02203cas a2200253 a 4500 AALejournalIMF016755 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781484322437 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Di Bella, Gabriel. Power It Up : Strengthening the Electricity Sector to Improve Efficiency and Support Economic Activity / Gabriel Di Bella, Francesco Grigoli. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2016. 1 online resource (36 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Poor performance of the electricity sector remains a drag to economic efficiency and a bottleneck to economic activity in many low-income countries. This paper proposes a number of models that account for different equilibria (some better, some worse) of the electricity sector. They show how policy choices (affecting insolvency prospects or related to rules for electricity dispatching or tariff setting), stochastic generation costs, and initial conditions, affect investment in generation and electricity supply. They also show how credible (non-credible) promises of stronger enforcement to reduce theft result in larger (smaller) electricity supply, lower (higher) government subsidies, and lower (higher) tariffs and distribution losses, which in turn affect economic activity. To illustrate these findings, the paper reviews the experience of Haiti, a country stuck in a bad equilibrium of insufficient supply, high prices, and electricity theft; and that of Nicaragua, which is gradually transitioning to a better equilibrium of the electricity sector. Mode of access: Internet Grigoli, Francesco. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2016/085 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2016/085/001.2016.issue-085-en.xml IMF e-Library