• Energy Research

This study investigates the dynamic causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in the U.S. at different time scales. The main novelty of the study is that this paper complements the existing studies on the nexus between energy consumption and economic growth by employing the wavelet transformation to obtain different time scales in order to investigate causality between energy consumption and economic growth. This method is first developed by Ramsey and Lampart. Their approach consists of first decomposing the series into time scales by wavelet filters and testing causality of each time scale with the pertinent time scale of the other series separately. The data span from 1973q1 to 2012q1 on a quarterly basis. The main empirical insight is that the causal relationship is stronger at finer time scales, whereas the relationship is less and less apparent at longer time horizons. The results indicate that energy consumption causes economic growth, while the reverse is not true at the original frequency of the data. At the very finest scale the same result arises. However, at coarser scales feedback is observed. In particular, at intermediate time scales the evidence indicates that energy consumption causes economic growth, while the reverse is also true. These empirical findings are expected to be of high importance in terms of the effective design and implementation of energy and environmental policies, especially when a number of countries in the pursuit of high economic growth targets do not pay any serious attention on environmental issues.

Abstract This paper investigates how explicit structural shocks that characterize the endogenous character of oil price changes affect stock-market returns in a sample of eight countries — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For each country, the analysis proceeds in two steps. First, modifying the procedure of Kilian [ Kilian, L., (forthcoming) . Not All Oil Price Shocks are Alike: Disentangling Demand and Supply Shocks in the Crude Oil Market. American Economic Review.], we employ a vector error–correction or vector autoregressive model to decompose oil-price changes into three components: oil-supply shocks, global aggregate-demand shocks, and global oil-demand shocks. The last component relates to specific idiosyncratic features of the oil market, such as changes in the precautionary demand concerning the uncertainty about the availability of future oil supplies. Second, recovering the oil-supply shocks, global aggregate-demand shocks, and global oil-demand shocks from the first analysis, we then employ a vector autoregressive model to determine the effects of these structural shocks on the stock market returns in our sample of eight countries. We find that international stock market returns do not respond in a large way to oil market shocks. That is, the significant effects that exist prove small in magnitude.

Abstract This study examines the impact of research and development (R&D) expenditures on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions prior to and under the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards at the firm level within the manufacturing sectors of three European countries, i.e. Germany, France and the U.K. Estimation of a threshold autoregressive model using quarterly data from 1998 to 2011 reveals that in the post-IFRS mandatory adoption year R&D expenditures show a reduction in CO2 emissions to firms, i.e. rising CO2 abatement. This is likely due to the presence of incentives provided by the new accounting disclosure regime. Our results remain robust in terms of a sector analysis, firm size, and the introduction of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) across the three countries.

This study examines the relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth for a panel of six Central American countries over the period 1980–2006. The heterogeneous panel cointegration test reveals a long-run equilibrium relationship between real GDP, renewable energy consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force with the respective coefficients positive and statistically significant. The results from the panel error correction model indicate bidirectional causality between renewable energy consumption and economic growth in both the short- and long-run.

Abstract This study examines the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for a panel of nine South American countries over the period 1980–2005 within a multivariate framework. Given the relatively short span of the time series data, a panel cointegration and error correction model is employed to infer the causal relationship. Pedroni's heterogeneous panel cointegration test reveals a long-run equilibrium relationship between real GDP, energy consumption, the labor force, and real gross fixed capital formation with the respective coefficients positive and statistically significant. The Granger-causality results indicate both short-run and long-run causality from energy consumption to economic growth which supports the growth hypothesis.

Abstract This study extends the recent work of Ang (2007) [Ang, J.B., 2007. CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and output in France. Energy Policy 35, 4772–4778] in examining the causal relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, and output within a panel vector error correction model for six Central American countries over the period 1971–2004. In long-run equilibrium energy consumption has a positive and statistically significant impact on emissions while real output exhibits the inverted U-shape pattern associated with the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The short-run dynamics indicate unidirectional causality from energy consumption and real output, respectively, to emissions along with bidirectional causality between energy consumption and real output. In the long-run there appears to be bidirectional causality between energy consumption and emissions.

Abstract This study examines the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth for a panel of 67 countries within a multivariate framework over the period 1992–2005. Pedroni’s [24] , [26] heterogeneous panel cointegration test reveals there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between real GDP, natural gas consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force. The results of the panel vector error correction model reveal bidirectional causality between natural gas consumption and economic growth in both the short- and long-run.

This paper investigates the integration properties of disaggregated solar, geothermal and biomass energy consumption in the U.S. The analysis is performed for the 1989–2009 period and covers all sectors which use these types of energy, i.e., transportation, residence, industrial, electric power and commercial. The results suggest that there are differences in the order of integration depending on both the type of energy and the sector involved. Moreover, the inclusion of structural breaks traced from the regulatory changes for these energy types seem to affect the order of integration for each series.

Abstract This study examines the relationship between nuclear energy consumption and economic growth for sixteen countries within a multivariate panel framework over the period 1980–2005. Pedroni's (1999, 2004) heterogeneous panel cointegration test reveals there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between real GDP, nuclear energy consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force with the respective coefficients positive and statistically significant. The results of the panel vector error correction model finds bidirectional causality between nuclear energy consumption and economic growth in the short-run while unidirectional causality from nuclear energy consumption to economic growth in the long-run. Thus, the results provide support for the feedback hypothesis associated with the relationship between nuclear energy consumption and economic growth.