Rafał Kasperowicz

Poznań University of Economics

Poland

rafal.kasperowicz@ue.poznan.pl

Economic growth and energy consumption in 12 European countries: a panel data approach

ABSTRACT.  The paper investigates the relationships between energy consumption and economic growth for 12 European countries over 13 years using data for the sample period of 2000 to 2012. Understanding the relationships of energy consumption in relation to the economy is very important task to ensure a stable economic development. The hypothesis of the study says that there is a positive relationship between energy use and economic growth.  The estimation of GDP equation indicated that that the energy consumption is positive related to the economic growth. The evaluated regression model includes growth rates of Energy Consumption and growth rates of Gross Fixed Capital in real prices. The analysis let to state that in the analyzed countries energy consumption is not neutral to economic growth. Furthermore, the applied modeling pointed the individual growth rate effect of GDP for every country, that was not captured by the estimated model. 

Received: June, 2014

1st Revision:  September, 2014

Accepted: October, 2014

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2014/7-3/10

JEL Classification: Q43

Keywords: energy consumption, economic growth, EU