The Effects of Rural Electrification on Employment: New Evidence from South Africa
研究南非农村电气化对就业的影响，发现电气化显著提高了女性就业率，增加了男女工作时间，但降低了女性工资、提高了男性收入，可能通过解放家庭劳动和促进微型企业实现。
This paper estimates the impact of electrification on employment growth by analyzing South Africa's mass roll-out of electricity to rural households. Using several new data sources and two different identification strategies (an instrumental variables strategy and a fixed effects approach), I find that electrification significantly raises female employment within five years. This new infrastructure appears to increase hours of work for men and women, while reducing female wages and increasing male earnings. Several pieces of evidence suggest that household electrification raises employment by releasing women from home production and enabling microenterprises. Migration behavior may also be affected.