Heterogenous Energy Consumption Behavior by Firm Size: Evidence from Korean Environmental Regulations

Abstract

We analyze the interdependencies between energy usage, energy costs, renewable energy shares, economic growth, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Korean industrial sector by employing a time-series panel vector model. Although the topic itself about has been classic one, our research to investigate diverse dynamics between large and small-mid size businesses using micro-firm level data is the first study in literature. Since firms with different sizes are put in different policy circumstances, the aggregate-level data analysis could possibly disregard the effectiveness of environmental & renewable policies and underestimate the policy sensitivity of firms. Our findings demonstrate that the increase in energy consumption in larger firms has a greater impact on their energy costs and GHG emissions than for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, it has a significant effect on GDP. Also, the increase in renewable energy shares only has a significant influence on the energy consumption and GHG emission levels of large firms.