CO2 Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth Nexus in MENA countries: Evidence from Simultaneous Equations Models

This paper examines the nexus between CO2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth using simultaneous-equations models with panel data of 14 MENA countries over the period 1990-2011. Our empirical results show that there exists bidirectional causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. However, the results support the occurrence of unidirectional causality from energy consumption to CO2 emissions without any feedback effects, and there exists bidirectional causal relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions for the region as a whole. The study suggests that environmental and energy policies should recognize the differences in the nexus between energy consumption and economic growth in order to maintain sustainable economic growth in MENA region

CO2 Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth Nexus in MENA countries: Evidence from Simultaneous Equations Models

This paper examines the nexus between CO2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth using simultaneous-equations models with panel data of 14 MENA countries over the period 1990-2011. Our empirical results show that there exists bidirectional causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. However, the results support the occurrence of unidirectional causality from energy consumption to CO2 emissions without any feedback effects, and there exists bidirectional causal relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions for the region as a whole. The study suggests that environmental and energy policies should recognize the differences in the nexus between energy consumption and economic growth in order to maintain sustainable economic growth in MENA region

An international literature survey on energy-economic growth nexus: Evidence from country-specific studies

In this paper, an extensive review of the rapidly growing in the literature on the nexus between economic growth and four types of energy consumption : total energy consumption, electricity consumption, nuclear consumption, and renewable consumption. The various hypotheses associated with the causal interaction between these variables along with a survey of the empirical literature are also discussed. The survey focuses on country coverage, periods, modeling techniques, and empirical conclusions. A general observation from these studies that results are found to be sensitive to methodology and type of energy considered. The empirical results for the specific countries surveyed show that (i) for energy consumption-growth nexus : 29% supported the growth hypothesis, 27% the feedback hypothesis, 23% the conservation hypothesis, and 21% the neutrality hypothesis ; (ii) for the electricity consumption-growth nexus : 40% supported the growth hypothesis, 33% the feedback hypothesis, and 27% conservation hypothesis ; (iii) for the nuclear consumption-growth nexus : 60% supported the neutrality hypothesis, and 40% the growth hypothesis ; and (iv) for the renewable consumption-growth nexus: 40% supported the neutrality hypothesis, 40% the conservation hypothesis, and 20% the growth hypothesis. These mixed results may be attributed to the different used data, selected variables, and econometric approaches undertaken

Entrepreneurship, Sectoral Outputs and Environmental Improvement : International Evidence

The relationship between entrepreneurship, output and environmental quality receives considerable attention from academics and policymakers, as society searches for solutions leading to environmental sustainability. Given this context, the current study contributes to this discussion by explaining how entrepreneurship and different sectoral outputs can help resolve the environmental problems of global socio-economic systems. So, we used data for 69 countries split across four homogeneous income-based panels: high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income economies. Long-run elasticities suggest that (i) the rate of environmental damage due to the growth of sectoral outputs is much higher in the high-income sample; (ii) compared to output from other sectors, services makes the highest contribution to environmental degradation in high-income countries but its contribution in the other country samples is negative; indicating that a move to services economy would be beneficial for these countries; (iii) with the exception of the high-income sample, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between output growth and environmental degradation across country samples and sectors; (iv) the contribution of entrepreneurial activity to environmental degradation is lower in high-income countries compared to other country samples; and (v) entrepreneurship activity in high-income countries initially degrades the environment but then improves environmental quality after a certain level, that is, an inverted U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurship and environmental pollution. The findings are sensitive to different income groups and sectoral analyzes. In particular, these empirical findings aid sound economic policymaking for improving environmental quality and sustainable economic development

An international literature survey on energy-economic growth nexus: Evidence from country-specific studies

In this paper, an extensive review of the rapidly growing in the literature on the nexus between economic growth and four types of energy consumption : total energy consumption, electricity consumption, nuclear consumption, and renewable consumption. The various hypotheses associated with the causal interaction between these variables along with a survey of the empirical literature are also discussed. The survey focuses on country coverage, periods, modeling techniques, and empirical conclusions. A general observation from these studies that results are found to be sensitive to methodology and type of energy considered. The empirical results for the specific countries surveyed show that (i) for energy consumption-growth nexus : 29% supported the growth hypothesis, 27% the feedback hypothesis, 23% the conservation hypothesis, and 21% the neutrality hypothesis ; (ii) for the electricity consumption-growth nexus : 40% supported the growth hypothesis, 33% the feedback hypothesis, and 27% conservation hypothesis ; (iii) for the nuclear consumption-growth nexus : 60% supported the neutrality hypothesis, and 40% the growth hypothesis ; and (iv) for the renewable consumption-growth nexus: 40% supported the neutrality hypothesis, 40% the conservation hypothesis, and 20% the growth hypothesis. These mixed results may be attributed to the different used data, selected variables, and econometric approaches undertaken

Entrepreneurship, Sectoral Outputs and Environmental Improvement : International Evidence

The relationship between entrepreneurship, output and environmental quality receives considerable attention from academics and policymakers, as society searches for solutions leading to environmental sustainability. Given this context, the current study contributes to this discussion by explaining how entrepreneurship and different sectoral outputs can help resolve the environmental problems of global socio-economic systems. So, we used data for 69 countries split across four homogeneous income-based panels: high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income economies. Long-run elasticities suggest that (i) the rate of environmental damage due to the growth of sectoral outputs is much higher in the high-income sample; (ii) compared to output from other sectors, services makes the highest contribution to environmental degradation in high-income countries but its contribution in the other country samples is negative; indicating that a move to services economy would be beneficial for these countries; (iii) with the exception of the high-income sample, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between output growth and environmental degradation across country samples and sectors; (iv) the contribution of entrepreneurial activity to environmental degradation is lower in high-income countries compared to other country samples; and (v) entrepreneurship activity in high-income countries initially degrades the environment but then improves environmental quality after a certain level, that is, an inverted U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurship and environmental pollution. The findings are sensitive to different income groups and sectoral analyzes. In particular, these empirical findings aid sound economic policymaking for improving environmental quality and sustainable economic development

Entrepreneurship, Sectoral Outputs and Environmental Improvement : International Evidence

The relationship between entrepreneurship, output and environmental quality receives considerable attention from academics and policymakers, as society searches for solutions leading to environmental sustainability. Given this context, the current study contributes to this discussion by explaining how entrepreneurship and different sectoral outputs can help resolve the environmental problems of global socio-economic systems. So, we used data for 69 countries split across four homogeneous income-based panels: high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income economies. Long-run elasticities suggest that (i) the rate of environmental damage due to the growth of sectoral outputs is much higher in the high-income sample; (ii) compared to output from other sectors, services makes the highest contribution to environmental degradation in high-income countries but its contribution in the other country samples is negative; indicating that a move to services economy would be beneficial for these countries; (iii) with the exception of the high-income sample, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between output growth and environmental degradation across country samples and sectors; (iv) the contribution of entrepreneurial activity to environmental degradation is lower in high-income countries compared to other country samples; and (v) entrepreneurship activity in high-income countries initially degrades the environment but then improves environmental quality after a certain level, that is, an inverted U-shaped relationship between entrepreneurship and environmental pollution. The findings are sensitive to different income groups and sectoral analyzes. In particular, these empirical findings aid sound economic policymaking for improving environmental quality and sustainable economic development

Financial Devlopment, Environmental Quality, Trade and Economic Growth: What Causes What in MENA Countries?

This paper examines the relationship between financial development, CO2 emissions, trade and economic growth using simultaneous-equation panel data models for a panel of 12 MENA countries over the period 1990-2011. Our results indicate that there is evidence of bidirectional causality between CO2 emissions and economic growth. Economic growth and trade openness are interrelated i.e. bidirectional causality. Feedback hypothesis is validated between trade openness and financial development. Neutrality hypothesis is identified between CO2 emissions and financial development. Unidirectional causality running from financial development to economic growth and from trade openness to CO2 emissions is identified. Our empirical results also verified the existence of environmental Kuznets curve. These empirical insights are of particular interest to policymakers as they help build sound economic policies to sustain economic development and to improve the environmental quality