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Econ Gov (2014) 15:305327
DOI 10.1007/s10101-014-0146-5
ORIGINAL PAPER
Received: 18 November 2013 / Accepted: 3 July 2014 / Published online: 30 July 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Abstract A common argument for the lack of economic reform in developing countries is popular opposition. If current economic policies are dysfunctional, could information about alternatives sway the voters? We examine if a simple argument emphasizing the need to increase electricity prices for improved supply can change public opinion in the case of Indias power sector reforms. The evidence comes from a survey experiment in rural Uttar Pradesh, which is both Indias largest state and has one of the lowest levels of household electrication. As expected, people respond to information about the relationship between electricity pricing, capacity investment, and reliability of supply by increasing their support for higher prices. However, no corresponding increase is observed for privatization of electricity generation. For external validity, we analyze an existing national survey on electricity privatization conducted in 2004/2005, nding patterns that support our argument.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10101-014-0146-5
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M. Aklin S. P. Harish
Department of Politics, New York University, 19 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012, USA
M. Aklin
Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, 4600 Wesley W. Posvar Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
P. Bayer (B)
Department of Political Science, Program in International & Area Studies, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA e-mail: [email protected]
J. Urpelainen
Department of Politics, Columbia University, 420 West 118th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
Information and energy policy preferences: a survey experiment on public opinion about electricity pricing reform in rural India
Michal Aklin Patrick Bayer S. P. Harish
Johannes Urpelainen
123
306 M. Aklin et al.
Keywords Electricity Power sector Survey experiment Investment India
Rural development
JEL Classication O13 Q48 Q58
1 Introduction
For decades, India has suffered from an inefcient power sector that frequently fails to generate the electricity that the country needs for economic growth and wellbeing. The situation is especially dire in rural areas. Not only are electrication rates low, but the electricity grid frequently fails to provide a reliable supply of...