10.17889/E109117V1
Allcott, Hunt
Collard-Wexler, Allan
O'Connell, Stephen D.
Replication data for: How Do Electricity Shortages Affect Industry? Evidence from India
ICPSR Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
2015
10.1257/aer.20140389
10.1257/aer.20140389
1
We estimate the effects of electricity shortages on Indian
manufacturers, instrumenting with supply shifts from hydroelectric
power availability. We estimate that India's average reported level of
shortages reduces the average plant's revenues and producer surplus
by 5 to 10 percent, but average productivity losses are significantly
smaller because most inputs can be stored during outages. Shortages
distort the plant size distribution, as there are significant economies
of scale in generator costs and shortages more severely affect plants
without generators. Simulations show that offering interruptible
retail electricity contracts could substantially reduce the impacts of
shortages. (JEL D24, L60, L94, O13, O14, Q41)