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Determinants of energy productivity in 39 countries: An empirical investigation

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  • Atalla, Tarek
  • Bean, Patrick

Abstract

This paper uses three types of analysis to investigate the drivers of energy productivity changes occurring in 39 countries during 1995–2009. We find that increases in sectoral energy productivity were the primary driver behind economy-wide energy productivity improvements. Structural economic shifts away from industry and towards service-oriented sectors played a lesser role in aggregate energy productivity improvements. Nations with similar demographic and economic characteristics showed similar levels of energy productivity and rates of improvement. Most notably, former communist countries and nations undergoing economic liberalization exhibited the highest rate of improvement—although they are still less energy productive than developed nations. Moreover, the econometric analysis reinforces the long-standing hypothesis that higher levels of income per capita and higher energy prices are associated with greater energy productivity, while a greater share of output from industry is associated with lower energy productivity levels. In particular, higher energy prices and income levels are associated with improvements in sectoral energy productivity.

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  • Atalla, Tarek & Bean, Patrick, 2017. "Determinants of energy productivity in 39 countries: An empirical investigation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 217-229.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:62:y:2017:i:c:p:217-229
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2016.12.003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic growth; Energy productivity; Decomposition analysis; WIOD; Cluster analysis; Co-integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy

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