Bitte verwenden Sie diesen Link, um diese Publikation zu zitieren, oder auf sie als Internetquelle zu verweisen: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/222677 
Erscheinungsjahr: 
2018
Schriftenreihe/Nr.: 
ADBI Working Paper Series No. 910
Verlag: 
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo
Zusammenfassung: 
Solar lanterns are promoted across rural sub-Saharan Africa to improve both lighting in homes and educational outcomes. We undertake a randomized controlled trial in Zimba District, Zambia, to evaluate whether solar lanterns help children study more effectively and improve academic performance. Our research design accounts for potential income effects arising from the giveaways of lanterns and also "blinds" participants to the study's purpose. We find no evidence that receipt of a lantern improved performance on important national examinations (even though an ex post statistical power analysis demonstrates that the research should detect economically significant impacts, if present). We also do not observe impacts on self-reported study habits. Several features of Zimba District that are likely to exist in other developing regions appear to drive our results. First, flashlights are the dominant lighting source in rural Zambia rather than traditional options like kerosene lamps or candles. In such environments, solar lights may hold only limited appeal for prospective users. Second, our survey data suggests that other major barriers to educational attainment likely render improved energy access (whether through solar lanterns or otherwise) a relatively unimportant educational input.
JEL: 
I20
O13
O12
Creative-Commons-Lizenz: 
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Dokumentart: 
Working Paper

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