Paper short abstract:

Recent evidence suggests that women do not benefit from household electrification to the same extent as men do. In this study, we use household survey data to identify the effect of female bargaining power on the ownership of household appliances and the type of cooking fuel used.

Paper long abstract:

The establishment of "universal electricity access" and "gender equality" as Sustainable Development Goals highlights their global relevance. Recent evidence, however, suggests that women do not benefit from electricity access to the same extent as men do. Yet, there are reasons to believe that women in particular should benefit more from household electrification, as the dominant narrative about the organisation of work is around the idea that most tasks within the household are their responsibility. A reason for the uneven distribution of benefits may thus be related to the fact that hierarchies in bargaining power within and beyond the household seem to determine patterns of use.

We analyse the link between women's positions in the household, the type of cooking fuel used, and household appliances. We use representative household surveys focusing on energy access and compare three countries that vary in their rankings within the Global Gender Gap Report: Rwanda is ranked 7th, Honduras 67th, and Nepal is on rank 106. Our preliminary results suggest that a woman as the head of household and higher female bargaining power increase the probability that cleaner cooking fuel is used. Yet, this effect is only present in contexts where the gender gap is high. We interpret that it is not only access to electricity that allows all household members to be better off, but rather, that it is just as important, where patriarchal norms are stronger, that women take part in household decision making.