Cross-country evidence on multi-tier electricity accessibility,perceived inequality, and subjective well-being
ZHANG Chi
Department of Civil Engineering◆ Introduction◆ Data and Method

Access to modern electricity sources does not ensure reliability, quality, affordability,
nor the sustained use of those energy sources (e.g., Jain et al. 2015; Jain and Shahidi2019). In this vein, electrification rate is not a true measure of the benefit tohouseholds from electricity access, as it does not tell one about the comprehensive
experience of the end users. On the other hand, it remains unknown whether and how
people with better electricity access are different from those with poorer electricity
access in terms of subjective well-being and perceived economic inequality. Given thataccess to modern energy, particularly electricity, is a pre-requisite to achieve basic
human well-being, empirical evidence on multidimensional end-user-centric electricity
accessibility and its underling linkage to subjective well-being and perceived economic
inequality are of great significance for guiding action on the ground.
This study used a multi-tier measurement of access to household electricity services(see Table 1) and investigated the differences in life satisfaction and perceived
economic gap regarding different multi-tier assignment.

This study took advantage of a multinational survey conducted during 20152016 which leverages a sample size of over 63,352 participants from 21
countries including less developed countries such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam,Philippines. The survey collected information on ownership of electric
appliances in household and measured subjective life satisfaction compared topeople in local community and that compared to people in the whole world, as
well as perceived economic gap in local community and among countries.
Based on the framework of multi-tier measurement given in Table 1,respondents were assigned with Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4 (respondents
who cannot be assigned to any of the tiers were excluded from the analysis).
Figure 1 shows the sample with multi-tier assignment in some selectedcountries. Both life satisfaction and perceived economic gap were measured on
a 5-point-scale, the underlining linkages, therefore, were investigated usingordered logistic regression.

Table 1. Multi-tier measurement of access to household electricity services

Table 2. Results of ordered logistic regression analysis
Dependent variable
Life satisfaction(1=Completely dissatisfied, … ,5=Completely satisfied)Tiers (ref. Tier 4)
Local community World

Tier
Tier 1 ●Description
Eclectic lighting + Any basic entertainment / communication (Radio / Mobile)

Tier 2 ●Tier 1 services + Any Entertainment / communication (Television / Computer)

Tier 3 ●Tier 2 services + Any medium-power appliances (Refrigerator / Air conditionner)

Tier 4 ●Tier 3 services + Any high-power appliances (Microwave / Washing machine)

Note. The multi-tier measurement used in this study is designed based on the Multi-tier
Framework of World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (Bhatia & Angelou,2015; Banerjee et al., 2013) and the survey questions included in the multinational survey.

Panel A: Sample in low national income countries
Tier 1−∗∗∗−∗∗∗Tier 2−∗∗∗−∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗
Tier 3−∗∗∗
Panel B: Sample in medium national income countries+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗Tier 1+ ∗∗∗Tier 2−∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗Tier 3−

Perceived economic gap(1=Very large, … ,5=Does not exist)
Local community World−∗∗∗−+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗++ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗−+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗Panel C: Sample in high national income countries+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗+ ∗∗∗Tier 1+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗Tier 2−−∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗∗+ ∗∗+ ∗∗∗Tier 3Note. All specifications controlled for individual-level characteristics and country fixedeffects. The estimation used countries’ population in 2015 as weights. Standard error
were clustered at country level.
***p<0.01; **p<0.05; *p<0.1◆ Results
India

VietnamPhilippines

Tier assignment
Tier 1
Tier 2Tier 3Tier 4

IndonesiaFigure 1. Sample distribution by multi-tier assignment in selected countries
Note. The figure shows the surveyed countries that have a relatively lower share of
respondents being assigned to Tier 4. Unsurprisingly, these countries are less developed
countries with a low national income level (according to World Bank’s classification of theworld's economies based on gross national income per capita as of 1 July 2016).

◆ SummaryTable 1 gives the coefficients of multi-tiers obtained from corresponding
regression analyses. Respondents from low, medium, and high income
countries were investigated respectively.
For life satisfaction compared to people in the world, people in low income
countries with a tier lower than 4, have a lower satisfaction level than thosewith Tier 4. The reverse is generally true for people in medium and highincome countries. For life satisfaction compared to people in local community,
the linkages are similar to the ones described above, with some linkages thatare not statistically significant: Tier 3 and Tier 4 people in medium income
countries and Tier 2 and Tier 4 people in high income countries are notsignificantly different in their life satisfaction compared with people in localcommunity.
For perceived economic gap among countries, people with a tier lower than
4 perceives a lower gap than people with Tier 4, which are identical across thesamples in low, medium, and high income countries. For perceived economic
gap in local community, the linkage among people in medium and high income
countries are in agreement with that for perceived economic gap among
countries. People in low income countries with Tier 1 perceived larger gap thanthose with Tier 4.

Aggregated data from Word Bank reported that even in less developed countries such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines, the electrification rate in 2015 reaches
88%, 97%, 99%, and 89%, respectively. However, this study measured access to household electricity services based on the electric appliances in ones’ household andprovided survey evidence showing that having access to electricity does not necessarily guarantee all households to have equal benefits from electrification. This may bebecause of factors such as reliability, quality, and affordability of electricity, as well as the availability and affordability of electric appliances. This study also uncovered thatpeople with different levels of accessibility to household electricity services are significantly different in their life satisfaction and perceived economic gap. People in lower
accessibility levels are more likely to feel less satisfied but perceive smaller economic gap. The results underline the importance of improving households'’ access toelectricity services and call for further investigation into the formation of people’s perceptions.
Zhang Chi

Email: zhangc0305@gmail.com

Address: W2 Room 1005, Kyushu University