Economic and Spatial Determinants of Energy Consumption in the European Union

Abstract

In recent decades, various policies have been implemented to reduce energy consumption, as well as a considerable increase in research that analyzes the determinants of energy consumption, both with a standard feature, mitigating environmental degradation. However, few studies investigate the economic and spatial determinants of energy consumption in the European Union (EU). Therefore, to cover the knowledge gap, based on the review of the existing literature, this document is designed to analyze the determinants and energy policy in energy consumption in the EU. For this reason, the objective of this research is to analyze the effect of human capital, the price of oil, and Kyoto Protocol policy on energy consumption. In addition, the effect of contiguity and spatial concentration on energy consumption is studied for 34 European countries, of which 26 belong to the EU, for the period 2000–2016. For this, data collected from the World Bank (2017) and the World Energy Statistical Review (2017) were used. The work methodology is based on the application of econometric techniques for panel data, and spatial econometrics, based on the application of a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM), through which the existence of “spillovers” was determined in the implementation of the energy policy. The results of the estimates show a negative effect of the price of oil and human capital concerning energy consumption, and the variable “Policy” reflects a reduction in the energy consumption of the EU countries in the period analyzed. Additionally, the space panel confirms that the behavior of a country’s energy consumption depends on its past values and the level of consumption presented by its neighbors, corroborating the importance of territorial contiguity in the success of environmental policy in the case of the European Union.