IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v64y2017icp118-130.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy efficiency and economic growth: A retrospective CGE analysis for Canada from 2002 to 2012

Author

Listed:
  • Bataille, Chris
  • Melton, Noel

Abstract

The efficiency with which energy is used by firms and households has widespread impacts on economic activity, which in turn has implications for environmental quality and energy security. Using a novel method that could be used for other jurisdictions, we estimate the impact of energy efficiency improvements on Canadian GDP, employment, economic structure, and welfare from 2002 to 2012. We use a counterfactual back-casting method with a sectorally and regionally disaggregated dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium model, in effect “reverse calibrating” the model from observed data to isolate the effects of energy efficiency. We estimate that total energy efficiency improvements in Canada during this period increased GDP by 2.0% (0.19%/yr), employment by 2.5% (0.24%/yr) and household welfare by about 1.5% (0.15%/yr). Additionally, energy efficiency improvements reoriented economic structure from capital intense energy supply sectors to relatively labour intense manufacturing and services. We find evidence of widespread “rebound” on an energy expenditure basis across most sectors, and “backfire” (where energy efficiency leads to absolute energy use increases) in oil sands in situ extraction, bitumen upgrading, shale gas extraction, lime production, pulp & paper, and metal smelting, but overall energy use is reduced by energy efficiency improvements over this period.

Suggested Citation

  • Bataille, Chris & Melton, Noel, 2017. "Energy efficiency and economic growth: A retrospective CGE analysis for Canada from 2002 to 2012," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 118-130.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:64:y:2017:i:c:p:118-130
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2017.03.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988317300749
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.03.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    2. Hanley, Nick D. & McGregor, Peter G. & Swales, J. Kim & Turner, Karen, 2006. "The impact of a stimulus to energy efficiency on the economy and the environment: A regional computable general equilibrium analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 161-171.
    3. repec:cii:cepiei:2013-q3-4-135-136-6 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jean Chateau & Anne Saint-Martin, 2013. "Economic and employment impacts of climate change mitigation policies in OECD: a general-equilibrium perspective," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 135-136, pages 79-103.
    5. Ghali, Khalifa H. & El-Sakka, M. I. T., 2004. "Energy use and output growth in Canada: a multivariate cointegration analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 225-238, March.
    6. Jotham Peters & Chris Bataille & Nic Rivers & Mark Jaccard, 2010. "Taxing Emissions, Not Income: How to Moderate the Regional Impact of Federal Environment Policy," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 314, November.
    7. Griffin, James M, 1977. "The Econometrics of Joint Production: Another Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 59(4), pages 389-397, November.
    8. Griffin, James M & Gregory, Paul R, 1976. "An Intercountry Translog Model of Energy Substitution Responses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(5), pages 845-857, December.
    9. Barker, Terry & Ekins, Paul & Foxon, Tim, 2007. "The macro-economic rebound effect and the UK economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4935-4946, October.
    10. Adetutu, Morakinyo O., 2014. "Energy efficiency and capital-energy substitutability: Evidence from four OPEC countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 363-370.
    11. Jean Château & Anne Saint-Martin & Thomas Manfredi, 2011. "Employment Impacts of Climate Change Mitigation Policies in OECD: A General-Equilibrium Perspective," OECD Environment Working Papers 32, OECD Publishing.
    12. Glomsrod, Solveig & Taoyuan, Wei, 2005. "Coal cleaning: a viable strategy for reduced carbon emissions and improved environment in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 525-542, March.
    13. Pindyck, Robert S, 1979. "Interfuel Substitution and the Industrial Demand for Energy: An International Comparison," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 61(2), pages 169-179, May.
    14. Sorrell, Steve, 2009. "Jevons' Paradox revisited: The evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1456-1469, April.
    15. Cai, Wenjia & Mu, Yaqian & Wang, Can & Chen, Jining, 2014. "Distributional employment impacts of renewable and new energy–A case study of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1155-1163.
    16. David I. Stern, 2012. "Interfuel Substitution: A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 307-331, April.
    17. Grepperud, Sverre & Rasmussen, Ingeborg, 2004. "A general equilibrium assessment of rebound effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 261-282, March.
    18. Solow, John L, 1987. "The Capital-Energy Complementarity Debate Revisited," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 605-614, September.
    19. Stern, David I., 2000. "A multivariate cointegration analysis of the role of energy in the US macroeconomy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 267-283, April.
    20. Smulders, Sjak & de Nooij, Michiel, 2003. "The impact of energy conservation on technology and economic growth," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 59-79, February.
    21. Jorgenson, Dale W, 1984. "The Role of Energy in Productivity Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 26-30, May.
    22. Chris Bataille, Mark Jaccard, John Nyboer and Nic Rivers, 2006. "Towards General Equilibrium in a Technology-Rich Model with Empirically Estimated Behavioral Parameters," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Special I), pages 93-112.
    23. Catherine Morrison, 1993. "Energy and Capital: Further Exploration of E-K Interactions and Economic Performance," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 217-244.
    24. Antimiani, Alessandro & Costantini, Valeria & Paglialunga, Elena, 2015. "The sensitivity of climate-economy CGE models to energy-related elasticity parameters: Implications for climate policy design," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 38-52.
    25. Cai, Wenjia & Wang, Can & Chen, Jining & Wang, Siqiang, 2011. "Green economy and green jobs: Myth or reality? The case of China’s power generation sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 5994-6003.
    26. Sebri, Maamar & Ben-Salha, Ousama, 2014. "On the causal dynamics between economic growth, renewable energy consumption, CO2 emissions and trade openness: Fresh evidence from BRICS countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 14-23.
    27. Ayres, Robert U. & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. & Lindenberger, Dietmar & Warr, Benjamin, 2013. "The underestimated contribution of energy to economic growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 79-88.
    28. Semboja, Haji Hatibu Haji, 1994. "The effects of an increase in energy efficiency on the Kenya economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 217-225, March.
    29. Sam H. Schurr, 1982. "Energy Efficiency and Productive Efficiency: Some Thoughts Based on American Experience," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 3-14.
    30. Costantini, Valeria & Martini, Chiara, 2010. "The causality between energy consumption and economic growth: A multi-sectoral analysis using non-stationary cointegrated panel data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 591-603, May.
    31. Allan, Grant & Hanley, Nick & McGregor, Peter & Swales, Kim & Turner, Karen, 2007. "The impact of increased efficiency in the industrial use of energy: A computable general equilibrium analysis for the United Kingdom," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 779-798, July.
    32. David I. Stern and Astrid Kander, 2012. "The Role of Energy in the Industrial Revolution and Modern Economic Growth," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    33. Cahill, Sean A., 2007. "Corporate Income Tax Rate Database - Canada and the Provinces, 1960-2005," Economic and Market Information 52726, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
    34. Berndt, Ernst R & Wood, David O, 1975. "Technology, Prices, and the Derived Demand for Energy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(3), pages 259-268, August.
    35. Lisa Ryan & Nina Campbell, 2012. "Spreading the Net: The Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency Improvements," IEA Energy Papers 2012/8, OECD Publishing.
    36. Su, Xuanming & Zhou, Weisheng & Nakagami, Ken'Ichi & Ren, Hongbo & Mu, Hailin, 2012. "Capital stock-labor-energy substitution and production efficiency study for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1208-1213.
    37. Zha, Donglan & Zhou, Dequn, 2014. "The elasticity of substitution and the way of nesting CES production function with emphasis on energy input," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 793-798.
    38. Ayres, Robert & Voudouris, Vlasios, 2014. "The economic growth enigma: Capital, labour and useful energy?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 16-28.
    39. Miguel A. Tovar and Emma M. Iglesias, 2013. "Capital-Energy Relationships: An Analysis when Disaggregating by Industry and Different Types of Capital," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    40. Rivers, Nic, 2010. "Impacts of climate policy on the competitiveness of Canadian industry: How big and how to mitigate?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1092-1104, September.
    41. Luis R. Murillo-Zamorano, 2005. "The Role of Energy in Productivity Growth: A Controversial Issue?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 69-88.
    42. Christoph Böhringer & Thomas Rutherford, 2002. "Carbon Abatement and International Spillovers," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 22(3), pages 391-417, July.
    43. Kim, Jihyo & Heo, Eunnyeong, 2013. "Asymmetric substitutability between energy and capital: Evidence from the manufacturing sectors in 10 OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 81-89.
    44. Field, Barry C & Grebenstein, Charles, 1980. "Capital-Energy Substitution in U.S. Manufacturing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(2), pages 207-212, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David I. Stern, 2010. "The Role of Energy in Economic Growth," CCEP Working Papers 0310, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    2. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Elena Paglialunga, 2019. "Capital–energy substitutability in manufacturing sectors: methodological and policy implications," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 157-182, June.
    3. Valeria Costantini & Elena Paglialunga, 2014. "Elasticity of substitution in capital-energy relationships: how central is a sector-based panel estimation approach?," SEEDS Working Papers 1314, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised May 2014.
    4. He, Yongda & Lin, Boqiang, 2019. "Heterogeneity and asymmetric effects in energy resources allocation of the manufacturing sectors in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 1019-1035.
    5. Tugba Somuncu & Christopher Hannum, 2018. "The Rebound Effect of Energy Efficiency Policy in the Presence of Energy Theft," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-28, December.
    6. Lecca, Patrizio & Swales, Kim & Turner, Karen, 2011. "An investigation of issues relating to where energy should enter the production function," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 2832-2841.
    7. Halkos, George & Tzeremes, Nickolaos, 2011. "The effect of energy consumption on countries’ economic efficiency: a conditional robust non parametric approach," MPRA Paper 28692, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Paglialunga, Elena, 2018. "The employment impact of private and public actions for energy efficiency: Evidence from European industries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 250-267.
    9. Matthew K. Heun & João Santos & Paul E. Brockway & Randall Pruim & Tiago Domingos & Marco Sakai, 2017. "From Theory to Econometrics to Energy Policy: Cautionary Tales for Policymaking Using Aggregate Production Functions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-44, February.
    10. Zhu, Xuehong & Zeng, Anqi & Zhong, Meirui & Huang, Jianbai, 2021. "Elasticity of substitution and biased technical change in the CES production function for China's metal-intensive industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    11. Andersen, Kristoffer Steen & Dockweiler, Steffen & Klinge Jacobsen, Henrik, 2019. "Squaring the energy efficiency circle: evaluating industry energy efficiency policy in a hybrid model setting," MPRA Paper 96546, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Kümmel, Reiner & Lindenberger, Dietmar & Weiser, Florian, 2015. "The economic power of energy and the need to integrate it with energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 833-843.
    13. Bardazzi, Rossella & Oropallo, Filippo & Pazienza, Maria Grazia, 2015. "Do manufacturing firms react to energy prices? Evidence from Italy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 168-181.
    14. Feng, Shenghao & Zhang, Keyu, 2018. "Fuel-factor nesting structures in CGE models of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 274-284.
    15. Lagomarsino, Elena, 2020. "Estimating elasticities of substitution with nested CES production functions: Where do we stand?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    16. Santos, João & Domingos, Tiago & Sousa, Tânia & St. Aubyn, Miguel, 2016. "Does a small cost share reflect a negligible role for energy in economic production? Testing for aggregate production functions including capital, labor, and useful exergy through a cointegration-base," MPRA Paper 70850, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Halkos, George E. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2011. "Oil consumption and economic efficiency: A comparative analysis of advanced, developing and emerging economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1354-1362, May.
    18. Turner, Karen, 2009. "Negative rebound and disinvestment effects in response to an improvement in energy efficiency in the UK economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 648-666, September.
    19. Dimitropoulos, John, 2007. "Energy productivity improvements and the rebound effect: An overview of the state of knowledge," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6354-6363, December.
    20. Karen Turner, 2008. "A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis of the Relative Price Sensitivity Required to Induce Rebound Effects in Response to an Improvement in Energy Efficiency in the UK Economy," Working Papers 0807, University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy efficiency; Energy productivity; Economic growth; Rebound; Backfire;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q47 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy Forecasting
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • R13 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:64:y:2017:i:c:p:118-130. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.