TITLE:
Convergence of Energy Intensity in OECD Countries
AUTHORS:
Cem Canel, Selahattin Guris, Burak Guris, Begüm Öktem, Recep Oktem
KEYWORDS:
Energy Intensity, Nonlinear Unit Root Tests
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.8 No.7,
July
26,
2017
ABSTRACT: This paper investigates whether there is energy
intensity convergence in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) countries or not by using annual data from the 1980-2011
period. OECD countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, North Korea, South
Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, and USA. Energy intensity is measured by the
ratio of total energy consumption to total output. Energy intensity measures
the energy consumption of an economy and its overall energy efficiency. We used
linear and nonlinear unit root tests from the recent literature to accomplish
this goal. An analysis of the test results shows that there is no convergence
in Chile, Finland, Greece, Ireland, South Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
These countries should start implementing changes to their energy policies to
achieve effective energy use.