The honest (electricity) thief—Experimental evidence on the relationship between electricity theft and social norms

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim for universal access to affordable and reliable clean energy by 2030, but especially in rural areas this has not been achieved yet. Small scale electricity theft is one of the major obstacles to achieving electrification access in many countries of the Global South. Electricity theft has been associated with a number of different factors such as poverty, quality of electricity services, and social norms. Electricity theft causes problems that not only affect the electricity providers but have negative effects on whole communities. Combating electricity theft effectively requires a better understanding of the underlying causes. To analyse the role of dishonesty in electricity theft, we use the die-in-a-cup game to establish the prevalence of dishonest behaviour within Puebloviejo, Magdalena, a community in Colombia. We combine the game with a survey-based social norm elicitation to identify the predominant social norms. We find that acceptance of electricity theft is conditional on the reason, with poverty being the justification with the highest support. We find clear differences of dishonesty between people condoning or opposing electricity theft, with people condoning electricity theft being more honest.