Electricity theft is a common problem in many countries and
energy worth billions of dollars is stolen annually from electricity
grids. The problem has socioeconomic, political, environmental and
technical roots, but the solution is generally sought solely through
technical measures. This paper empirically investigates the effects of
various factors including electricity price, per capita income,
probability of detection, fines collected from offenders, weighted
temperature index and load shedding, that may explain the theft. The
study employed annual panel data obtained from nine electricity
distribution companies in Pakistan for the period 1988–2010. The study
estimates the Fixed Effects models through the least squares dummy
variable (LSDV) technique and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM). Our
results indicate that per capita income has significant negative and
electricity price a positive effect on electricity theft with
sufficiently high coefficient values. The probability of detection
variable appears with a positive sign in both estimations indicating a
poor deterrence. The results of LSDV show a positive impact of fine on
conviction on electricity theft. But in GMM estimation, this variable
appears with a right sign. The results from both models are robust in
the case of load shedding and temperature variables. The findings show
that economic variables are most significant in explaining electricity
theft. The findings may also be applicable in other developing countries
where hefty amounts of revenues are lost due to electricity theft.
Keywords: Electricity Theft, Fixed Effects Model, Pakistan
Rapid urbanization in developing countries leads to a dramatic increase in solid waste production, with serious socio-economic and ecological impacts. In order to avoid the associated hazards, particularly those related to human health and the environment, solid waste management is indispensable. Disposal of municipal waste that predominantly comprises household and commercial refuse has become a daunting task for local governments and municipalities of Pakistan. Issues related to both inadequacy of service delivery and inappropriate disposal signify that waste management should be high on the local environment policy agenda. In particular, the external cost of waste management is high, and cost recovery of refuse collection may cause the exclusion of many households and additional costs on the households that avail themselves of the service. In this study, we carried out an evaluation of the health damage caused by improper waste disposal in a sample of heterogeneous households. The study shows a framework for evaluating the damages caused by inadequate waste management practices. The results indicate that irregular disposal in the vicinity of residents causes illness: respondents living within 100 m are more vulnerable to malaria, dengue, and asthma than those living more than 500 m away. Moreover, the findings highlight that households lack knowledge of waste hazards and 75.9% of waste is not segregated. We suggest a subsidized waste collection and disposal service provided either by the local government or by outsourcing.
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