Political determinants of electricity provision in small island developing states

This paper approaches provision of affordable and reliable electricity in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as a case of public good provision. It aims to contribute to our understanding of how regime type and the quality of implementing institutions within political systems affect the prerequisites for successful electrification in SIDS. More specifically, we analyse the independent and interdependent effects of level of democracy and control of corruption on per capita household electricity consumption in SIDS, using data from 34 SIDS over the period 1996-2009. The results show that although the independent effects of level of democracy and control of corruption are sensitive to model specification, these two factors do have an interdependent impact on per capita household electricity consumption: democratization has positive effects on provision of electricity to the general population only when there is a certain level of corruption control in place. The results imply a) that it is important for policy actors to acknowledge the interaction between regime type and the quality of implementing institutions, and b) when planning electrification projects in SIDS, it is necessary to have information about the social and political context in order to design the most effective projects.