Does quality of electricity matter? household-level evidence from the Philippines

Date

2018-05

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Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationship of electricity quality and income levels among Filipino households. We use data from the 2004 and 2011 rounds of the Household Energy Consumption Survey to uncover whether electricity quality affects the welfare of households in terms of incidents of brownouts, fluctuations, and low voltages and income levels of different household groups. To account for endogeneity issues, we apply a two-stage probit-ordered probit model. We document a positive relationship between good electricity quality and higher income levels. In this light, households experiencing deteriorating electricity quality are less likely to be in higher income categories. A caveat, however, is that the relationship runs simultaneously where income level also explains the quality of electricity a household receives.

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Keywords

Electricity quality, Reliability, Two-stage probit-ordered probit

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