Browsing by Author "Roberts, Ryan Keagan"

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    The correlation between energy cost share, human and economic development : using time series data from Australasia, Europe, North America and the BRICS nations.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Roberts, Ryan Keagan; Musango, Josephine Kaviti; Brent, Alan C.; Heun, Matthew; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Rising global temperatures and fossil fuel depletion have created urgency for a shift toward renewable energy. While the environmental benefits of this power source have been well documented, a blind eye cannot be turned on social and economic challenges facing many nations today. The overarching goal of this study is to investigate how a transition to an energy sector dominated by renewable energy systems would affect the other two pillars of sustainability, namely society and the economy. This is vital to understand in order to construct energy and environmental policies that can advance society in a sustainable manner. One of the changes that would occur during such a transition is a variation in energy prices. The energy costs share (ECS), a ratio of a region’s energy expenditure as a fraction of its gross domestic product (GDP), was identified a tool that could link the amount spent on energy in proportion to the size of a country’s economy. Nations from three regions of the world, namely Australasia, Europe and North America, were chosen for this analysis. It was also decided to include the BRICS nations to give a representation of developing economies, giving a total of fifteen countries. During the period of 1978-2010, the annual energy cost share of each country was compared to the year on year GDP change at different time lags. The three components of a nation’s HDI, namely income levels, health and education, were also compared to this metric. Pearson’s Correlation test were conducted in order to establish the relationship between these indices as well as any thresholds that may exist. In an attempt to identify any common traits that may explain the dynamics of energy costs, comparisons between each country were made, along with similar tests performed for each region. This study confirms that high energy costs have a negative effect on economic growth. The existence of an ECS threshold was found in many countries with very strong correlation coefficients being obtained for periods of high ECS. Throughout the study it was noticed that energy cost share had a very strong correlation to GNI per capita change, much stronger than the correlation between ECS and GDP change. The use of ECS may be good tool for stimulating economic growth, but more importantly it stimulates human development in the form of income levels. The findings from this study showed that each country has its own set of dynamics to energy cost share. Many influences can affect the dynamics of energy costs on a countries economic and human development. The effects may be localised to a specific region, however, there are many other factors that can play a vital role such as a country’s energy mix, economic situation and political history.