Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lipscomb, Molly; Mobarak, A. Mushfiq; Barham, Tania
• 署名单位: University of Virginia; Yale University; University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.5.2.200
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 200-231
• 关键词: infrastructure; PRODUCTIVITY; provision

摘要

We estimate the development effects of electrification across Brazil over the period 1960-2000. We simulate a time series of hypothetical electricity grids for Brazil for the period 1960-2000 that show how the grid would have evolved had infrastructure investments been made based solely on geography-based cost considerations. Using the model as an instrument, we document large positive effects of electrification on development that are underestimated when one fails to account for endogenous targeting. Broad-based improvement in labor productivity across sectors and regions rather than general equilibrium re-sorting appears to be the likely mechanism by which these development gains are realized. (JEL H54, L94, O11, O13, Q41, Q43)