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Power outages and economic growth in Africa

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Abstract

This paper estimates the total effect of power outages on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1995-2007. Outages are instrumented using a satellite-based measure of lightning density. As suggested by Henderson et al. (2011), we also combine Penn World Tables GDP data with satellite-based data on nightlights to arrive at a more accurate measure of economic growth. Our results suggest that the annual economic growth drag of a weak power infrastructure is about 2 percentage points.

Suggested Citation

  • Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck & Dalgaard, Carl-Johan, 2012. "Power outages and economic growth in Africa," Discussion Papers on Economics 7/2012, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2012_007
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    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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