P18 - Energy; EnvironmentReturn

In this paper, we present the results of a study examining whether the European Union, where countries act in common on many issues such as monetary policy, abolition of borders and mobilization of labour and capital, also constitutes a union in terms of energy security. From this point of view, whether the energy security risk in the European Union has converged or not is tested by using various analysis methods covering the period 1980-2018 for 17 EU countries. The findings of the study not only reveal whether individual countries converge to the group average but also show whether the group as a whole forms a convergent outlook. The linear unit root analysis indicates that each country is in a stochastic convergence process towards the group average. In addition, time series beta convergence analysis, which takes into account country- -specific structural break periods, is applied and the convergent-divergent situation of each country before and after the break is revealed. Following this determination of individual countries, whether the sample as a whole constitutes a convergent process is tested with sigma and panel beta convergence models and it is determined that the 17 countries subject to the analysis form a convergent outlook as a whole. A robustness check is also made via a nonlinear time series analysis and the previous findings are confirmed.

Electricity production strategies of countries rely on fossil fuel-based electricity generation. Environmental regulations (ER) are needed to shift to green electricity for achieving energy transition, but corruption and bureaucracy can influence ER, energy transition and ecological quality. Hence, this research considers two important constituents of country risks including corruption and bureaucracy in the model while understanding the connections between green electricity, ER and the load capacity factor (LCF) in BRICS from 1992 to 2018. The research chooses a recent proxy of ecological quality (i.e., LCF), which effectively measures the ecological quality and indicates the possibility of sustainable growth by using biocapacity and ecological footprint figures. The results of the research disclose that green electricity Granger-causes and enhances the LCF, whereas controlling corruption and enhancing bureaucracy quality improves ecological quality. ER improves environmental quality and the load capacity curve (LCC) hypothesis also exists. Lastly, policy directions are discussed.

Unclean energy consumption stimulates carbon footprint (CF) leading to increased environmental pollution. Renewable energy transition (ETN) can curb the CF; however, political risk can obstruct this process. Hence, this study analyses the connections between economic growth, ETN and CF by considering political risk and financial expansion in a panel of top 10 emitters from 1992 to 2020 using the method of moment quantile regressions (MM-QR). The results elucidate that ETN significantly reduces the CF in the top emitters. Thus, expanding the ETN is beneficial for reducing the CF and promoting sustainable development. Improving the political environment by reducing the political risk (POLR) helps curb the CF. The inverted U-shaped connection between CF and economic growth shows that increased growth can reduce CF if top emitters can continue to promote energy transition and political stability. The positive impact of financial expansion on CF becomes insignificant at higher quantiles. Finally, policy suggestions are discussed.