments and Leo Czajka and Leonce Röth for supervising the fi eld work. The data underlying this research was collected for an impact evaluation commissioned by the Policy and Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs of the Netherlands (IOB). Peters and Sievert gratefully acknowledge the support of a special grant (Sondertatbestand) from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Aff airs and Energy and the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.– All correspondence to: Jörg Peters, RWI, Hohenzollernstr. 1-3, 45128 Essen, Germany, e-mail: [email protected]
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