Abstract
Firms in developing countries often identify electricity as a major constraint to operations. Decentralized renewable energy sources could help alleviate these constraints. We investigate whether electrification in Nepal – via microhydro plants and their mini-grids – helped grow the manufacturing sector. Mini-grids significantly increased manufacturing establishments; yet their overall presence remained limited due to low baseline numbers. Following electrification, females and males were more likely to be employees and less likely to be self-employed. Likewise, usual employment activities shifted from labor in agriculture to salary and wage work. In more remote locations, the impacts of mini-grids on manufacturing establishments and labor were significantly muted.
Zhenxuan Wang
Ph.D. Candidate
My research interests lie at the intersection of environmental and energy economics, climate policy, development economics, and public economics.