Does Improvement in Trade Openness Facilitate Renewable Energy Transition? Evidence from Selected South Asian Economies

Abstract

The aim of this article is to empirically shed light on the impacts of trade openness (TO) on facilitation of renewable energy transition (RET) across Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Against this backdrop, this article incorporated annual time series data stemming from 2000 to 2017 and employed the two-stage least squares (2SLS) panel data estimation methodology. In addition, the panel Granger causality test was also applied to distinguish the possible long-run causal associations between the variables considered in the regression models. In the light of the estimated results, it is found that an improvement in TO triggers renewable energy consumption, improves the primary energy-use efficiency and elevates the access to clean cooking fuel technology within the selected South Asian economies. However, the results also led to the concerning conclusion regarding the ineffectiveness of the trade liberalization policies in curbing the relative consumption of non-renewable energy resources, thereby marginalizing the prospects of overall RET within these economies. JEL: O13, P2, Q42, D12, F35