with Dr. Sonia Akter (Australian National University) and Marian Edward Fila
We present the first evidence of the causal effect of access to good quality and reliable electricity on clean cooking fuel adoption and use in rural areas of six energy poor Indian states using household-level panel data from 2015 and 2018. We exploit the village-level variation in the coverage of a nationwide government program, (i.e., the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)), that aimed to improve the quality and reliability of rural residential electricity supply. The village-level nightlights data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument was used as a proxy for the DDUGJY program coverage and an instrument to generate exogenous variation in household access to good quality and reliable electricity. Our results show a positive effect of access to good quality and reliable electricity on liquefied petroleum gas adoption and use and firewood dis-adoption for the below poverty line households.. As for pathways, improvements in economic wellbeing, enterprise growth, information access, and energy-efficient technology adoption played important mediating roles. These findings, for the first time, reveal the complementary role of electricity quality and reliability not only on economic wellbeing but also on other important development outcomes such as energy transition.
with Dr. Jeremy W Lim-Soh (Duke-NUS) and Dr. Poh Lin Tan (LKYSPP, NUS)
COVID-19 has brought about multiple stressors to the family, including fear of infection, physical confinement, disturbed routines and caregiving burdens. However, not much is known about the role of dense residential crowding on life satisfaction and spousal relationships, and lockdown restrictions. Intuitively, sharing a small living space with others could exacerbate the negative impact of lockdown restrictions during the pandemic. Using survey data on married women collected before, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Singapore, we test the hypothesis that residential crowding amplifies the consequences of the lockdown on life satisfaction and spousal relationships. Multinomial logistic regressions on housing type and area per person suggest that women in more spacious homes were less likely to experience worsened life satisfaction at the peak of movement restrictions. We also found that having access to private green spaces was associated with improved life satisfaction and spousal relationships throughout the two years of the pandemic.