Energy market integration and equitable growth across countries

Energy Market Integration (EMI) has been a goal for many regions, including the European Union and East Asia, for quite a long time. How it could play a role in facilitating equitable economic growth among a group of countries remains an empirical question that this paper will attempt to answer. The paper uses economic convergence analysis (including both the a-convergence and beta-convergence approaches) to examine the impact of EMI - measured by two newly constructed indexes (namely, the energy trade index and the energy market competition index) - at the country level on dynamic economic growth paths across countries. Its special interest lies in informing policy making related to promoting EMI. The results show that countries involved in a more integrated energy market are more likely to reduce their income disparity, suggesting that EMI may help the region to achieve equitable growth through the accelerated economic development of lagged economies. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.