IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i13p6102-d1694068.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Government Environmental Expenditure Reduce Residential Energy Consumption in Canada? Evidence from Provincial Panel Data

Author

Listed:
  • Belayet Hossain

    (Department of Economics, Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC V2C 0C8, Canada)

Abstract

The residential sector has the potential to significantly impact overall energy consumption and emissions due to the long lifespan of residential buildings and the difficulty of outsourcing residential emissions to other nations. This research primarily aimed to investigate the impact of government expenditure on environmental protection in reducing household energy consumption, thus contributing to Canada’s environmental quality. We utilized panel data from ten Canadian provinces covering the period from 1995 to 2020. To estimate household energy demand, both conceptual and empirical models were developed. Advanced second-generation econometric techniques were applied, including appropriate unit root and co-integration tests. Long-term relationships were analyzed using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) methodologies. The long-term estimates indicate that all explanatory variables align with theoretical expectations and are highly significant. The findings reveal that government funding for environmental protection, along with province-specific environmental policies, contributes to reducing per capita residential energy consumption, which is essential for enhancing energy efficiency. Additionally, factors such as weather, income, demographic shifts, and energy prices are found to influence household energy consumption trends. These outcomes highlight the importance of increased government funding for environmental protection and underscore the need for provinces to implement context-specific environmental policies. This approach is essential in the effort to reduce household energy consumption across Canada.

Suggested Citation

  • Belayet Hossain, 2025. "Does Government Environmental Expenditure Reduce Residential Energy Consumption in Canada? Evidence from Provincial Panel Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:6102-:d:1694068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/6102/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/6102/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Galinato, Gregmar I. & Galinato, Suzette P., 2016. "The effects of government spending on deforestation due to agricultural land expansion and CO2 related emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 43-53.
    2. Véronique Vasseur & Anne-Francoise Marique & Vladimir Udalov, 2019. "A Conceptual Framework to Understand Households’ Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-22, November.
    3. Fan, Wei & Yan, Ling & Chen, Boyang & Ding, Wangwang & Wang, Ping, 2022. "Environmental governance effects of local environmental protection expenditure in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Horowitz, Marvin J. & Bertoldi, Paolo, 2015. "A harmonized calculation model for transforming EU bottom-up energy efficiency indicators into empirical estimates of policy impacts," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 135-148.
    5. Pablo-Romero, María del P. & Pozo-Barajas, Rafael & Yñiguez, Rocío, 2017. "Global changes in residential energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 342-352.
    6. Peter C. B. Phillips & Bruce E. Hansen, 1990. "Statistical Inference in Instrumental Variables Regression with I(1) Processes," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 57(1), pages 99-125.
    7. Balarama, Hemawathy & Islam, Asad & Kim, Jun Sung & Wang, Liang Choon, 2020. "Price elasticities of residential electricity demand: Estimates from household panel data in Bangladesh," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    8. Filippini, Massimo & Hunt, Lester C., 2012. "US residential energy demand and energy efficiency: A stochastic demand frontier approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1484-1491.
    9. Mary Donkor & Yusheng Kong & Emmanuel Kwaku Manu & Albert Henry Ntarmah & Florence Appiah-Twum, 2022. "Economic Growth and Environmental Quality: Analysis of Government Expenditure and the Causal Effect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-23, August.
    10. Borozan, Djula, 2018. "Technical and total factor energy efficiency of European regions: A two-stage approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 521-532.
    11. Eoin Ó Broin & Jonas Nässén & Filip Johnsson, 2015. "Energy efficiency policies for space heating in EU countries: A panel data analysis for the period 1990–2010," Post-Print hal-01205485, HAL.
    12. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    13. Joakim Westerlund, 2007. "Testing for Error Correction in Panel Data," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(6), pages 709-748, December.
    14. Filippini, Massimo & Hunt, Lester C. & Zorić, Jelena, 2014. "Impact of energy policy instruments on the estimated level of underlying energy efficiency in the EU residential sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 73-81.
    15. Akihiro Otsuka, 2018. "Regional Determinants of Energy Efficiency: Residential Energy Demand in Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-14, June.
    16. Sloot, Daniel & Scheibehenne, Benjamin, 2022. "Understanding the financial incentive conundrum: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of financial incentive interventions in promoting energy conservation behavior," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    17. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2021. "General diagnostic tests for cross-sectional dependence in panels," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 13-50, January.
    18. Sofia Tsemekidi Tzeiranaki & Paolo Bertoldi & Francesca Diluiso & Luca Castellazzi & Marina Economidou & Nicola Labanca & Tiago Ribeiro Serrenho & Paolo Zangheri, 2019. "Analysis of the EU Residential Energy Consumption: Trends and Determinants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-27, March.
    19. Yanan Liu & Yixuan Gao & Yu Hao & Hua Liao, 2016. "The Relationship between Residential Electricity Consumption and Income: A Piecewise Linear Model with Panel Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-11, October.
    20. Aydin, Erdal & Brounen, Dirk, 2019. "The impact of policy on residential energy consumption," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 115-129.
    21. Peter Pedroni, 1999. "Critical Values for Cointegration Tests in Heterogeneous Panels with Multiple Regressors," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 653-670, November.
    22. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Smyth, Russell & Prasad, Arti, 2007. "Electricity consumption in G7 countries: A panel cointegration analysis of residential demand elasticities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 4485-4494, September.
    23. Dino, Ipek Gürsel & Meral Akgül, Cagla, 2019. "Impact of climate change on the existing residential building stock in Turkey: An analysis on energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and occupant comfort," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 828-846.
    24. Román-Collado, Rocío & Colinet, Maria José, 2018. "Is energy efficiency a driver or an inhibitor of energy consumption changes in Spain? Two decomposition approaches," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 409-417.
    25. Ó Broin, Eoin & Nässén, Jonas & Johnsson, Filip, 2015. "Energy efficiency policies for space heating in EU countries: A panel data analysis for the period 1990–2010," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 211-223.
    26. Pereira Uhr, Daniel de Abreu & Squarize Chagas, André Luis & Ziero Uhr, Júlia Gallego, 2019. "Estimation of elasticities for electricity demand in Brazilian households and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 69-79.
    27. José Alberto Fuinhas & Matheus Koengkan & Nuno Silva & Emad Kazemzadeh & Anna Auza & Renato Santiago & Mônica Teixeira & Fariba Osmani, 2022. "The Impact of Energy Policies on the Energy Efficiency Performance of Residential Properties in Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, January.
    28. Longhi, Simonetta, 2015. "Residential energy expenditures and the relevance of changes in household circumstances," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 440-450.
    29. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:653-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Bertoldi, Paolo & Mosconi, Rocco, 2020. "Do energy efficiency policies save energy? A new approach based on energy policy indicators (in the EU Member States)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. Sofia Tsemekidi Tzeiranaki & Paolo Bertoldi & Francesca Diluiso & Luca Castellazzi & Marina Economidou & Nicola Labanca & Tiago Ribeiro Serrenho & Paolo Zangheri, 2019. "Analysis of the EU Residential Energy Consumption: Trends and Determinants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Matheus Koengkan & José Alberto Fuinhas & Magdalena Radulescu & Emad Kazemzadeh & Nooshin Karimi Alavijeh & Renato Santiago & Mônica Teixeira, 2023. "Assessing the Role of Financial Incentives in Promoting Eco-Friendly Houses in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area—Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Joëts, Marc & Mignon, Valérie, 2012. "On the link between forward energy prices: A nonlinear panel cointegration approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1170-1175.
    5. Skare, Marinko & Ozturk, Ilhan & Porada-Rochoń, Małgorzata & Stjepanovic, Sasa, 2024. "Energy as the new frontier: Dynamic panel data analysis revealing energy's transformative role in economic growth and technological progress," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    6. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2008. "Modeling Technology and Technological Change in Manufacturing: How do Countries Differ?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2008-12, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    7. Rishan Adha & Cheng-Yih Hong & Somya Agrawal & Li-Hua Li, 2023. "ICT, carbon emissions, climate change, and energy demand nexus: The potential benefit of digitalization in Taiwan," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1619-1638, August.
    8. Doğan, Buhari & Ghosh, Sudeshna & Shahzadi, Irum & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Nguyen, Canh Phuc, 2022. "The relevance of economic complexity and economic globalization as determinants of energy demand for different stages of development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 371-384.
    9. Škare, Marinko & Porada-Rochoń, Małgorzata, 2023. "Are we making progress on decarbonization? A panel heterogeneous study of the long-run relationship in selected economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    10. Tarik Dogru & Umit Bulut & Ercan Sirakaya-Turk, 2021. "Modeling tourism demand: Theoretical and empirical considerations for future research," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(4), pages 874-889, June.
    11. Dierk Herzer, 2016. "Unions and Income Inequality: A Heterogeneous Panel Co-integration and Causality Analysis," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 30(3), pages 318-346, September.
    12. Xuejiao Ma & Qichuan Jiang, 2019. "How to Balance the Trade-off between Economic Development and Climate Change?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-30, March.
    13. Hasanov, Fakhri J. & Bulut, Cihan & Suleymanov, Elchin, 2016. "Do population age groups matter in the energy use of the oil-exporting countries?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 82-99.
    14. Terver Theophilus Kumeka & Isiaka Akande Raifu & Oluwatosin Adeniyi, 2024. "Globalisation and Inclusive Growth in Africa: The Role of Institutional Quality," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 59(1), pages 62-97, February.
    15. Pedro M. G. Martins, 2010. "Aid Absorption and Spending in Africa: A Panel Cointegration Approach," Working Paper Series 1010, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    16. Koengkan, Matheus & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Osmani, Fariba & Kazemzadeh, Emad & Auza, Anna & Alavijeh, Nooshin Karimi & Teixeira, Mônica, 2022. "Do financial and fiscal incentive policies increase the energy efficiency ratings in residential properties? A piece of empirical evidence from Portugal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    17. Kostakis, Ioannis & Arauzo-Carod, Josep-Maria, 2023. "The key roles of renewable energy and economic growth in disaggregated environmental degradation: Evidence from highly developed, heterogeneous and cross-correlated countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1315-1325.
    18. DRAMA Bédi Guy Hervé, 2022. "Full Modified Ordinary Least Square Analysis of the Relationship between New Technologies of Information, Financial Development and Growth in WAEMU Zone," International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 8(2), pages 39-49, 06-2022.
    19. Herzer Dierk, 2022. "Semi-endogenous Versus Schumpeterian Growth Models: A Critical Review of the Literature and New Evidence," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 73(1), pages 1-55, April.
    20. Lin, Boqiang & Okoye, Jude O., 2023. "Towards renewable energy generation and low greenhouse gas emission in high-income countries: Performance of financial development and governance," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:6102-:d:1694068. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.