Funding Organisation: 
Timeline: March 2026 + 4 years.
Budget: 599'229 CHF

Summary: 

Reliable electricity is essential for everyday life and a well-functioning economy, but many countries still face regular power shortages. Despite how widespread these issues are, we still don’t fully understand what causes them or how they affect people and businesses. When these shortages become severe or prolonged, they can lead to an electricity crisis, with far-reaching social, economic, and environmental consequences. This project, led by Professor Imelda at the Department of Economics, Geneva Graduate Institute, will investigate the root causes and consequences of electricity crises by analyzing supply disruptions in the power sector, examining how firms and individuals adapt, and estimating the broader economic and environmental impacts. Using South Africa’s serious electricity shortages and access to unique, anonymized tax data, the study will provide a micro-founded analysis with macroeconomic implications, offering insights for policies aimed at building a more resilient and sustainable electricity grid.

Team:

• Principal Investigator, Imelda, André Hoffmann Assistant Professor in Environmental and Resource Economics, Graduate Institute

Keywords: Climate, Electricity, Environment, Shortage, electricity, environment, outage, tax