Publication:
In the Dark: How Much Do Power Sector Distortions Cost South Asia?

dc.contributor.author Zhang, Fan
dc.date.accessioned 2018-12-03T20:35:15Z
dc.date.available 2018-12-03T20:35:15Z
dc.date.issued 2019
dc.description.abstract Electricity shortages are among the biggest barriers to South Asia’s development. Some 255 million people—more than a quarter of the world’s off-grid population—live in South Asia, and millions of households and firms that are connected experience frequent and long hours of blackouts. Inefficiencies originating in every link of the electricity supply chain contribute significantly to the power deficit. Three types of distortions lead to most of the inefficiencies: institutional distortions caused by state ownership and weak governance; regulatory distortions resulting from price regulation, subsidies, and cross-subsidies; and social distortions (externalities) causing excessive environmental and health damages from energy use. Using a common analytical framework and covering all stages of power supply, In the Dark identifies and estimates how policy-induced distortions have affected South Asian economies. The book introduces two innovations. First, it goes beyond fiscal costs, evaluating the impact of distortions from a welfare perspective by measuring the impact on consumer wellbeing, producer surplus, and environmental costs. And second, the book adopts a broader definition of the sector that covers the entire power supply chain, including upstream fuel supply and downstream access and reliability. The book finds that the full cost of distortions in the power sector is far greater than previously estimated based on fiscal cost alone: The estimated total economic cost is 4–7 percent of the gross domestic product in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Some of the largest costs are upstream and downstream. Few other reforms could quickly yield the huge economic gains that power sector reform would produce. By expanding access to electricity and improving the quality of supply, power sector reform would also directly benefit poor households. The highest payoffs are likely to come from institutional reforms, expansion of reliable access, and the appropriate pricing of carbon and local air pollution emissions. en
dc.identifier.isbn 978-1-4648-1154-8
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30923
dc.language English
dc.publisher Washington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseries South Asia Development Forum;
dc.rights CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder World Bank
dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subject POWER SECTOR
dc.subject ENERGY
dc.subject ELECTRICITY
dc.subject DISTORTIONS
dc.subject INSTITUTIONS
dc.subject REGULATION
dc.subject SOCIAL COST
dc.subject POWER SECTOR REFORM
dc.subject ELASTICITY
dc.subject EFFICIENCY
dc.title In the Dark en
dc.title.subtitle How Much Do Power Sector Distortions Cost South Asia? en
dc.type Book en
dc.type Livre fr
dc.type Libro es
dspace.entity.type Publication
okr.crossref.title In the Dark: How Much Do Power Sector Distortions Cost South Asia?
okr.date.disclosure 2018-12-11
okr.doctype Publications & Research
okr.doctype Publications & Research :: Publication
okr.externalurl www.worldbank.org/inthedark
okr.identifier.doi 10.1596/978-1-4648-1154-8
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum 211154
okr.identifier.report 132854
okr.imported true en
okr.language.supported en
okr.region.administrative South Asia
okr.region.country Bangladesh
okr.region.country India
okr.region.country Pakistan
okr.region.geographical South Asia
okr.topic Energy :: Electric Power
okr.topic Energy :: Energy Markets
okr.topic Energy :: Energy Policies & Economics
okr.topic Energy :: Energy Privatization
okr.topic Energy :: Energy Sector Regulation
okr.unit SARCE
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