Identifying and assessing the global causality among energy poverty, educational development, and public health from a novel perspective of natural resource policy optimization

With the gradual depletion of natural resources and the rapid development of renewable energy, reducing energy poverty will inevitably have a crucial impact on public health and educational development. However, the long-term cointegration link and the two-way causality among them at the global level, especially in developing countries, remain a black box, which was the initial incentive for this study. Based on annual panel data from 50 developing countries between 2000 and 2017, this study initially adopted second-generation unit root and cointegration tests to eliminate pseudo-regression. It then utilized impulse response function and Granger causality test to clearly demonstrate causality and its direction. In emerging economies and nations with high energy poverty rates, public health is positively influenced by educational development. In contrast, in non-emerging economies and countries with lower energy poverty rates, public health is negatively influenced by educational development. Thus, it is important to optimise natural resource policies to suit the local conditions. In summary, our empirical findings have implications for decreasing energy poverty, promoting educational development, and improving public health in developing countries; and for their natural resource policy formulation, especially in the post COVID-19 pandemic era.