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Power Outages, its Economic Cost and Firm Performance: Evidence from Ethiopia

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  • Lamessa Tariku ABDISA

Abstract

Unreliable supply of electricity is the main constraints to doing business in Ethiopia. This paper examined how firms in Ethiopia respond to power outage employing the World Bank Enterprise Survey data. The result shows that, in response to power outages, firms in Ethiopia self-generate electricity. While there is no evidence suggesting outsourcing and improved energy hypothesis, power outages were found to affect the firms’ productivity negatively. From 2011 to 2015 firms’ cost of production rose by 15% due to power outage. This effect varies positively with output level suggesting that outage is costly particularly for large firms.

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  • Lamessa Tariku ABDISA, 2018. "Power Outages, its Economic Cost and Firm Performance: Evidence from Ethiopia," Departmental Working Papers 2018-01, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    • Handle: RePEc:mil:wpdepa:2018-01
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    5. Massimo FLORIO & Francesco GIFFONI, 2019. "L’impatto sociale della produzione di scienza su larga scala: come governarlo?," Departmental Working Papers 2019-05, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    6. Lamessa T. Abdisa & Alemu L. Hawitibo, 2021. "Firm performance under financial constraints: evidence from sub-Saharan African countries," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Hashemi, Majid & Jenkins, Glenn, 2022. "Can privatization of distribution substations improve electricity reliability for non-residential customers? An application to Nepal," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. Muhammad Luqman & Mirajul Haq & Iftikhar Ahmad, 2021. "Power Outages and Technical Efficiency of Manufacturing Firms: Evidence from Selected South Asian Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 133-140.
    9. Mohammad Abir Shahid Chowdhury & Shuai Chuanmin & Marcela Sokolová & ABM Munibur Rahman & Ahsan Akbar & Zahid Ali & Muhammad Usman, 2021. "Unveiling the Nexus between Access to Electricity, Firm Size and SME’s Performance in Bangladesh: New Evidence Using PSM," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    10. Guo, Dongmei & Li, Qin & Liu, Peng & Shi, Xunpeng & Yu, Jian, 2023. "Power shortage and firm performance: Evidence from a Chinese city power shortage index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Zheng, Shanshan & Wang, Derek D., 2024. "The local economic impacts of mega nuclear accident: A synthetic control analysis of Fukushima," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
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    13. Ahmad, Hafsa & Jamil, Faisal, 2024. "Investigating power outages in Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    14. Meron Tesfamichael & Edson Twinomujuni & Mbeo Ogeya & Silver Ssebagala & Yacob Mulugetta, 2022. "Barriers to the institutionalization of industrial energy efficiency in Africa: A case study from Uganda," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), May.
    15. Jamil, Faisal & Islam, Tanweer Ul, 2023. "Outage-induced power backup choice in Pakistan," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    16. Yu, Jian & Liu, Peng & Fu, Dahai & Shi, Xunpeng, 2023. "How do power shortages affect CO2 emission intensity? Firm-level evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    17. Majid Hashemi & Glenn Jenkins, 2021. "The Economic Benefits of Mitigating the Risk of Unplanned Power Outages," Working Paper 1468, Economics Department, Queen's University.
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    19. Heinemann, G. & Banzer, F. & Dumitrescu, R. & Hirschhausen, C.v. & Neuhoff, M.E. & Ogechi Nwadiaru, V., 2022. "Transforming electricity access by replacing back-up generators with solar systems: Recent trends and evidence from Nigeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Power Outages; Firm; Self Generation; Ethiopia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • N77 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Africa; Oceania
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

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