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Electrification and Welfare for the Marginalized: Evidence from India

Author

Listed:
  • Ashish Kumar Sedai

    (Department of Economics, Colorado State University)

  • Tooraj Jamasb

    (Copenhagen Business School)

  • Rabindra Nepal

    (University of Wollongong)

  • Ray Miller

    (Department of Economics, Colorado State University)

Abstract

Uneven electrification can be a source of welfare disparity. Given the recent progress of electrification in India, we analyze the differences in access and reliability of electricity, and its impact on household welfare for marginalized and dominant social groups by caste and religion. We carry out longitudinal analysis from a national survey, 2005-2012, using OLS, fixed effects, and panel instrumental variable regressions. Our analysis shows that marginalized groups (Hindu Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe and Muslims) had higher likelihood of electricity access compared to the dominant groups (Hindu forward castes and Other Backward Caste). In terms of electricity reliability, marginalized groups lost less electricity hours in a day as compared to dominant groups. Results showed that electrification enabled marginalized households to increase their consumption, assets and move out of poverty; the effects were more pronounced in rural areas. The findings are robust to alternative ways of measuring consumption and use of more recent data set, 2015-2018. We posit that electrification improved the livelihoods of marginalized groups. However, it did not reduce absolute disparities among social groups.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Ashish Kumar Sedai & Tooraj Jamasb & Rabindra Nepal & Ray Miller, 2021. "Electrification and Welfare for the Marginalized: Evidence from India," Working Papers EPRG2101, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:enp:wpaper:eprg2101
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    Cited by:

    1. Gashaye, Amare Terefe & Liu, Hongxun & Li, Jianglong, 2025. "The effect of access to electricity on rural households of underdeveloped countries: Evidence from Ethiopia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    2. Bhukta, Rikhia & Pakrashi, Debayan & Saha, Sarani & Sedai, Ashish, 2024. "Community electrification and women’s autonomy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Karim, Sitara & Appiah, Michael & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Lucey, Brian M. & Li, Mingxing, 2022. "Modelling the role of institutional quality on carbon emissions in Sub-Saharan African countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 213-221.
    4. Li, Zhen & Niu, Shuwen & Halleck Vega, Sol Maria & Wang, Jinnian & Wang, Dakang & Yang, Xiankun, 2024. "Electrification and residential well-being in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    5. Amin, Sakib Bin & Chowdhury, Mainul Islam & Jamasb, Tooraj & Khan, Farhan & Nepal, Rabindra, 2023. "Green Energy Finance and Gender Disparity: The Case of Mountain Areas in Bangladesh," Working Papers 2-2023, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    6. Alinda George & Pritee Sharma, 2023. "Spatial assessment of vulnerability of social groups to climate change in Madhya Pradesh, India," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 1329-1370, December.
    7. Magbondé, Kadoukpè Gildas & Reilly, Barry & Kauma, Bridget, 2024. "The distributional effects of rural electrification on household welfare: Evidence from Senegal," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Best, Rohan & Nibedita, Barsha & Nepal, Rabindra, 2024. "Energy transitions across household distributions in northern India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1151-1163.
    9. Abdulla, Eman & Lim, King Yoong & Morris, Diego & Saliba, Faten, 2025. "Climate change and innovation: Exploring the mediating role of gender equality at the firm level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    10. Li, Jiajia & Yang, Shiyu & Li, Jun & Li, Houjian, 2024. "Targeting SDG7: Identifying heterogeneous energy dilemmas for socially disadvantaged groups in India using machine learning," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    11. Priya, Pragati & Sharma, Chandan & Jha, Chandan Kumar, 2025. "Asymmetry in the inequality of opportunity in energy consumption across gender, caste, and religion in India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    12. Subedi, Mukti Nath & Bharadwaj, Bishal & Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa, 2023. "Who benefits from the decentralised energy system (DES)? Evidence from Nepal’s micro-hydropower (MHP)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2022. "Local area crime and energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    14. Kassim Dogawa & Abbévi Georges Abbey, 2025. "Effect Of Access To Electricity On Household Income In Togo [Effet De L'Acces A L'Electricite Sur Le Revenu Des Menages Au Togo]," Post-Print hal-05134981, HAL.
    15. Akinyemi, Taiwo & Jung, Suhyun, 2025. "Power plants improve local residents' wealth: A case study of Nigeria," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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