IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v127y2023ipas0140988323006163.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Non-farm entrepreneurship, caste, and energy poverty in rural India

Author

Listed:
  • Koomson, Isaac
  • Orkoh, Emmanuel
  • Ahmad, Shabbir

Abstract

This study examines how non-farm entrepreneurship influences rural household energy poverty and explores caste-based heterogeneities in outcomes in India. The study used different quasi-experimental econometric methods to analyse panel data from the waves 1 and 2 (2015 and 2018) of the Access to Clean Cooking Energy and Electricity Survey of States (ACCESS) in India. The overall results across all estimation methods show that households' engagement in non-fam entrepreneurship significantly contributes to a reduction in their energy poverty levels and the probability of being energy poor. The sizes of the reduction vary across the four castes (General Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, and Other Backward Caste). The energy poverty reducing effect of non-farm entrepreneurship is particularly high among members of the Scheduled Tribe. Further mediation analyses reveal that non-farm entrepreneurship potentially affects rural households' energy poverty through their accumulation of financial (savings) and durable assets which possibly enable them to access cleaner energy sources for lighting and cooking. We encourage governments to pay attention to policies that promote non-farm entrepreneurship which has the potential to enhance asset accumulation and reduce rural energy poverty in the process.

Suggested Citation

  • Koomson, Isaac & Orkoh, Emmanuel & Ahmad, Shabbir, 2023. "Non-farm entrepreneurship, caste, and energy poverty in rural India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:127:y:2023:i:pa:s0140988323006163
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2023.107118
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988323006163
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.107118?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Lanjouw & Rinku Murgai & Nicholas Stern, 2013. "Nonfarm diversification, poverty, economic mobility, and income inequality: a case study in village India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(4-5), pages 461-473, July.
    2. González-Eguino, Mikel, 2015. "Energy poverty: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 377-385.
    3. Clive R. Belfield & Inas Rashad Kelly, 2012. "The Benefits of Breast Feeding across the Early Years of Childhood," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(3), pages 251-277.
    4. Rezki, Jahen F., 2023. "Does the mobile phone affect social development? Evidence from Indonesian villages," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    5. Koomson, Isaac & Afoakwah, Clifford & Ampofo, Akwasi, 2022. "How does ethnic diversity affect energy poverty? Insights from South Africa," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Kofinti, Raymond Elikplim & Koomson, Isaac & Paintsil, Jones Arkoh & Ameyaw, Edward Kwabena, 2022. "Reducing children's malnutrition by increasing mothers' health insurance coverage: A focus on stunting and underweight across 32 sub-Saharan African countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Gero Carletto & Katia Covarrubias & Benjamin Davis & Marika Krausova & Kostas Stamoulis & Paul Winters & Alberto Zezza, 2007. "Rural income generating activities in developing countries: re-assessing the evidence," The Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 4(1), pages 146-193.
    8. Chhavi Tiwari & Srinivas Goli & Mohammad Zahid Siddiqui & Pradeep S. Salve, 2022. "Poverty, wealth inequality and financial inclusion among castes in Hindu and Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh, India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1227-1255, August.
    9. Gbemisola Oseni & Paul Winters, 2009. "Rural nonfarm activities and agricultural crop production in Nigeria," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 189-201, March.
    10. SHI, Xiaoping & Heerink, Nico & Qu, Futian, 2007. "Choices between different off-farm employment sub-categories: An empirical analysis for Jiangxi Province, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 438-455.
    11. Gupta, Aashish & Vyas, Sangita & Hathi, Payal & Khalid, Nazar & Srivastav, Nikhil & Spears, Dean & Coffey, Diane, 2019. "Persistence of solid fuel use despite increases in LPG ownership: New survey evidence from rural north India," SocArXiv yv2es, Center for Open Science.
    12. Hoang, Trung X. & Pham, Cong S. & Ulubaşoğlu, Mehmet A., 2014. "Non-Farm Activity, Household Expenditure, and Poverty Reduction in Rural Vietnam: 2002–2008," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 554-568.
    13. Wang, Qiang & Kwan, Mei-Po & Fan, Jie & Lin, Jian, 2021. "Racial disparities in energy poverty in the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    14. Zereyesus, Yacob A. & Embaye, Weldensie T. & Tsiboe, Francis & Amanor-Boadu, Vincent, 2017. "Implications of Non-Farm Work to Vulnerability to Food Poverty-Recent Evidence From Northern Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 113-124.
    15. Linh Khac Bui & Huyen Hoang, 2021. "Non-farm employment, food poverty and vulnerability in rural Vietnam," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 7326-7357, May.
    16. Christopher Colclough & Geeta Kingdon & Harry Patrinos, 2010. "The Changing Pattern of Wage Returns to Education and its Implications," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 28(6), pages 733-747, November.
    17. Chaurey, Akanksha & Krithika, P.R. & Palit, Debajit & Rakesh, Smita & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2012. "New partnerships and business models for facilitating energy access," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(S1), pages 48-55.
    18. Dzanku, Fred Mawunyo, 2019. "Food security in rural sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the nexus between gender, geography and off-farm employment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 26-43.
    19. Ferreira, Francisco H. G. & Lanjouw, Peter, 2001. "Rural Nonfarm Activities and Poverty in the Brazilian Northeast," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 509-528, March.
    20. Kaivan Munshi, 2019. "Caste and the Indian Economy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(4), pages 781-834, December.
    21. Rita Almeida & Marta Faria, 2014. "The wage returns to on-the-job training: evidence from matched employer-employee data," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-33, December.
    22. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Energy poverty and health: Panel data evidence from Australia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    23. Adusah-Poku, Frank & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2019. "Household energy expenditure in Ghana: A double-hurdle model approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 266-277.
    24. Cecilia Tacoli, 2017. "Food (In)Security in Rapidly Urbanising, Low-Income Contexts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-8, December.
    25. Kei Kajisa, 2007. "Personal Networks and Nonagricultural Employment: The Case of a Farming Village in the Philippines," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(4), pages 669-707, July.
    26. Funke, Michael & Ho, Tai-kuang & Tsang, Andrew, 2023. "Containment measures during the COVID pandemic: The role of non-pharmaceutical health policies," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 90-102.
    27. Nagler, Paula & Naudé, Wim, 2014. "Non-Farm Entrepreneurship in Rural Africa: Patterns and Determinants," IZA Discussion Papers 8008, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    28. Alkire, Sabina & Foster, James, 2011. "Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 476-487.
    29. Frederick J. Zimmerman & Wayne Katon, 2005. "Socioeconomic status, depression disparities, and financial strain: what lies behind the income‐depression relationship?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(12), pages 1197-1215, December.
    30. Ngarava, Saul & Zhou, Leocadia & Ningi, Thulani & Chari, Martin M. & Mdiya, Lwandiso, 2022. "Gender and ethnic disparities in energy poverty: The case of South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    31. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    32. Ousman Gajigo, 2013. "Credit Constraints and Agricultural Risk for Non‐Farm Enterprises," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(4), pages 648-662, December.
    33. Shujaat Farooq & Zunaira Younais, 2018. "Do Non-farm Enterprises Offer Pathways for Upward Mobility in Rural Pakistan? Evidence from Panel Dataset," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 57(2), pages 203-221.
    34. Tiwari, Chhavi & Goli, Srinivas & Siddiqui, Mohammad Zahid & Salve, Pradeep, 2022. "Poverty, wealth inequality, and financial inclusion among castes in Hindu and Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh, India," SocArXiv 96tgm, Center for Open Science.
    35. Khanna, Rupali A. & Li, Yanfei & Mhaisalkar, Subodh & Kumar, Mahesh & Liang, Lim Jia, 2019. "Comprehensive energy poverty index: Measuring energy poverty and identifying micro-level solutions in South and Southeast Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 379-391.
    36. Pham Bao Duong & Pham Tien Thanh & Tihomir Ancev, 2021. "Impacts of off‐farm employment on welfare, food security and poverty: Evidence from rural Vietnam," International Journal of Social Welfare, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 84-96, January.
    37. Patrick Nussbaumer & Francesco Fuso Nerini & Ijeoma Onyeji & Mark Howells, 2013. "Global Insights Based on the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(5), pages 1-17, May.
    38. Shiba Shankar Pattayat & Jajati Keshari Parida & I. C. Awasthi, 2022. "Reducing Rural Poverty Through Non-farm Job Creation in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(1), pages 137-160, March.
    39. Ping Wang & Shen-Li Li & Shao-Hui Zou, 2023. "Does Off-Farm Employment Promote the Low-Carbon Energy Intensity in China’s Rural Households?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, March.
    40. Isaac Koomson & Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Musharavati Ephraim Munyanyi, 2022. "Gambling and Financial Stress," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 473-503, August.
    41. Brian C. Briggeman, 2011. "The importance of off-farm income to servicing farm debt," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 96(Q I).
    42. Kushneel Prakash & Musharavati Ephraim Munyanyi, 2021. "Energy poverty and obesity," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2021n11, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    43. Ashok K. Mishra & Kh. A. Mottaleb & Samarendu Mohanty, 2015. "Impact of off-farm income on food expenditures in rural Bangladesh: an unconditional quantile regression approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 139-148, March.
    44. Nagler, Paula & Naudé, Wim, 2017. "Non-farm entrepreneurship in rural sub-Saharan Africa: New empirical evidence," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 175-191.
    45. Ousman Gajigo, 2013. "Credit Constraints and Agricultural Risk for Non-Farm Enterprises," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(4), pages 648-662.
    46. Kapur Mehta, Aasha & Shah, Amita, 2003. "Chronic Poverty in India: Incidence, Causes and Policies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 491-511, March.
    47. Birthal, Pratap Singh & Negi, Digvijay S. & Jha, Awadesh K. & Singh, Dhiraj, 2014. "Income Sources of Farm Households in India: Determinants, Distributional Consequences and Policy Implications," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 27(1).
    48. Danquah, Michael & Iddrisu, Abdul Malik, 2018. "Access to mobile phones and the wellbeing of non-farm enterprise households: Evidence from Ghana," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-9.
    49. Christian Dippel & Andreas Ferrara & Stephan Heblich, 2020. "Causal mediation analysis in instrumental-variables regressions," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 20(3), pages 613-626, September.
    50. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter B. R. & Reardon, Thomas Anthony (ed.), 2007. "Transforming the rural nonfarm economy: Opportunities and threats in the developing world," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-8018-8664-5.
    51. Junior Davis, 2006. "Rural non-farm livelihoods in transition economies: emerging issues and policies," The Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 3(2), pages 180-224.
    52. Thomas Reardon & J. Edward Taylor & Kostas Stamoulis & Peter Lanjouw & Arsenio Balisacan, 2000. "Effects of Non‐Farm Employment on Rural Income Inequality in Developing Countries: An Investment Perspective," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 266-288, May.
    53. Lanjouw, Jean O. & Lanjouw, Peter, 2001. "The rural non-farm sector: issues and evidence from developing countries," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 1-23, October.
    54. Ahmad, Shabbir & Shankar, Sriram & Steen, John & Verreynne, Martie-Louise & Burki, Abid Aman, 2021. "Using measures of efficiency for regionally-targeted smallholder policy intervention: The case of Pakistan’s horticulture sector," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    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. Koomson, Isaac & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa, 2022. "Employment precarity and energy poverty in post-apartheid South Africa: Exploring the racial and ethnic dimensions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Sen, Kanchan Kumar & Karmaker, Shamal Chandra & Hosan, Shahadat & Chapman, Andrew J. & Uddin, Md Kamal & Saha, Bidyut Baran, 2023. "Energy poverty alleviation through financial inclusion: Role of gender in Bangladesh," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    3. Mamoudou Ba & Amar Anwar & Mazhar Mughal, 2021. "Non‐farm employment and poverty reduction in Mauritania," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 490-514, April.
    4. Zeeshan & Geetilaxmi Mohapatra & Arun Kumar Giri, 2022. "How Farm Household Spends Their Non-farm Incomes in Rural India? Evidence from Longitudinal Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1967-1996, August.
    5. Koomson, Isaac & Afoakwah, Clifford & Ampofo, Akwasi, 2022. "How does ethnic diversity affect energy poverty? Insights from South Africa," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Koomson, Isaac & Danquah, Michael, 2021. "Financial inclusion and energy poverty: Empirical evidence from Ghana," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Ma, Wanglin & Vatsa, Puneet & Zheng, Hongyun & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2022. "Nonfarm employment and consumption diversification in rural China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 582-598.
    8. Hoang, Trung X. & Pham, Cong S. & Ulubaşoğlu, Mehmet A., 2014. "Non-Farm Activity, Household Expenditure, and Poverty Reduction in Rural Vietnam: 2002–2008," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 554-568.
    9. Mahamadou Roufahi Tankari, 2020. "Rainfall variability and farm households’ food insecurity in Burkina Faso: nonfarm activities as a coping strategy," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(3), pages 567-578, June.
    10. Laura Barasa & Bethuel K. Kinuthia & Abdelkrim Araar & Stephene Maende & Faith Mariera, 2023. "Nonfarm entrepreneurship, crop output, and household welfare in Tanzania: An exploration of transmission channels," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 762-792, July.
    11. Muhammad Shafiullah & Zhilun Jiao & Muhammad Shahbaz & Kangyin Dong, 2023. "Examining energy poverty in Chinese households: An Engel curve approach," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 149-184, March.
    12. Marwan Benali & Bernhard Brümmer & Victor Afari‐Sefa, 2018. "Smallholder participation in vegetable exports and age‐disaggregated labor allocation in Northern Tanzania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(5), pages 549-562, September.
    13. Shahzad, Umer & Gupta, Mansi & Sharma, Gagan Deep & Rao, Amar & Chopra, Ritika, 2022. "Resolving energy poverty for social change: Research directions and agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    14. Bethuel Kinuthia & Abdelkrim Araar & Laura Barasa & Stephene Maende & Faith Mariera, 2019. "Off-Farm Participation, Agricultural Production and Farmers’ Welfare in Tanzania and Uganda," Working Papers PMMA 2019-01, PEP-PMMA.
    15. Rafi, Muhammed & Naseef, Mohemmad & Prasad, Salu, 2021. "Multidimensional energy poverty and human capital development: Empirical evidence from India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    16. Sènakpon F.A. Dedehouanou & Dugassa Aichatou Ousseini & Abdoulaziz Laouali Harouna & Jabir Maimounata, 2015. "Spillovers from Off-farm Self-Employment Opportunities in Rural NIGER," Working Papers 2015/03, Maastricht School of Management.
    17. Bezu, Sosina & Barrett, Christopher B., 2010. "Activity Choice in Rural Non-farm Employment (RNFE): Survival versus accumulative strategy," MPRA Paper 55034, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Anh Thu Quang Pham & Pundarik Mukhopadhaya & Ha Vu, 2021. "Estimating poverty and vulnerability to monetary and non-monetary poverty: the case of Vietnam," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 3125-3177, December.
    19. Nawaz, Saima, 2021. "Energy poverty, climate shocks, and health deprivations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    20. Benjamin Davis & Paul Winters & Thomas Reardon & Kostas Stamoulis, 2009. "Rural nonfarm employment and farming: household‐level linkages," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 119-123, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy poverty; Non-farm entrepreneurship; Caste; Rural India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    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:eee:eneeco:v:127:y:2023:i:pa:s0140988323006163. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    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.