Energy
Energy is a major driver of industrial growth and productivity, and in turn, of economic development within a country because most of the production and consumption activities require it as a basic input. This is the reason why growth in energy is also an indicator of general well- being and prosperity for a country. On our road to the resolution of the energy crises and circular debt in the country and towards a better future, a key challenge for policy-makers is in part to meet the ever-growing demand for energy in the most economical, environmentally responsible and sustainable manner as possible, and second to recover dues from consumers and charge consumer tariffs commensurate to the cost of power generation.
In this context, some of the work at CREB studies the causal relationship between political preferences and energy quality by studying losses (e.g. via theft or underpayment), scheduled and actual load shedding received by a feeder, and the history of line replacements and upgrades in conjunction with electoral data. Furthermore, other work evaluates the receipt of low quality of energy by small businesses that prevent them from growing and increasing their productivity. Such infrastructural constraints can substantially dampen economic activities of small and big businesses alike and therefore entails valuable implications for policy. In terms of recovering dues from consumers, other work at the centre tries to understand if flexibility in the payment for power schedule can help households with irregular income flows to meet their payment obligations or if rigidity of these schedules fosters discipline and helps in reducing defaults.