Modelling the Impact of Electricity Access on Labour Market Outcomes in Uganda

Abstract

This study is designed to assess the impact of household electricity access on labour market outcomes in Uganda. The quasi-experimental method is applied on a sample of 28,035 households, divided into two counterfactual of treatment (n=8,925) and control (n=19,110) groups. Results strongly show that access to electricity significantly increases wages while decreasing the time spent at work. Specifically, the average wage of the households with access to electricity increased by 155%, 124% and 154% with the Kernel Matching (KM), Nearest-Neighbor Matching (NNM) and Radius Matching (RM) technique, respectively. The average job duration of households with electricity access decreased by 1.34%, 2.01% and 2.5% with KM, NNM and RM technique, respectively. It is recommended that the government of Uganda should increase electricity generation coverage through alternative sources as renewable and nuclear energy and improve the quality of existing energy infrastructures.