TY - JOUR
T1 - The uneven expansion of electricity supply in India
T2 - the logics of clientelism, incrementalism and maximin
AU - Martinez Arranz, Alfonso
AU - Thomson, Robert
AU - Zech, Steven
AU - Hegde, Ganesh
AU - Arunachalam, Dharma
AU - Rao, Anand
N1 - Funding Information:
? We are grateful to the editor and reviewers of this journal for insightful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. We thank the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy for making available data from the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey. The household-level data can be accessed from the CMIE ( https://consumerpyramidsdx.cmie.com/), and replication materials are available on the journal's website and from the authors. We also gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Monash Energy Institute.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to the editor and reviewers of this journal for insightful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. We thank the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy for making available data from the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey. The household-level data can be accessed from the CMIE ( https://consumerpyramidsdx.cmie.com/ ), and replication materials are available on the journal’s website and from the authors. We also gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Monash Energy Institute.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - This study examines the recent massive expansion of electricity supply in India. With data from over 120,000 observations relating to households across the country in 2014 and 2019, we describe the rapid but uneven increases in hours of supply. We compare three distinct logics of public service delivery that may account for different rates of improvement in electricity supply - the logics of clientelism, incrementalism and maximin. The clientelist logic posits that state-level elected representatives target investments toward local areas where they hold small margins of support to improve their chances of re-election. According to the logic of incrementalism, policymakers focus on policies that are closely aligned with existing policies, which implies that supply increases most in locations where surrounding areas have relatively good electricity supply. The maximin logic, by contrast, posits that the greatest improvements take place in locations that previously had the poorest supply. The evidence supports each of the three logics to some extent, but by far the strongest evidence supports the maximin logic.
AB - This study examines the recent massive expansion of electricity supply in India. With data from over 120,000 observations relating to households across the country in 2014 and 2019, we describe the rapid but uneven increases in hours of supply. We compare three distinct logics of public service delivery that may account for different rates of improvement in electricity supply - the logics of clientelism, incrementalism and maximin. The clientelist logic posits that state-level elected representatives target investments toward local areas where they hold small margins of support to improve their chances of re-election. According to the logic of incrementalism, policymakers focus on policies that are closely aligned with existing policies, which implies that supply increases most in locations where surrounding areas have relatively good electricity supply. The maximin logic, by contrast, posits that the greatest improvements take place in locations that previously had the poorest supply. The evidence supports each of the three logics to some extent, but by far the strongest evidence supports the maximin logic.
KW - Electricity supply
KW - India
KW - Multilevel governance
KW - Public services
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107125716&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102126
DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102126
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85107125716
VL - 78
JO - Energy Research & Social Science
JF - Energy Research & Social Science
SN - 2214-6296
M1 - 102126
ER -
