About

Robyn Meeks is the Mark and Lynne Florian Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. She is also an Associate Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy and an affiliate of the Duke Center for International Development. Her contact information includes her email, robyn.meeks@duke.edu, and her office is located at 258 Rubenstein Hall, Box 90312, Durham, NC 27708. Her research focus, background, and key contributions are not detailed on the provided page.

Research topics

• Engineering
• Environmental economics
• Economics
• Natural resource economics
• Microeconomics
• Electrical engineering
• Business
• Reliability engineering
• Economic growth

Selected publications

• On the Back Burner: Experimental Evidence for Energy Transitions

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Evaluating the Impact of Free Solar Panel Installations on Grid-Connected, Low-Income, Households in Punjab, Pakistan

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2025-12-05

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• Evaluating the Impact of Free Solar Panel Installations on Grid-Connected, Low-Income, Households in Punjab, Pakistan

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2025-12-05

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• On the Back Burner: Experimental Evidence For Energy Transitions

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Down to the Wire: Leveraging Technology to Improve Electric Utility Cost Recovery

  American Economic Journal Applied Economics · 2025-09-26

  article

  We study the effects of a technical intervention in Karachi, Pakistan—converting bare distribution wires to aerial bundled cables (ABCs)—that was intended to prevent illegal grid connections and improve utility cost recovery. Theft-resistant cables reduced losses. This occurred primarily through decreases in unbilled consumption, with the number of formal utility customers and their billed consumption both increasing. Load-shedding outages decreased. In areas with these cables installed, consumers have more appliances and higher electricity-related expenditures. Revenue recovery rose, but consumers' billing-related complaints also increased. (JEL D24, L94, O13, Q41)

  PublisherDOI

• The Economics of Electricity and Development: Planning for Growth and a Changing Climate

  Annual Review of Resource Economics · 2024-08-28 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Many low- and middle-income countries have made tremendous gains in electrification over the past few decades. These improvements in electricity access have enabled a growing body of empirical evidence on its impacts. This article complements prior reviews on the impacts of electrification by addressing several major remaining challenges faced by the electricity sector in developing countries—impediments to maximizing electricity services᾽ economic effects, obstacles to recovering utility costs, difficulties in forecasting future electricity demand, and uncertainty regarding the future adoption of climate-mitigating technologies—and the existing microeconomic causal evidence addressing those challenges. We describe how randomized experiments have complemented the quasi-experimental evidence and then highlight some remaining gaps in the existing literature. Specifically, we highlight climate adaptation within the electricity sector in developing countries, which remains a crucial gap in both the discussion on and financing of electrification for development. We use case studies of Nepal and Pakistan in South Asia—a region that both recently experienced great electrification gains and is among the most vulnerable to climate change—to illustrate the need for additional work on adaptation in the electricity sector. We conclude by linking to recent discussions on climate adaptation finance.

  PublisherDOI

• Experimental Evidence on Increasing Demand for Electric Cooking in Nepal

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2024-07-18

  dataset1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Can Digitalization Improve Public Services? Evidence from Innovation in Energy Management

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Breaking the culture of nonpayment: A qualitative analysis of utility intervention in Pakistan

  Utilities Policy · 2024-10-30 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Decentralized renewable energy to grow manufacturing? Evidence from microhydro mini-grids in Nepal

  Journal of Environmental Economics and Management · 2024-12-15 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Eliana Carranza

  World Bank

  18 shared

• Zhenxuan Wang

  7 shared

• Kenneth Hunu

  Colorado State University

  6 shared

• Casey Brown

  6 shared

• Hope Thompson

  4 shared

• Yonas Ghile

  South Florida Water Management District

  4 shared

• Alecia Cassidy

  RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research

  3 shared

• Michael R. Moore

  3 shared