Electrification of mountainous rural areas and development: A case study of Eastern Pamirs

The present study investigates the nexus between electrification of the mountainous rural areas and selected indicators of socioeconomic development, such as household income, learning hours, and fuel choices in cooking behavior. The empirical investigation is based on the field survey in the recently electrified Yapshor and non-electrified Deh villages of the Rushan district of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. The study reveals a strong positive impact of electrification of these villages on the level of household income and daily learning hours of school-age children. Getting electricity access leads to a 34–48% increase in household income and to 71–95 min of additional daily learning hours for school-age children. Furthermore, electricity access also strongly contributes to the substitution of firewood, coal, or animal manure with clean electricity for cooking. Due to individual taste preferences there is, however, still a substantial percentage of village dwellers who have not shifted to clean electricity for cooking.