IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v109y2017icp659-665.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are small firms willing to pay for improved power supply? Evidence from a contingent valuation study in India

Author

Listed:
  • Ghosh, Ranjan
  • Goyal, Yugank
  • Rommel, Jens
  • Sagebiel, Julian

Abstract

This paper provides new estimates on Indian small-scale manufacturing firms’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for reliable power supply. Almost half of Indian manufacturing lies in the small-scale sector, and its productivity is severely affected by power outages. However, there is a surprising paucity of research on small firms’ WTP for avoiding outages. We conduct a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation experiment with a random sample of 260 small-scale firms in the region around Hyderabad. We find that on average, firms are willing to pay approximately 20% more for uninterrupted power supply. The WTP estimates and the explanatory factors for the firms’ decisions were tested for robustness using both probit and bivariate probit models. In addition, a two-step Heckman correction was used to control for selection bias induced by protest responses. Our results are vital to understand behavior of small firms, which are crucial to India's economic growth. Further, the government's continued emphasis on power sector reforms makes the paper even more important as it provides realistic estimates for designing tariffs while keeping in mind the preferences of the small-scale industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghosh, Ranjan & Goyal, Yugank & Rommel, Jens & Sagebiel, Julian, 2017. "Are small firms willing to pay for improved power supply? Evidence from a contingent valuation study in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 659-665.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:109:y:2017:i:c:p:659-665
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.07.046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517304779
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.07.046?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. Bhattacharyya, Ranajoy & Ganguly, Amrita, 2017. "Cross subsidy removal in electricity pricing in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 181-190.
    2. Alberini Anna, 1995. "Efficiency vs Bias of Willingness-to-Pay Estimates: Bivariate and Interval-Data Models," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 169-180, September.
    3. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Mansur, Erin T. & Wang, Qiong (Juliana), 2015. "Electricity shortages and firm productivity: Evidence from China's industrial firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 172-188.
    4. Carlsson, Fredrik & Martinsson, Peter, 2008. "Does it matter when a power outage occurs? -- A choice experiment study on the willingness to pay to avoid power outages," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 1232-1245, May.
    5. Bateman, Ian J. & Langford, Ian H. & Jones, Andrew P. & Kerr, Geoffrey N., 2001. "Bound and path effects in double and triple bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 191-213, July.
    6. Richard Carson & Robert Mitchell & Michael Hanemann & Raymond Kopp & Stanley Presser & Paul Ruud, 2003. "Contingent Valuation and Lost Passive Use: Damages from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 25(3), pages 257-286, July.
    7. Andrew A. Goett & Kathleen Hudson & Kenneth E. Train, 2000. "Customers' Choice Among Retail Energy Suppliers: The Willingness-to-Pay for Service Attributes," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-28.
    8. Hunt Allcott & Allan Collard-Wexler & Stephen D. O'Connell, 2016. "How Do Electricity Shortages Affect Industry? Evidence from India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(3), pages 587-624, March.
    9. Pasha, Hafiz A. & Ghaus, Aisha & Malik, Salman, 1989. "The economic cost of power outages in the industrial sector of Pakistan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 301-318, October.
    10. Ross Baldick & Sergey Kolos & Stathis Tompaidis, 2006. "Interruptible Electricity Contracts from an Electricity Retailer's Point of View: Valuation and Optimal Interruption," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(4), pages 627-642, August.
    11. Ghosh, Ranjan & Kathuria, Vinish, 2014. "The transaction costs driving captive power generation: Evidence from India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 179-188.
    12. Meyerhoff, Jurgen & Liebe, Ulf, 2006. "Protest beliefs in contingent valuation: Explaining their motivation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 583-594, June.
    13. Chung, Yi-Shih & Chiou, Yu-Chiun, 2017. "Willingness-to-pay for a bus fare reform: A contingent valuation approach with multiple bound dichotomous choices," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 289-304.
    14. Welsh, Michael P. & Poe, Gregory L., 1998. "Elicitation Effects in Contingent Valuation: Comparisons to a Multiple Bounded Discrete Choice Approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 170-185, September.
    15. Kim, Kayoung & Cho, Youngsang, 2017. "Estimation of power outage costs in the industrial sector of South Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 236-245.
    16. Fredrik Carlsson & Peter Martinsson, 2007. "Willingness to Pay among Swedish Households to Avoid Power Outages: A Random Parameter Tobit Model Approach," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 75-90.
    17. Independent Evaluation Group, 2015. "Financing for Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 22773, December.
    18. Gaur, Vasundhara & Gupta, Eshita, 2016. "The determinants of electricity theft: An empirical analysis of Indian states," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 127-136.
    19. Markus Hanisch & Christian Kimmich & Jens Rommel & Julian Sagebiel, 2010. "Coping with power scarcity in an emerging megacity: a consumers' perspective from Hyderabad," International Journal of Global Energy Issues, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 33(3/4), pages 189-204.
    20. Asher A. Blass & Saul Lach & Charles F. Manski, 2010. "Using Elicited Choice Probabilities To Estimate Random Utility Models: Preferences For Electricity Reliability," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 51(2), pages 421-440, May.
    21. Robert J. Johnston & Kevin J. Boyle & Wiktor (Vic) Adamowicz & Jeff Bennett & Roy Brouwer & Trudy Ann Cameron & W. Michael Hanemann & Nick Hanley & Mandy Ryan & Riccardo Scarpa & Roger Tourangeau & Ch, 2017. "Contemporary Guidance for Stated Preference Studies," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(2), pages 319-405.
    22. Kimmich, Christian & Sagebiel, Julian, 2016. "Empowering irrigation: A game-theoretic approach to electricity utilization in Indian agriculture," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(PB), pages 174-185.
    23. Bose, Ranjan Kumar & Shukla, Megha & Srivastava, Leena & Yaron, Gil, 2006. "Cost of unserved power in Karnataka, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 1434-1447, August.
    24. Timothy C. Haab & Kenneth E. McConnell, 2002. "Valuing Environmental and Natural Resources," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2427.
    25. Cooper Joseph C., 1993. "Optimal Bid Selection for Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Surveys," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 25-40, January.
    26. Carlsson, Fredrik & Martinsson, Peter & Akay, Alpaslan, 2011. "The effect of power outages and cheap talk on willingness to pay to reduce outages," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 790-798, September.
    27. W. Michael Hanemann, 1984. "Welfare Evaluations in Contingent Valuation Experiments with Discrete Responses," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 66(3), pages 332-341.
    28. W. Michael Hanemann, 1994. "Valuing the Environment through Contingent Valuation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 19-43, Fall.
    29. Michael Hanemann & John Loomis & Barbara Kanninen, 1991. "Statistical Efficiency of Double-Bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1255-1263.
    30. Alberini Anna, 1995. "Optimal Designs for Discrete Choice Contingent Valuation Surveys: Single-Bound, Double-Bound, and Bivariate Models," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 287-306, May.
    31. Gulyani, Sumila, 1999. "Innovating with Infrastructure: How India's Largest Carmaker Copes with Poor Electricity Supply," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(10), pages 1749-1768, October.
    32. Yu, Xiaohua & Abler, David, 2010. "Incorporating zero and missing responses into CVM with open-ended bidding: willingness to pay for blue skies in Beijing," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(5), pages 535-556, October.
    33. Baarsma, Barbara E. & Hop, J. Peter, 2009. "Pricing power outages in the Netherlands," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1378-1386.
    34. Ian J. Bateman & Richard T. Carson & Brett Day & Michael Hanemann & Nick Hanley & Tannis Hett & Michael Jones-Lee & Graham Loomes, 2002. "Economic Valuation with Stated Preference Techniques," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2639.
    35. Mark Morrison & Craig Nalder, 2009. "Willingness to Pay for Improved Quality of Electricity Supply Across Business Type and Location," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 117-134.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tensay Hadush Meles & Razack Lokina & Erica Louis Mtenga & Julieth Julius Tibanywana, 2023. "Stated Preferences with Survey Consequentiality and Outcome Uncertainty: A Split Sample Discrete Choice Experiment," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(4), pages 717-754, December.
    2. Park, Seong-Ju & Kim, Ju-Hee & Yoo, Seung-Hoon, 2023. "Utilization of early retiring coal-fired power plants as a cold reserve in South Korea: A public perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Doo-Chun Kim & Hyo-Jin Kim & Seung-Hoon Yoo, 2018. "Valuing Improved Power Supply Reliability for Manufacturing Firms in South Korea: Results from a Choice Experiment Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-12, November.
    4. Carlsson, Fredrik & Demeke, Eyoual & Martinsson, Peter & Tesemma, Tewodros, 2020. "Cost of power outages for manufacturing firms in Ethiopia: A stated preference study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Masako Numata & Masahiro Sugiyama & Wunna Swe & Daniel del Barrio Alvarez, 2021. "Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy in Myanmar: Energy Source Preference," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Thomas, Douglas & Fung, Juan, 2022. "Measuring downstream supply chain losses due to power disturbances," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    7. Hashemi, Majid, 2021. "The economic value of unsupplied electricity: Evidence from Nepal," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    8. Amoah, Anthony & Ferrini, Silvia & Schaafsma, Marije, 2019. "Electricity outages in Ghana: Are contingent valuation estimates valid?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    9. Azlina, A. A. & Abu Bakar, Shahida & Kamaludin, Mahirah & Ghani, Awang Noor, 2022. "Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy: Evidence From High Wind and Wave Energy Potential Areas," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(1), pages 59-70.
    10. Brown, Marilyn A. & Kale, Snehal & Cha, Min-Kyeong & Chapman, Oliver, 2023. "Exploring the willingness of consumers to electrify their homes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).

    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. Robert J. Johnston & Kevin J. Boyle & Wiktor (Vic) Adamowicz & Jeff Bennett & Roy Brouwer & Trudy Ann Cameron & W. Michael Hanemann & Nick Hanley & Mandy Ryan & Riccardo Scarpa & Roger Tourangeau & Ch, 2017. "Contemporary Guidance for Stated Preference Studies," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(2), pages 319-405.
    2. Richard T. Carson, 2011. "Contingent Valuation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2489.
    3. Amoah, Anthony & Ferrini, Silvia & Schaafsma, Marije, 2019. "Electricity outages in Ghana: Are contingent valuation estimates valid?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Aravena, Claudia & Hutchinson, W. George & Longo, Alberto, 2012. "Environmental pricing of externalities from different sources of electricity generation in Chile," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1214-1225.
    5. Ndebele, Tom & Forgie, Vicky, 2017. "Estimating the economic benefits of a wetland restoration programme in New Zealand: A contingent valuation approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 75-89.
    6. Gelo, Dambala & Koch, Steven F., 2015. "Contingent valuation of community forestry programs in Ethiopia: Controlling for preference anomalies in double-bounded CVM," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 79-89.
    7. Nikita Lyssenko & Roberto Mart󹑺-Espiñeira, 2012. "Respondent uncertainty in contingent valuation: the case of whale conservation in Newfoundland and Labrador," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(15), pages 1911-1930, May.
    8. Carlsson, Fredrik & Demeke, Eyoual & Martinsson, Peter & Tesemma, Tewodros, 2020. "Cost of power outages for manufacturing firms in Ethiopia: A stated preference study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Kim, Kayoung & Nam, Heekoo & Cho, Youngsang, 2015. "Estimation of the inconvenience cost of a rolling blackout in the residential sector: The case of South Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 76-86.
    10. Abdullah, Sabah & Jeanty, P. Wilner, 2011. "Willingness to pay for renewable energy: Evidence from a contingent valuation survey in Kenya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 2974-2983, August.
    11. Aweke, Abinet Tilahun & Navrud, Ståle, 2022. "Valuing energy poverty costs: Household welfare loss from electricity blackouts in developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Majid Hashemi & Glenn P. Jenkins & Roop Jyoti & Aygul Ozbafli, 2018. "Evaluating the Cost to Industry of Electricity Outages," Development Discussion Papers 2018-14, JDI Executive Programs.
    13. Woo, C.K. & Ho, T. & Shiu, A. & Cheng, Y.S. & Horowitz, I. & Wang, J., 2014. "Residential outage cost estimation: Hong Kong," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 204-210.
    14. Deutschmann, Joshua W. & Postepska, Agnieszka & Sarr, Leopold, 2021. "Measuring willingness to pay for reliable electricity: Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    15. Taale, Francis & Kyeremeh, Christian, 2016. "Households׳ willingness to pay for reliable electricity services in Ghana," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 280-288.
    16. Meles, Tensay Hadush, 2020. "Impact of power outages on households in developing countries: Evidence from Ethiopia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    17. Longo, Alberto & Markandya, Anil & Petrucci, Marta, 2008. "The internalization of externalities in the production of electricity: Willingness to pay for the attributes of a policy for renewable energy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 140-152, August.
    18. José L Oviedo & Pablo Campos & Alejandro Caparrós, 2022. "Contingent valuation of landowner demand for forest amenities: application in Andalusia, Spain [Optimal design for discrete choice contingent valuation surveys: single-bound, double-bound and bivar," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 49(3), pages 615-643.
    19. Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe & Carrasco, Moisés & Barrientos, Manuel & Gelcich, Stefan & Ponce Oliva, Roberto D., 2021. "Estimating discount rates for environmental goods: Are People’s responses inadequate to frequency of payments?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    20. Manuel Frondel & Stephan Sommer & Lukas Tomberg, 2021. "WTA-WTP Disparity: The Role of Perceived Realism of the Valuation Setting," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 97(1), pages 196-206.

    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:enepol:v:109:y:2017:i:c:p:659-665. 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/enpol .

    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.