To Believe and Suffer: The Effect of Voodoo on Energy Poverty

Energy poverty is now an important concern on the public policy agenda in many developed and developing countries. However, evidence on the determinants of energy poverty is relatively scant. This study contributes to the debate on the determinants of energy poverty by being the first to examine the relationship between Voodoo and energy poverty. Using data from the Demographic Health Survey, we find that, Voodoo is positively associated with energy poverty. This finding is robust to alternative ways to addressing endogeneity, alternative ways of measuring energy poverty, alternative specifications and other checks. We identify income and level of education as the important channels through which Voodoo increases the likelihood of being energy poor. Our findings shed new light on how cultural, and specifically traditional religious beliefs influence the proclivity to be in energy poverty and point to the need for policies that reduce the incidence of energy poverty.