P28 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Natural Resources; Energy; EnvironmentNávrat zpět

Energy efficiency is the cost-effective utilization of energy in the production process, whereby energy waste is minimized and the overall depletion of primary energy resources is curtailed. Improving energy efficiency enables countries to abate the rising CO₂ emissions by efficient utilization of energy. Hence, energy efficiency is a source of improving environmental performance. This study examines the deep determinants of energy efficiency in BRICS countries. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of effective governance on energy efficiency in BRICS countries. This study utilizes both fixed-effect and random-effect approaches to examine the determinants of energy efficiency. To check the cross-sectional dependence, this study utilizes residual cross-sectional dependence tests. The results of the fixed-effect approach show that government effectiveness and oil rents improve energy efficiency in BRICS countries. However, mineral rents negatively affect energy efficiency. The study finds that an increase in R&D negatively affects energy efficiency; however, after achieving a certain level of R&D expenditures, a further increase in R&D is linked to improved energy efficiency. This nonlinear relationship suggests that while initial investments in R&D may not immediately translate into energy efficiency gains, continued investment beyond a certain threshold can lead to significant improvements in energy efficiency through technological innovation and advancements. The findings highlight the pivotal role of government effectiveness in driving energy efficiency improvements. Countries with more effective governance structures demonstrate higher levels of energy efficiency, emphasizing the importance of transparent, accountable and coherent policy frameworks in promoting sustainable development agendas. These findings have significant policy implications for policymakers and stakeholders in BRICS countries aiming to foster sustainable energy transitions and enhance energy efficiency.

The effects of the shadow economy on the environment have been amply documented in the literature; however, the relevance of financial inclusion and the unpredictability of economic policy are still up for debate. Therefore, this study examines the diverse effects of financial inclusion, shadow economies and economic policy on carbon emissions in 21 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2002 to 2019. To determine whether this hypothesis is true, this study uses the panel spatial correlation consistent (PSCC), method of moments quantile regression (MM-QR) and Dumitrescu-Hurlin (D-H) (2012) methodologies. The findings of the PSCC show that financial inclusion increases carbon emissions in SSA countries but the shadow economy and economic policy uncertainty have an adverse impact on emissions. Using the MM-QR estimation with fixed effects, the same results are obtained across all quantiles after accounting for the effects of the shadow economy and economic policy uncertainty over the conditional distribution of CO₂. The effect of financial inclusion on CO₂ emissions is positive, but only statistically significant at the 30^th to 70^th quantiles until traces of significance are erased. In addition, there is evidence of a two-way causal relationship between the shadow economy and CO₂ emissions, financial inclusion and the shadow economy, urban population and CO₂ emissions, renewable energy use and economic policy uncertainty, trade liberalisation and economic policy uncertainty, and financial inclusion and economic policy uncertainty. The empirical results of this study offer insightful policy suggestions to counteract the direct impact of financial inclusion and to amplify the damaging effects of the shadow economy and economic policy uncertainty on carbon emissions.

In the pursuit of sustainable development, economies such as China are placing a paramount emphasis on significantly augmenting the utilization of renewable energy sources. This marks a departure from conventional research approaches that solely focused on macroeconomic determinants while investigating patterns of renewable energy consumption. Thus, this research pursues to witness the relationship between the political risk index (PRI), renewable electricity output (RELOP), public-private partnership investment in energy (PPINENR), and renewable energy consumption (RECNS) in China from 1984 to 2022. For data estimations, this study utilizes time series methods, which include DF-GLS and Johansen cointegration for unit root and long-run equilibrium with FMOLS, DOLS and CCR as primary methods. The research also employs the least squares method with break years and robust least squares as robustness check methods while for causal relationships, we deploy the Granger causality approach. The outcomes assert that variables are found stationary at differences and long-run equilibrium is confirmed among variables. The empirical estimations predict that GDP and PPINENR reduce the RECNS in China in both short and long term. Furthermore, PRI and RELOP enhance renewable energy consumption in the short as well as long run. Therefore, policymakers should mostly focus on the encouraging role of PPINENR towards renewable electricity to enhance RECNS in developing economies, particularly in China. To achieve the targets of COP27, China should increase its focus on the efficient utilization of public-private partnership investments and also manage the political risks in the economy to promote renewable energy consumption and achieve a sustainable environment. Moreover, the causality analysis unearths that PRI could be utilized along with other variables to enhance RECNS in China. The robustness check asserts similar and robust outcomes.