Survey of the international evidence on the causal relationship between energy consumption and growth

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to survey the empirical literature on the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. Design/methodology/approach - The four major hypotheses (growth, conservation, neutrality, and feedback) are briefly outlined with respect to the energy consumption-growth nexus and corresponding policy implications of each. The survey focuses on country coverage, variables selected and model specification, econometric approaches, various methodological issues, and empirical results. Findings - Though there is no clear consensus on the results for a specific country or groups of countries, directions for future research are discussed. Research limitations/implications - The research surveyed may be dated by the time of publication given the ongoing research in this area. Originality/value - This paper serves as a reference for researchers on the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth.