Energy consumption and GDP in developing countries: A cointegrated panel analysis

In this paper we re-investigate the co-movement and the causality relationship between energy consumption and GDP in 18 developing countries, using data for the period 1975 to 2001. Recently developed tests for the panel unit root, heterogeneous panel cointegration, and panel-based error correction models are employed. The empirical results provide clear support of a long-run cointegration relationship after allowing for the heterogeneous country effect. The long-run relationship is estimated using a full-modified OLS. The evidence shows that long-run and short-run causalities run from energy consumption to GDP, but not vice versa. This result indicates that energy conservation may harm economic growth in developing countries regardless of being transitory or permanent.