• Energy Research

Abstract Background The outbreak of COVID-19 has alerted governments around the world, including Australia, to think seriously about the health issues. Life expectancy is one of such issues. Therefore, this study tries to reveal the effects of globalization, energy consumption, information and communication technology, financial development, education rate, and economic growth on life expectancy at birth in Australia. Methods Using the data period of 1990–2018, a series of econometric techniques: the Dickey-Fuller generalized least square test, Autoregressive Distributive Lag bounds test, fully modified ordinary least square method and the pairwise Granger causality test, are applied. Results The findings disclose that globalization, renewable energy use, information and communication technology, per capita gross domestic product, education rate, and financial development increased during this period but non-renewable energy use reduced life expectancy at birth. Unidirectional causal associations of the studied variables with life expectancy at birth are also revealed. Conclusions All the outcomes are relevant and useful for articulating an innovative policy in the health sector. The prime policy implication of this work is: the effective, efficient, and inclusive policies considering globalization, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, information and communication technology, financial development, education rate, and economic growth should be formulated and executed for guaranteeing health status.

Air pollution is considered by many researchers to be one of the causes of global warming, with detrimental effects on the environment, economy, and society. Therefore, identifying the roles of some possible factors for air pollution is an important research agenda. To this end, using unbalanced panel data, this study endeavours to explore the roles of globalization, technological innovation and renewable energy in identifying the factors of air pollution and thus in improving air quality for the world’s 60 most open countries over the period 1960–2020. A series of econometrics tools, for example Driscoll and Kraay’s (1998) standard error technique and the Panel Corrected Standard Error (PCSE) model are used, focusing on of autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity, and cross-sectional dependence problems to obtain robust outcomes. The results demonstrate that trade openness, technological innovation, and per capita GDP have positive effects, and renewable energy and square per capita GDP have negative effects the on air quality. The pair-wise Granger causality also discloses the one-way and two-way causal affiliation between the considered variables. All the findings are valid in terms of both theoretical and empirical grounds and are significant for policy directives.

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for the betterment of health status, while also considering health expenditure, energy, and environmental issues. This paper examines the nexus between health status and health expenditure (both public and private), energy consumption and environmental pollution in the SAARC-BIMSTEC region.Methodology: We utilized the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, heterogeneous panel causality test, cross sectional dependence test, cointegration test and Pesaran cross sectional dependent (CADF) unit root test for obtaining estimated results from data over 16 years (2002-2017). Results: Our results authorize the cointegration among the variables used, where energy consumption, public and private health expenditure and economic growth have positive and statistically significant effects and environmental pollution has both negative and significant effects on the health status of these regions in the long-term, but no panel wise significant impact is found in the short-term. Two-way causal relationships between health status and environmental pollution, public and private health expenditure, economic growth and sanitation facilities, and a one-way causality running from energy consumption to health status are presented. Conclusions: The improved health status in the SAARC-BIMSTEC region needs to be protected by articulating the effective policies on both public and private health expenditures, environmental pollution, energy consumption, and economic growth. The attained results are theoretically and empirically consistent, and have important policy implications in the health sector.

This study attempts to identify the role of corruption along with technological innovation, globalisation, renewable energy, and economic growth on CO2 emissions in Asian countries using the panel data for 1960–2020. Driscoll and Kraay’s standard error technique and Panel Corrected Standard Error (PCSE) model have been applied for empirical estimation where the findings disclose that corruption, technological innovation, globalisation, and GDP increase, whereas the renewable energy and square of GDP reduce the CO2 emissions in the study areas. The causal associations between the studied variables under pairwise Granger causality are also exposed.

In this paper, we have examined the effects of COVID-19 on the socio-economic condition of the three-wheeled electric vehicle drivers in some selected areas of Bangladesh from the cross-sectional data (September–November 2020). The results of linear regression indicate that under COVID-19 conditions, age (p = 0.022) and hardship (p = 0.000) positively, and education (p = 0.036), driving duration (p = 0.023), COVID consciousness (p = 0.086) and easy bike vehicle (p = 0.000) negatively affects income of the respondents. The deaths of COVID in the district (p = 0.003), income (p = 0.000), age (p = 0.037), easy bike vehicle (p = 0.018), debt (p = 0.059) and sufferings of diseases (p = 0.044) positively, and property holdings (p = 0.028), residence in urban areas (p = 0.004) and COVID consciousness (p = 0.082) negatively affect the family expenditure. The results from binary logistics regressions show that diseases sufferings (adjusted p = <0.001; unadjusted p = <0.001), corona fear (unadjusted p = 0.005; adjusted p = <0.001) have positive, and income (unadjusted p = <0.001; adjusted p = <0.001), cooking fuel (unadjusted p = 0.003; adjusted p = 0.091) and easy bike vehicle (unadjusted p = <0.001; adjusted p = 0.288) have negative association with hardship or misery due to COVID-19; death of COVID-19 in the district (unadjusted p = 0.008; adjusted p = 0.037), hardship or misery (adjusted p = 0.005; adjusted p = 0.001), and urban dwelling area (unadjusted p = 0.002; adjusted p = 0.004) have positive, and access to pure drinking water (unadjusted p = 0.005; adjusted p = 0.011) has negative link with corona fear; and, family savings (unadjusted p = 0.001; adjusted p = 0.013), satisfaction in the current job (unadjusted p = <0.001; adjusted p = <0.001), and government medical service (unadjusted p = 0.065; adjusted p = 0.012) have positive affiliation, and household size (unadjusted p = 0.007; adjusted p = 0.020) has negative affiliation with the continuation desire of the current job of respondents. All the obtained results are consistent and have significant policy implications.

Global warming has become the main concern in the current world; increased CO2 emissions are believed to be the main reason for this climate change. Therefore, this study investigates the impacts of energy consumption, economic growth, financial development, and international trade on the CO2 emissions of 17 Asia–Pacific countries. Using unbalanced panel data for 61 years (1960–2020), the Driscoll and Kraay’s standard error and panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) models are employed to observe the effect of the studied variables on the CO2 emissions. The obtained results reveal that energy consumption, financial development, economic growth, and international trade have adverse effects on the environment of the panel countries by increasing the CO2 emissions, whereas the square of economic growth reduces it, and results eventually confirm the evidence of the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Bidirectional causality is found between international trade and CO2 emissions, and unidirectional causal association from CO2 emissions to energy consumption and economic growth is also revealed. To maintain sustainable economic growth and to improve environmental quality, an increase in green energy consumption is being recommended.

This study explores the main factors of economic growth in a panel of the world's 20 biggest economies considering the data period of 39 years (1980-2018). In particular, the roles of international trade, energy use, human capital, and foreign direct investment (FDI) are examined in addition to the roles of capital and labour. To estimate the results the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method of Pool Mean Group (PMG) estimator and heterogeneous panel causality test are used with due consideration of cross sectional dependence test, cointegration test and other necessary diagnostic tests. The obtained results ratify the cointegration among the variables used. Energy use, trade, capital, labour, human capital development and foreign direct investment have positive and significant impacts on the economic growth of these countries in the long run. In the short run energy use, trade and capital also have positive and significant effects, but human capital has negative effect on economic growth. A bidirectional causal relationship between economic growth and trade, capital, labour and human capital, and a unidirectional causal link from economic growth to energy use and foreign direct investment are also found. The obtained results are theoretically consistent, and therefore have important policy implications.