Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1774792
The effect of democracy on energy efficiency in European countries
Li-Chen Chou
orcid.org/0000-0002-5228-9518
Wan-Hao Zhang
Abstract
This study explores to what extent the development of democracy
affects energy efficiency. This study applies database reference
from Freedom House, Polity IV project, International Country
Risk Guide (ICRG) and World Development Indicator (WDI) to
analyze the relationship between the level of democracy and
energy efficiency of 35 countries in Europe from 1990 to 2013.
Controlling for manufacturing value-added, price level, and GDP
per capita, we find a significant statistical correlation between the
level of democracy and the level of energy efficiency in a country.
Empirical findings show that a high level of democracy has a significant
positive impact on the improvement of national energy
efficiency. Further examinations which employ quantile regression
estimates indicate that the positive impact of democratic consolidation
is stronger when the country is at the stage of relatively
low energy efficiency. Empirical research also demonstrates that
the consolidation of democratic institutions and economic development
has a positive influence on the awareness of environmental
conservation, thereby improving the structure of energy consumption
and further reinforce the enhancement of energy efficiency
Keywords
Democracy; energy efficiency; economic development; European Countries; frontier analysis; quantile regression
Hrčak ID:
254717
URI
Publication date:
9.2.2021.
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