• Energy Research

This paper examines the nexus between the main forms of transport, related investments, specific air pollutants, and sustainable economic growth. The research is important since transport may act as a facilitator of social, economic, and environmental development. Based on data retrieved from Eurostat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and World Bank, the output of fixed-effects regressions for EU-28 countries over 1990–2016 reveals that road, inland waterways, maritime, and air transport infrastructure positively influence gross domestic product per capita (GDPC), though a negative link occurred in the case of railway transport. As concerning investments in transport infrastructure, the empirical results exhibit a positive impact on economic growth for every type of transport, except inland waterways. Besides, emissions of CO2 from all kind of transport, alongside other specific air pollutants, negatively influence GDPC. The fully modified and dynamic ordinary least squares panel estimation results reinforce the findings. Further, in the short-run, Granger causality based on panel vector error correction model pointed out a unidirectional causal link running from sustainable economic growth to inland waterways and maritime transport of goods, albeit a one-way causal link running from the volume of goods transported by air to GDPC. As well, the empirical results provide support one-way short-run links running from GDPC to investments in road and inland waterway transport infrastructure. In addition, a bidirectional short-run link occurred between carbon dioxide emissions from railway transport and GDPC, whereas unidirectional relations with economic growth were identified in the case of carbon dioxide emissions from road and domestic aviation. In the long-run, a bidirectional causal relation was noticed between the length of the railways lines, investments in railway transport infrastructure, and GDPC, as well as a two-way causal link between the gross weight of seaborne goods handled in ports and GDPC.

The nexus between local governments’ budgets and regional growth is a complex one, with organic interconnections, ideally offering better outcomes, both in the matter of (local) fiscal consolidation and the welfare of societies. In this study, we analyze the impact of local fiscal consolidation efforts (as reflected by the budget indicators regarding local revenues and expenditures for the countries involved) on regional development, using a sample of 21 EU Member States and a timescale between 2001 and 2019, based on specific data reported by Eurostat and the World Bank. By employing the Generalized Linear Model (GLM), the results show that some of the considered indicators have a statistically significant positive influence on the GDP per capita at the regional level, thus highlighting the important role of sound local public finances in achieving the objectives of regional development. Based on our findings, we recommended some improvements regarding the practice of local fiscal policy in order to enhance the role of fiscal consolidation in sustaining regional development within the subject countries.

The aim of this research is to highlight the specificity of fiscal sustainability in some developing EU countries by analyzing the implications of fiscal rules on governments’ fiscal behaviors. We employ a panel data analysis to evaluate developing EU countries for the period 2000–2014 and we investigate the status of convergence of fiscal responsibility coordinates by computing the convergence score of fiscal responsibility. The research is based on interdisciplinary coordinates and helps to consolidate judgments from both legal and financial perspectives, making a contribution to the literature that investigates the relationship between the legal framework related to government decision-making and public finance sustainability. The choice of the study sample in relation to developing EU countries represents a contribution and a point of reference for the literature that investigates the sustainability of developing EU countries and highlights the importance of fiscal risk management and control mechanisms in enhancing the performance of the public sector and fiscal sustainability. The results suggest that it is important to reinforce the interaction between the legal framework and the institutional one by identifying good practices for designing and operating effective independent fiscal institutions, making them capable not only of advising the government on fiscal policy matters but also of promoting sound fiscal policy and sustainable public finance.

The purpose of this study was to analyze fiscal behavior in the European Union countries, to highlight the implications of institutional constraints on healthy fiscal attitudes, and to test the relationship between government decisions, fiscal responsibility instruments, and the sustainability of public finances during the period 2000–2014. By using panel data analysis, we tested the responsiveness of primary balance to government indebtedness, as well as to some determinants of fiscal responsibility, such as the degree of public spending or fiscal rules effectiveness, and we included two different perspectives regarding fiscal rules status. First, we computed a fiscal responsibility index, which measures the applicability of or compliance with the fiscal rules, referring to legal dimensions and administrative and institutional capacity. Second, we established a fiscal responsibility convergence index, which measures the status of the EU Member States regarding the approach of numerical rules. The empirical findings indicate that fiscal authorities do not act to the existing stock of public debt and highlights a negative response of budget balances to the stock of outstanding debt. Fiscal position improves when the index of fiscal responsibility is involved and countries become more sustainable when they are related to the entire level of fiscal governance, with respect to legal framework, institutional and administrative capacity, but at the debt ratio threshold of over 90%, the effect of the overall fiscal rule comes out as less relevant for the improvement of the primary balance.

This paper explores the dynamics of the relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions in the 27 EU member states in a panel setting for the period 2000–2017. We use qualitative sequential methodology, involving empiric analysis that provides coherence and viability for our study, but also quantitative methods, including Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), unit root tests and cointegration techniques. The results suggest the existence of a long run cointegrating relationship between growth and CO2 emissions in EU countries and the DOLS method indicates a statistically significant effect of economic growth on CO2 emissions for both versions of estimators, revealing that on average, a 1% change in GDP leads to 0.072 change in CO2 emissions. The study also exhibits that higher income levels lead to increased demand for environmental protection and underline the need for designing environmental policies, capable to reduce emissions during periods of economic growth. Moreover, we find that the status of economic growth does not automatically diminish climate vulnerability in EU countries, only the correct type of growth does, thus being necessary that EU policymakers be aware of the energy cost pressure and to achieve economic growth in relationship with appropriate tools in terms of climate risk management.

Abstract Background Although some socioeconomic, environmental, and political factors could impact life expectancy, the economic literature loses sight of the relationship between the widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies and their potential effect on global life expectancy. An insightful analysis of the socio-economic and environmental benefits associated with renewable sources forms the foundation for investigating the broader implications for public health and well-being. Using panel data from 27 European countries over the period 2000–2020, this study examines the effects of renewable energy consumption on human life expectancy as well as how institutional quality and investment in renewable energy projects might promote better health outcomes. Methods The methodological approach is carefully selected to address salient estimation issues and includes a qualitative sequential methodology involving empiric analysis that provides coherence and viability for our study, but also quantitative methods, including factor analysis, panel fully modified least squares (FMOLS), unit root tests, and cointegration techniques. Results We find that renewable energy consumption and institutional quality can improve life expectancy in EU countries. Furthermore, the empirical evidence indicates that sustaining longevity as a new government strategy requires strong institutional quality, capable of influencing the status of renewable energy and promoting long-term sustainability. Conclusions Our findings bear essential policy implications regarding sustaining longevity as new government strategies and exploring the scale of the target to increase healthy life expectancy. The entire EU health policy and the government's recommitment to narrowing the gap in healthy life expectancy should be focused on improving institutional quality and reducing carbon emissions through promoting projects capable of increasing renewable energy consumption. The results suggest that, on average, a 1% change in renewable energy consumption leads to a 0.331 change in life expectancy, and a 1% change in institutional quality leads to a 0.316 change in life expectancy.

<p>Environmental degradation and energy security are two of policymakers' most crucial concerns, with an increasing emphasis on renewable energy development. Studies regarding the role and influence of environmental technology patents in this context become necessary and can provide the empirical evidence needed for public policy decisions in terms of the benefits they bring compared to other innovation measures. Thus, our aim was to capture the effects of environmental technology patents on renewable energy consumption in OECD Member States over the period 2000–2021. We applied the general dynamic panel model with heterogeneous slopes and interactive fixed effects, controlling for cross – sectional dependence and long-run error – correction models based on (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b46">Pesaran, 2015</xref>) and implemented by <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b19">Ditzen (2018)</xref>, and <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b13">Blackburne Ⅲ &amp; Frank (2007)</xref>, respectively. The empirical results demonstrated that environmental technology patents can be interpreted as effective mediating mechanisms for increasing renewable energy consumption, thus contributing to a reorientation of activities and consumption toward sustainable development. In other words, environmental patents appear in the transformation equation as the main trigger for innovation, generating a growing influence as the demand for the use of renewable energy sources increases, thus facilitating the transition process towards a (cleaner) and affordable energy market. Based on these results, we believe that policymakers and regulators should pay more attention to the research financing related to the investment and patenting of new environmental technologies, promoting a policy of encouraging and enforcing green technologies, regardless of their scope of application.</p>

The paper aims to examine the relationship between leverage and firm growth and the impact of fiscal policy on this relationship using a panel data quantile regression approach. Employing a sample of gazelles from emerging Europe for the 2006–2014 period, we find that debt overhang negatively affects firm growth only for the lower growth quantiles. In addition, we found that the negative effect is higher for the gazelles located in countries with lower corporate income effective tax rates. However, for the higher growth quantiles, the impact of debt on firm growth is positive and statistically significant. Our results reconcile the mixed results of the previous studies and have practical implications for financing strategies in emerging markets.