Does energy diversification cause an economic slowdown? Evidence from a newly constructed energy diversification index

Countries have made considerable efforts to diversify their energy sources from fossil fuels to renewables in the last two decades to achieve sustainable economic development. However, it is widely argued that the countries may experience sluggish economic development during the energy transition period due to structural and functional changes in the economic system. Given this backdrop, this study introduces a new measure of energy diversification. It explores its impact on economic development across the panels of low-income, high-income, European Union (EU), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and G20 countries. The study uses data from 1995 to 2018 and utilizes Nonlinear Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NPARDL) method. Our findings confirm that the major economies (including G20) realize positive economic growth with increasing long-run energy diversification. However, some countries (OECD and G20) experience negative economic growth due to energy diversification in the short term. The results also disclosed that energy diversification does not favor economic growth in low-income economies in both the short and long term. Therefore, more precautionary measures to be taken into account while diversifying energy sources

The effects of national and international tourism on income inequality:evidence from Asia-Pacific economies

Purpose: This paper explores the effect of tourism (national and international) indicators on income inequality in a sample of 21 Asia Pacific economies. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses panel data set from 1995 to 2020 and employs panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method for the empirical investigation. Findings: The empirical findings from the panel ARDL models suggest that all of the considered tourism indicators have significant negative impacts on income inequalities. The results remain consistent with alternative indicators and methods. Social implications: The findings of this study will be critical for the policymakers to take effective measures to reduce the income inequality. Such measures could include promoting tourism in general, focusing on attracting international tourists or domestic tourists, and putting more weight on developing leisure or business tourism, which will boost the overall economic performance and alleviates inequalities in the society. Originality/value: This is the first study to consider various forms of tourism indicators to see their impact on income inequality in the Asia–Pacific region, and offers important implications for the policy actions