Are the Benefits of Electrification Realized Only in the Long Run? Evidence from Rural India
5 affiliations
- 1Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Institute of Geography and Sustainability, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
- 2Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, Maharashtra, India
- 3Indian Institute for Science Education and Research Pune
- 4Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia
- 5Australian National University (ANU) - Crawford School of Public Policy
Abstract
Experimental studies find smaller benefits of electrification than observational studies. Is this because the latter typically observe benefits after a longer period of time? Using three waves of data from the Human Development Profile of India and the Indian Household Development Survey of Indian rural households, we quantify the impacts of short-term (0-7 years) and long-term (7-17 years) electricity access on household well-being. We use a propensity-score-weighted-difference-in-differences design that controls for spillover effects and find that electricity access increases consumption and education in the long term, and reduces the time spent by women on fuel collection, although we do not find significant effects on agricultural income, agricultural land holding, and kerosene consumption. Per capita consumption grows by 18 percentage points more over seven years in the long-term connected group than in the control group. Short-term effects are smaller and not statistically significant for any outcome variable.
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BibTeX
@article{nag2026benefits,
title = {{Are the Benefits of Electrification Realized Only in the Long Run? Evidence from Rural India}},
author = {Suryadeepto Nag and David I. Stern},
journal = {The Energy Journal},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1177/01956574261473495},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/01956574261473495},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Are the Benefits of Electrification Realized Only in the Long Run? Evidence from Rural India
AU - Suryadeepto Nag
AU - David I. Stern
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/25
JO - The Energy Journal
DO - 10.1177/01956574261473495
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/01956574261473495
AB - Experimental studies find smaller benefits of electrification than observational studies. Is this because the latter typically observe benefits after a longer period of time? Using three waves of data from the Human Development Profile of India and the Indian Household Development Survey of Indian rural households, we quantify the impacts of short-term (0-7 years) and long-term (7-17 years) electricity access on household well-being. We use a propensity-score-weighted-difference-in-differences design that controls for spillover effects and find that electricity access increases consumption and education in the long term, and reduces the time spent by women on fuel collection, although we do not find significant effects on agricultural income, agricultural land holding, and kerosene consumption. Per capita consumption grows by 18 percentage points more over seven years in the long-term connected group than in the control group. Short-term effects are smaller and not statistically significant for any outcome variable.
SN - 0195-6574
SN - 1944-9089
ER -