• Energy Research

This study attempts to investigate the short-run and long-run impact of formal credit (CR) and climate change (CC, via CO2 emissions) on agricultural production (AP) in Pakistan. In addition, other imperative control variables included in this study comprise technology factors (tractors (TRs) and tube wells (TWs), energy consumption (EC), and labor force (LF). This study used annual data covering the period 1983–2016. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach is applied to explore the cointegration between the underlying variables and used the granger causality test under the vector error correction model (VECM) context to determine the direction of causality among the variables. The findings of the ARDL bounds-testing approach suggest that there is a long-term relationship among formal credit, climate change (CO2 emissions), technology factors (tractors and tube wells), energy consumption, labor force, and agricultural production. The empirical results reveal that formal credit, technology use (tractors), and labor force have a positive and significant impact on agricultural production in both the short-run and long-run. CO2 emissions have a positive impact on agricultural production but are not significant in either case. Finally, a unidirectional relationship is established from formal credit to agricultural production; labor force to agricultural production; and electricity consumption and technology factors (tractors and tube wells) to CO2 emissions. The recent study claims that formal institutions should guarantee the redeployment of their services/amenities to those who call for them acutely, with the purpose of boosting their approach to monetary credit facilities and empower farmers to further the resilience that will capitalize on post-fruitage enrichments. Finally, considering that climatic change is a widespread fact with regional community trajectories, perhaps the global community may provide reassurance for loaning to smallholder agriculturalists through central and commercial banks by protecting the moneys that banks lend to the agriculturalists towards supporting climatic change espousal strategies.

Abstract This paper investigates the electricity production from different sources in Pakistan, and the contribution of these sources to economic growth. An ADF (Augmented Dickey-Fuller) unit root test was used to check the variables stationarity, while an ARDL bounds testing approach was used to check the long-term relationship among the study variables. Results illustrate that electricity produced from coal, hydropower, natural gas and nuclear sources has a significant influence on the economic growth of Pakistan.

This study attempts to investigate the effects of global climate change (via temperature and rainfall) on cereal production in Sichuan over the 1978–2018 period, whether agricultural credit combining with technical progress (i.e., mechanical farming rate) mitigate the effect of climate change. The present study empirically analyzed the short-term and long-term interrelation among all the considered variables by using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The results of the ARDL bounds testing revealed that there is a long-term cointegration relationship between the variables. The findings showed that temperature significantly negatively affected cereal production, while rainfall significantly contributed to cereal production in the context of Sichuan province, China. Agricultural credit, especially in the long run, significantly improved cereal production, implying that agricultural credit is used to invest in climate mitigation technologies in cereal production. Findings further indicated that the mechanical farming rate significantly enhanced cereal production, indicating that technical progress has been playing a vital role. This study suggests that the policymakers should formulate more comprehensive agricultural policies to meet the financial needs of the agricultural sector and increase support for production technology.

Agriculture is an integral sector in China mandated to feed over 1.3 billion of its people and provide essential inputs for many industries. Sichuan, a central grain-producing province in Southwest China, is a significant supplier of cereals in the country. Yet, it is likely to be threatened by yield damages induced by climate change. Therefore, this study examines the effects of technological progress (via fertilizers usage and mechanization) and climatic changes (via temperature and precipitation) on the productivity of main food crops, such as rice (Oryza sativa), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and maize (Zea mays) in Sichuan province. We employ the generalized method of moments (GMM) model to analyze Sichuan provincial data from 1980 to 2018. Our findings show a positive nexus between fertilizers use and yields of main food crops. Only rice and maize yields are significantly improved by mechanization. Increased average temperature reduces rice and wheat yields significantly. Rainfall is unlikely to have a significant impact on agricultural production. The study suggests that the Chinese government should consider revising its strategies and policies to reduce the impact of climate change on food crop production and increase farmers’ adaptive ability.

Abstract For a couple of decades, environmental change has arisen as a ubiquitous problem and gained environmentalist's attention across the globe due to its long-term harmful effect on agricultural production, food supply, water supply and livelihoods of rural poor. The primary objective of this study is to explore the asymmetrical dynamic relationship between climate change and production of rice and controlled variables covering 1991–2018 by employing the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model and Granger causality approach.in India. The NARDL findings demonstrate a significant negative relationship between mean temperature and production of rice in the long run while positively influencing rice production in the short run. Moreover, positive shocks in rainfall and carbon emission have a negative and significant effect on India's rice production in the long and short run. In comparison, negative shock in rainfall has a significant positive impact on rice production in the long and short run. Wald test confirms the asymmetrical relationship between climate change and rice production. The Granger causality test shows feedback effect among mean temperature, decreasing rainfall, increasing carbon emission, and rice production. While no causal relationship between increasing temperature and decreasing carbon emission. Based on our empirical investigations, some critical policy implications emerged. To sustain rice production, improve irrigation infrastructure through increasing public investment and develop climate-resilient seeds varieties to cope with climate change. Along with, at the district level government should provide proper training to farmers regarding the usage of pesticides, proper amount of fertiliser and irrigation systems.

Developing countries like Pakistan are facing issues of environmental degradation. The use of non-renewable energy consumptions for economic growth sets the ground for environmental degradation, and its consequences cannot be ignored. It is, therefore, necessary to identify such determinants, model the nexus and explore the feedback effect that may play a constructive role in mitigating the environmental issues. This study aims to probe the robust nexus between carbon emission, energy consumption, and economic progress both in bivariate and multivariate models for 1971–2019 in Pakistan. Variables’ robustness and interaction are investigated using the Johansen co-integration, and Auto-regressive Distributed Lag bound testing method for estimating the long-run relationship at the significance level of 5%, respectively. The examined results of Auto-regressive Distributed Lag shows that energy consumption, economic growth, urbanization, research and development, and forest area have a positive and significant impact on carbon emissions of Pakistan in the long run while in the short run urbanization and forest area have found a negative effect on carbon emissions The empirical results of Granger causality are studied in a Vector Error Correction Model framework entail that bidirectional causality exists between energy consumption and CO2 emissions across the three causality tests namely short run, long run, and the strong causality.Furthermore, the results indicate a positive and significant impact of a fast-growing economy and energy consumption on CO2 emissions, suggesting that economic progress and high energy consumptions are barriers to improve environmental quality in the long run and their impact on the environment is inevitable. Based on the estimated results, it is recommended that introducing cautious energy regulating policy by the assessment of traditional old energy resources and related emissions for long-run economic progress would assist towards a low-carbon prospect. Findings further suggest that the government needs a strong green growth policies framework that encourages energy efficiency and technology innovations for renewable energy targets by eliminating the subsidies over fossil fuel, raised to substitute energy conversion as technology innovations are permanent, and minimize the risk of policy volatility.