Does the gender of the household head affect household energy choice in Ghana? An empirical analysis

There is evidence in the literature that there exist gender-related differences in household energy choices. However, most of these studies have assumed the homogenous slope hypothesis a priori, which could affect the results if a formal test rejects the homogenous slope hypothesis. The Exogenous Switching Treatment Effect (ESTER) is used to ascertain the gender effects in household energy choice in Ghana. In comparison with the pooled regression method, ESTER relaxes the assumption of the same effect of covariates on male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs). The results indicate that if FHHs characteristics were similar to those of MHHs, their probability of choosing cleaner energy would be higher. Our results suggest that supporting the heads in FHHs to have access to more economic opportunities as males tend to will potentially lead to positive effects on their probability of choosing clean energy. Our results give support to policies that strongly favor female education without disadvantaging male education.

Frank Adusah-Poku; Samuel Adams; Kwame Adjei-Mantey

EfD Authors

Adusah-Poku, Frank

Sustainable Development Goals

Affordable and Clean Energy