Ruhr Economic Papers

Ruhr Economic Papers #284
Impacts of Rural Electrification in Rwanda
by Gunther Bensch, Jochen Kluve and Jörg Peters
RWI, 09/2011, 40 S./p., 8 Euro, ISBN 978-3-86788-330-6
downloadAbstract
Rural electrification is believed to contribute to the achievement of the MDG. In this paper, we investigate electrification impacts on different indicators. We use household data that we collected in Rwanda in villages with and without electricity access. We account for self-selection and regional differences by using households from the electrified villages to estimate the probability to connect for all households – including those in the non-electrified villages. Based on these probabilities we identify counterfactual households and find robust evidence for positive effects on lighting usage. Effects on income and children’s home studying become insignificant if regional differences are accounted for.
JEL-Classification: O12, O13, O18, O22
Keywords: Rural electrification; energy access; impact evaluation; matching
Published as:
Bensch, G., J. Kluve and J. Peters (2011), Impacts of Rural Electrification in Rwanda. Journal of Development Effectiveness 3 (4): 567-588.