IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejapp/v5y2013i2p200-231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Molly Lipscomb
  • A. Mushfiq Mobarak
  • Tania Barham

Abstract

We estimate the development effects of electrification across Brazil over the period 1960-2000. We simulate a time series of hypothetical electricity grids for Brazil for the period 1960-2000 that show how the grid would have evolved had infrastructure investments been made based solely on geography-based cost considerations. Using the model as an instrument, we document large positive effects of electrification on development that are underestimated when one fails to account for endogenous targeting. Broad-based improvement in labor productivity across sectors and regions rather than general equilibrium re-sorting appears to be the likely mechanism by which these development gains are realized. (JEL H54, L94, O11, O13, Q41, Q43)

Suggested Citation

  • Molly Lipscomb & A. Mushfiq Mobarak & Tania Barham, 2013. "Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 200-231, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:5:y:2013:i:2:p:200-231
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.5.2.200
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.5.2.200
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2011-0238_data.zip
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2011-0238_app.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/ds/0502/2011-0238_ds.zip
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Banerjee, Abhijit & Duflo, Esther & Qian, Nancy, 2020. "On the road: Access to transportation infrastructure and economic growth in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    2. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    3. Strobl, Eric & Strobl, Robert O., 2011. "The distributional impact of large dams: Evidence from cropland productivity in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 432-450, November.
    4. Chandra, Amitabh & Thompson, Eric, 2000. "Does public infrastructure affect economic activity?: Evidence from the rural interstate highway system," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 457-490, July.
    5. Cadot, Olivier & Roller, Lars-Hendrik & Stephan, Andreas, 2006. "Contribution to productivity or pork barrel? The two faces of infrastructure investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(6-7), pages 1133-1153, August.
    6. Guy Michaels, 2008. "The Effect of Trade on the Demand for Skill: Evidence from the Interstate Highway System," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 683-701, November.
    7. Antonio Estache, 2010. "A survey of impact evaluations of infrastructure projects, programs and policies," Working Papers ECARES 2010_005, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Barnes,Douglas French & Khandker,Shahidur R. & Nguyen,Minh Huu & Samad,Hussain A., 2009. "Welfare impacts of rural electrification : evidence from Vietnam," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5057, The World Bank.
    9. Jeremy Atack & Fred Bateman & Michael Haines & Robert A. Margo, 2009. "Did Railroads Induce Or Follow Economic Growth? Urbanization And Population Growth In The American Midwest, 1850-60," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-178, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    10. Rud, Juan Pablo, 2012. "Electricity provision and industrial development: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 352-367.
    11. Morrison, Catherine J & Schwartz, Amy Ellen, 1996. "State Infrastructure and Productive Performance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1095-1111, December.
    12. Anonymous, 1969. "I. United Nations," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 971-989, October.
    13. Fan, Shenggen & Zhang, Linxiu & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2002. "Growth, inequality, and poverty in rural China: the role of public investments," Research reports 125, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mobarak, Ahmed & Lipscomb, Molly & Barham, Tania, 2011. "Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Geologic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil," CEPR Discussion Papers 8427, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Sylvain Leduc & Daniel J. Wilson, 2012. "Should transportation spending be included in a stimulus program? a review of the literature," Working Paper Series 2012-15, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    3. Fretz Stephan & Gorgas Christoph, 2015. "Regionaler Nutzen von Verkehrsinfrastruktur-Erweiterungen: Evidenz vom Schweizer Autobahnnetz," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 57-71, March.
    4. Ali,Rubaba & Barra,Alvaro Federico & Berg,Claudia N. & Damania,Richard & Nash,John D. & Russ,Jason Daniel & Ali,Rubaba & Barra,Alvaro Federico & Berg,Claudia N. & Damania,Richard & Nash,John D. & Russ, 2015. "Transport infrastructure and welfare : an application to Nigeria," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7271, The World Bank.
    5. Bird, Julia & Straub, Stéphane, 2020. "The Brasília experiment: The heterogeneous impact of road access on spatial development in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    6. Gibbons, Stephen & Lyytikäinen, Teemu & Overman, Henry G. & Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa, 2019. "New road infrastructure: The effects on firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 35-50.
    7. César Salazar-Espinoza & Sam Jones, 2017. "The impact of infrastructure shocks on agricultural markets: Evidence from the Zambezi river in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-191, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Chatterjee, Santanu & Lebesmuehlbacher, Thomas & Narayanan, Abhinav, 2021. "How productive is public investment? Evidence from formal and informal production in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    9. Brueckner, Jan K. & Picard, Pierre M., 2015. "Where and when to invest in infrastructure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 123-134.
    10. Yasuyuki Sawada, 2015. "The Impacts of Infrastructure in Development: A Selective Survey," Working Papers id:6482, eSocialSciences.
    11. Chen, Fanglin & Hao, Xinyue & Chen, Zhongfei, 2021. "Can high-speed rail improve health and alleviate health inequality? Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 266-279.
    12. Eberle, Ulrich, 2020. "Damned by dams? Infrastructure and conflict," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108457, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. César Salazar & Sam Jones, 2017. "The impact of infrastructure shocks on agricultural markets: Evidence from the Zambezi river in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series 191, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Ulrich J. Eberle, 2020. "Damned by dams? Infrastructure and conflict," CEP Discussion Papers dp1694, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    15. Roberts,Mark & Melecky,Martin & Bougna,Theophile & Xu,Yan-000462055, 2018. "Transport corridors and their wider economic benefits : a critical review of the literature," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8302, The World Bank.
    16. Li, Zhigang & Wu, Mingqin & Chen, Bin R., 2017. "Is road infrastructure investment in China excessive? Evidence from productivity of firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 116-126.
    17. Blonigen, Bruce A. & Cristea, Anca D., 2015. "Air service and urban growth: Evidence from a quasi-natural policy experiment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 128-146.
    18. Junichi Yamasaki, 2017. "Railroads, Technology Adoption, and Modern Economic Development: Evidence from Japan," ISER Discussion Paper 1000, Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka.
    19. P. Charnoz & C. Lelarge & C. Trevien, 2016. "Communication Costs and the Internal Organization of Multi-Plant Businesses: Evidence from the Impact of the French High-Speed Rail," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2016-02, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    20. Sylvain Leduc & Daniel Wilson, 2013. "Roads to Prosperity or Bridges to Nowhere? Theory and Evidence on the Impact of Public Infrastructure Investment," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 89-142.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil (American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2013) in ReplicationWiki

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:5:y:2013:i:2:p:200-231. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.