Abstract

As COVID-19 spreads in lower-income countries, electricity access will be critical for households and firms to continue productive activities, maintain economic connections, and stay up-to-date on the latest public health guidelines. Meanwhile, public health restrictions may cause severe economic impacts, particularly in the poorest areas. We are providing emergency electricity credits to low-income respondents in Kenya to study the impacts of a utility bill subsidy during this crisis.  Our research leverages two ongoing projects on electricity access in 7 counties in rural Kenya. We will complement this with a new set of urban residents in Nairobi, giving us a sample of over 2,000 households and firms with pre-paid meters. The treatment group will receive 3 monthly top-ups, each valued at 5 USD (30 kWh), enough to operate a modest set of appliances for a month. We will offer a subset of participants a choice between 5 USD in electricity subsidies or a randomized cash amount between 1-6 USD (we are currently piloting to inform the exact amount). This will allow us to estimate the willingness to pay for electricity access and the value of electricity during an economic crisis.

Questionnaire Description

Survey instrument for households and firms to study impacts of electricity subsidies in rural Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic

Respondent Population Characteristics

Adults, Households, Farmers, Small and medium business owners

Implementing Organization

REMIT Kenya

Project Data Collection Mode

Researchers (*corresponding author)

Susanna B. Berkouwer, Eric Hsu, Oliver W. Kim, Kenneth Y. Lee, Edward Miguel, Catherine D. Wolfram

Partners

REMIT Kenya

Questionnaire Usage Notes

Google Sheet access requires request for permission

Questionnaire File Type

Coded form

Questionnaire Language(s)

English, Kiswahili, Luo

Questionnaire Usage Permissions

Do not use without corresponding author's permission

Questionnaire Stage

Data Collection in Progress