Barnes, Douglas F.Khandker, Shahidur R.Minh, Nguyen HuuSamad, Hussain2012-03-192012-03-192009-09-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4248Access to electricity is crucial for economic development and there is a growing body of literature on the impact of rural electrification on development. However, most studies have so far relied on cross-sectional surveys comparing households with and without electricity, which have well known causal attribution problems. This paper is one of the first studies to examine the welfare impacts of households rural electrification based on panel surveys conducted in 2002 and 2005 for some 1,100 households in rural Vietnam,. The findings indicate that grid electrification has been both extensive (connecting all surveyed communes by 2005) and intensive (connecting almost 80 percent of the surveyed households by 2005). Vietnam is unusual in that once electricity is locally available, both rich and poor households are equally likely to get the connection. The econometric estimations suggest that grid electrification has significant positive impacts on households cash income, expenditure, and educational outcomes. The benefits, however, reach a saturation point after prolonged exposure to electricity. Finally, this study recommends investigating the long-term benefits of rural electrification - not just for households, but for the rural economy as a whole.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO ELECTRICITYACCESS TO GRID ELECTRICITYACCESS TO INFORMATIONAFFORDABILITYANTI-POVERTYAPPROACHAVAILABILITYBANK OFFICEBATTERIESBENEFITS OF ELECTRIFICATIONBIASESCASH EXPENDITURECONVERSION RATECOUNTERFACTUALCOVERSDEMAND FOR ELECTRICITYDIESELDIESEL ENGINEDYNAMICSEARNINGSECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL LEVELSELECTRIC APPLIANCESELECTRIC LIGHTINGELECTRIC POWERELECTRIC POWER SECTORELECTRIC PUMPSELECTRICITY ACCESSELECTRICITY CONSUMPTIONELECTRICITY DEMANDELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTIONELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANIESELECTRICITY GRIDELECTRICITY NEEDSELECTRICITY SECTORELECTRICITY SUPPLYELECTRICITY SYSTEMSELECTRICITY USEELECTRIFICATION PROJECTELIGIBILITY CRITERIAENDOWMENTSENROLLMENTENTREPRENEURIAL ABILITYEQUAL TREATMENTEQUALITYEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESFANSFARM ACTIVITIESFARM INCOMEFARM PRODUCTIONFARM PRODUCTIVITYFIXED ASSETSFOOD ITEMSGENDERGENERATIONGRID CONNECTIONGRID ELECTRICITYGRID ELECTRIFICATIONHOUSEHOLD CHORESHOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD FACTORSHOUSEHOLD HEADHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD WELFAREHOUSEHOLDSINCOME DYNAMICSINCOME GAINSINDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISESINSTITUTIONAL REFORMSINTERNATIONAL BANKIRRIGATIONKEROSENEMACHINERYPOORPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOVERTY PROGRAMSPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOWERPOWER COMPANYPOWER PLANTPOWER SECTORPRIVATE INVESTORSRUNNING WATERRURALRURAL AREASRURAL DEVELOPMENTRURAL ECONOMIC GROWTHRURAL ECONOMYRURAL ELECTRICITYRURAL ELECTRIFICATIONRURAL ENERGYRURAL GROWTHRURAL HOUSEHOLDRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL LIFERURAL PEOPLERURAL POORRURAL RESIDENTSRURAL WELFARESMALL BUSINESSSOURCE OF FUNDSSTRUCTURESTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOOLSTRANSITIONSTRANSPORTURBAN DEVELOPMENTWARWATER FLOWWELFARE INDICATORSWINDWIND POWERWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5057