Narrow Results

This research examines how the digital economy, energy efficiency, and demographic transition might help Viet Nam achieve more sustainable economic development. The causal association between digitalization, the demographic dividend, energy intensity, and long-term economic development has not been thoroughly investigated yet. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the asymmetric relationship between these indicators in Viet Nam, which is recognized as an emerging economy, using the relatively novel quantile-on-quantile regression and Granger causality approaches in different quantiles. The empirical findings suggest that the asymmetric interaction between digital innovation, energy intensity, demographic change, and economic growth in Viet Nam is primarily positive, even though there are slight differences across various quantiles of the selected indicators. In addition, the outcomes of Granger causality in quantile analysis uncover that, during the sample period, a bidirectional association exists between digitalization, the demographic dividend, and economic growth, while a unidirectional causality runs from energy intensity to economic growth.

The study aims at finding the energy intensity and the sources of the changes of the energy intensity of the steel and steel products industry in Thailand using the firm level data collected from the surveys and interviews of steel firms in 2005 and 2012. The study finds that the energy intensity of the industry during the decade of domestic and global economic turbulent time in the 2000s fluctuated. The intensity declined immediately after recovering from the 1997 financial and currency crises but moved in an inverted U-shaped curve when the industry went through the various changes of production structure during 2003 to 2010. The decomposition analysis based on the logarithmic mean Divisia index method finds that the source of the changes of the energy intensity of the industry was dominated by the structural change effect. The fluctuation of the energy intensity was found despite a persistent decline, albeit relatively small, in the energy intensity of individual subsectors. This calls for the need to strengthen the effect of subsector energy intensity changes to help reduce the energy intensity of the industry in the long term. The study results imply four policy measures the government should use to induce steel firms to reduce their energy intensity and thus use the energy in the most efficient way.

This paper explores the factors that lead to increased carbon dioxide emissions in the 18 countries of the APEC. We apply the LMDI multiplicative decomposing method to 18 countries between 1971 and 2012. We summarize these factors that are as follows: (1) population increase and economic growth play a key role in increased carbon dioxide emissions. (2) All the 18 countries of the APEC have improved their energy efficiency as manifested in the change of energy intensity ($\mathrm{\Delta }I$), which is less than 1 in the 42 years; (3) In terms of energy substitution effect ($\mathrm{\Delta }M$) and fuel coefficient effect ($\mathrm{\Delta }CE$), the decomposition results point out that Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Malaysia witnessed growth in $\mathrm{\Delta }M$ and $\mathrm{\Delta }CE$, indicating the only factor to reduce the emissions for these three countries is intensity effect, which gives rise to relatively higher emission for these three countries during the period. In the case of Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, we witnessed increases in $\mathrm{\Delta }M$, but decreases in $\mathrm{\Delta }CE$; In the case of Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the US, there seem to decrease in $\mathrm{\Delta }M$, but increases in $\mathrm{\Delta }CE$ during the 42-year period.

The failure of energy economists and planners to comprehend the dynamics and paradigm shift in the finance and institutional quality domain that drive energy use is blamed for the ongoing energy consumption concerns. Consequently, this study revisits and contributes to repositories by examining the relationship between finance-renewable energy consumption and institution-renewable energy consumption. The research question raised is: Do governance indicators moderate the impact of finance on renewable energy consumption? With panel dataset of 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa spanning from 2010 to 2020 and using political stability, voice and accountability, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality indicators of governance, the research output is as follows: (i) Financial development exerts a significant positive impact on renewable energy consumption and intensity, but the level of impact is weak (i.e., at a 10% level significant). (ii) The governance indicators significantly drag renewable energy consumption and intensity. (iii) The negative interaction between financial development and governance indicators is sufficient to worsen the weak relationship between finance and renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa. (iv) Governance threshold eroded the weak positive effect of financial development on renewable energy consumption and intensity, leading to negative synergy effect in some cases, and (v) The net effect from the moderating impact of governance indicators on finance is significantly different across model specification. The study demonstrates the undeveloped nature of finance and institutional framework in sub-Saharan Africa, considering the weak association between the key variables.

Using plant-level data for 2008-2017, we examine the impact of the adoption of ISO 14000 by Indian manufacturing plants on their energy intensity. The propensity-score-matching difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) estimator is used to assess the effect. Our results show that the adoption of ISO 14000 tends to reduce energy intensity in Indian manufacturing plants, especially among the low and low-medium technology industries. ISO 14000 lowers energy intensity in industrial plants in energy-intensive industries, and the effect is stronger for the group of such industries covered under the Perform–Achieve–Trade (PAT) scheme of the Indian government, a market-based compliance mechanism for energy efficiency improvement.

How a terrorist attack (TA) as an extreme shock affects the energy efficiency of the attacked country has been controversial. This study investigates the relationship between TAs and energy intensity (EI) based on generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation utilizing cross-country panel data of 68 countries from 1970 to 2016. The findings reveal a generally negative effect of TA on EI. Subsample regression results further suggest that the magnitude of this negative impact varies depending on political party orientation (left-wing vs. right-wing) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) status of the country. Our analysis also identifies that the negative effect of TA on EI is primarily driven by the implementation of energy efficiency policies (EEPs) and the rise in energy prices (EPs) following an attack. Additionally, we find that more efficient government institutions can positively moderate the adverse effect of TAs on EI. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the complex dynamics between security shocks and energy efficiency, with important policy implications for enhancing resilience through institutional efficiency and energy management strategies.

The development of measures and patterns to increase energy efficiency appears as one of the key objectives of the world economy and is aimed at solving environmental problems associated with energy consumption and climate change. The chapter focuses on the issue of the impact of economic growth and structural changes on the energy intensity of territories. Empirical studies highlight a significant influence of macroeconomic, demographic, and political factors on changes in the energy intensity of economies. Russia has significant capacity for improving energy efficiency, primarily in the electricity and housing sectors. The released volumes of fossil fuels can be exported, reduce emissions into the atmosphere, and, as a result, improve the quality of life. A consistent reduction in the consumption of fuel and energy resources due to the transition to a new technological order is demonstrated by the electric power industry, the manufacturing industry, and the transport sector. For Russia, the transition from a raw-material model of the economy to an innovative one is a priority for sustainable development. To overcome the causes of low energy efficiency and realize the existing potential, it is necessary to intensify the state policy at the regional and federal levels. Simultaneously, measures to save energy and increase energy efficiency will not be able to achieve the goal of reducing the energy intensity of GDP/GRP without high economic growth rates. The authors present the analysis of the influence of the structure of the gross regional product on energy consumption in the Rostov Region and characterize the structure of the economy and the electricity consumption of the region. It was noted that the development of the service sector and high-tech industries, as well as investment in environmental technologies, will allow the Rostov Region to move to an energy-efficient model of economic growth.

This paper calculates the energy rebound effect in different provinces of China, puts forward the factors influencing the energy rebound effect, and uses the relevant indicators and panel data model to analyze the influence factors. The result indicates that the increasing proportion of industry will improve the energy rebound effect, while the increasing proportion of tertiary industry in some areas will reduce the energy rebound effect. The paper provides scientific basis for the inhibition of energy rebound effect.