Political capture in distributing solar electricity access
Published:
(joined work with Rafia Zaman, Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy, USA)
In this paper, we examine how the geographical representation of locally elected politicians influences the distribution of off-grid solar home systems in a government solar-energy safety net program. Drawing on political representation and identity politics literature, we hypothesize that villages represented by local leaders in Bangladesh’s political system receive more discretionary government solar home systems. In particular, we analyze the distribution of these systems under the TR/Kabita solar program, implemented by the Bangladesh government from 2017 to 2021, aimed at addressing electricity deficits for around 13 million rural households. The government decentralized distribution planning by involving local governments within a social safety net framework.
We use a unique dataset covering the distribution of solar home systems across 6,715 villages in Northern Bangladesh, combined with biographical information on political leaders elected in 2014 across 58 sub-district councils and in 2016 across 613 rural councils.
Our results show that village-level distribution decisions are often discretionary and involve a balance between targeting local needs and the risk of favoritism towards friends, relatives, and neighboring communities based on place-based social identity. Our findings, further, reveal that the power hierarchy indeed plays a crucial role in the allocation of different types of solar home systems. We find that rural council leaders allocate significantly more systems to their hometowns, particularly household solar home systems. For non-household systems intended for community benefits, we observe political capture at both tiers of the political system.
Our findings suggest that political representation weakens the program’s effectiveness in expanding electricity access, hindering the goal of universal electrification and reinforcing existing deficits. These insights are relevant not only for Bangladesh but for other countries with similar electricity access challenges implementing government-sponsored programs to improve energy access in rural off-grid regions, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, and Zambia.