Does Governance Moderate the Impact of Poor Energy Access on Gender Inequality? Evidence From Sub‐Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT

The study examines the moderating effect of governance quality on the relationship between lack of access to energy and gender inequality. Drawing on data from 35 sub‐Saharan African countries, the results obtained using fixed‐effects instrumental variables show that the worsening of gender inequality stems from a lack of access to energy. Thus, we observe the following: First, gender disparities are positively influenced by lack of access to fuel. Second, governance moderates the relationship between energy access and gender inequality. Third, the thresholds at which governance indicators mitigate the effect of limited access to energy on gender inequality are as follows: (i) 0.3870 (voice and accountability), (ii) 0.5347 (political stability), (iii) 0.2214 (government effectiveness), (iv) 0.4288 (rule of law), (v) 0.4942 (quality of regulation), and (vi) 0.0533 (fight against corruption). The calculated thresholds are economically consistent and valid in terms of their implications for economic policy.