Drivers of reported electricity service satisfaction in transition economies

Abstract

Since 1990, the power sectors in the countries of the Former Soviet Union have evolved from a context of central planning towards independent regulation. There is great heterogeneity in reform progress in transition countries, with consequences to service quality in utilities and also the view the population has of such services. This article analyses drivers of reported household satisfaction with the quality of electricity services in 27 countries using cross-section survey data from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Life in Transition Survey II, in a context of improving regulation and infrastructure. An ordinal Random Effects Logit model is estimated, showing that key drivers of reported satisfaction are the uses of electricity within the household and some characteristics such as age and economic conditions of the household. There is no strong evidence of the effect of the state of power sector reform on the opinion of households. However, customers in countries with fully independent regulation are more likely to report higher levels of satisfaction than those in countries with no independent regulation.