To what extent does rural electrification induce structural change and alter migration patterns? This paper addresses this question using a simple multi-sector spatial model and evidence from a panel of rural Ethiopian villages during its recent expansion of electricity supply. We find that electrification raised irrigation rates, agricultural yields and non-agricultural business activity. Furthermore, electrified villages experienced higher rates of in-migration and lower rates of out-migration. Each of these predictions is qualitatively consistent with the predictions of our model. Our results suggest that rural electrification helped facilitate structural transformation of villages economies in Ethiopia and slowed out-migration from rural areas.

农村电气化在多大程度上引起结构变化并改变了移民方式？本文使用简单的多扇区空间模型解决了这个问题，并从埃塞俄比亚农村村庄最近的电力供应扩展中获得了证据。我们发现电气化提高了灌溉率，农业产量和非农业商业活动。此外，电气化村庄的移民迁移率较高，而移民迁移率较低。这些预测中的每一个在质量上都与我们模型的预测一致。我们的结果表明，农村电气化有助于促进埃塞俄比亚乡村经济的结构转型，并减缓了农村地区的外来移民。