Title: Energy consumption and economic activity: an empirical study for G20

Authors: Saida Zaidi; Rafik Jbir; Samia Gmidene

Addresses: Département des sciences économiques, Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion de Sfax, Rue de l'aéroport km 4.5, BP 1088, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia ' Université de Gabès, BP 100, Higher Institute of Management (ISG) Gabès, rue Jilani Al Habib, 6000, Gabès, Tunisia ' Département des sciences économiques, Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion de Sfax, Rue de l'aéroport km 4.5, BP 1088, 3018 Sfax, Tunisia

Abstract: This paper uses the panel data of energy consumption, electricity, oil and economic activity for 20 countries from 1990 to 2010. The empirical results of this study are as follows: there is a long relationship between energy consumption and economic activity. The panel causality test results reveal that there is long-run Granger causality running from electricity and oil to economic activity and there is unidirectional causality between electricity, oil and economic activity. Our findings have important policy implications, especially, because these countries are the first consumers of electricity in the world.

Keywords: energy consumption; gross domestic product; GDP; economic activity; G20; Granger causality test; electricity consumption; oil consumption.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSE.2014.063186

International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 2014 Vol.6 No.3, pp.217 - 229

Received: 29 Nov 2013
Accepted: 15 Mar 2014
Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

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