Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/300312 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2024/44
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
South Africa frequently experiences rolling blackouts ('load shedding') due to shortfalls in electricity generation. This is a common problem across the developing world, and yet the developmental impacts of insufficient and unstable electricity supply, and the benefits of mitigating this, are poorly understood. I use the introduction of a unique load shedding reduction policy in parts of South Africa's second-largest city, Cape Town, to investigate the mortality effects of load shedding and its mitigation. To identify these effects, I use a stacked synthetic control design that leverages the episodic nature of load shedding between 2014 and 2019. While the estimates are imprecise, I find robust evidence that the mitigation policy statistically significantly reduces mortality in Cape Town relative to other parts of South Africa experiencing unmitigated load shedding. The incomplete geographic coverage of the mitigation policy entrenches existing inequalities in the city.
Subjects: 
rolling blackouts
mortality
load shedding
synthetic control
Cape Town
South Africa
JEL: 
I15
O13
Q48
C23
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9267-506-6
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.