Short- and long-run impacts of rural electrification: Evidence from the historical rollout of the US power grid
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Lewis, Joshua; Severnini, Edson
署名单位：
Universite de Montreal; Carnegie Mellon University
刊物名称：
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
ISSN/ISSBN：
0304-3878
DOI：
10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.102412
发表日期：
2020
关键词：
摘要：
Electrification among American farm households increased from less than 10 percent to nearly 100 percent over a three decade span, 1930-1960. We exploit the historical rollout of the U.S. power grid to study the short- and long-run impacts of rural electrification on local economies. In the short-run, rural electrification led to increases in agricultural employment, rural farm population, and rural property values, but there was little impact on the local non-agriculture economy. Benefits exceeded historical costs, even in rural areas with low population density. As for the long run, rural counties that gained early access to electricity experienced increased economic growth that persisted for decades after the country was fully electrified. In remote rural areas, local development was driven by an expansion in the agricultural sector. Meanwhile in rural counties near metropolitan areas, long-run population growth coincided with increases in housing costs and decreases in agricultural employment, suggesting that rural electrification stimulated suburban expansion.