Electricity consumption and economic development in Asia: new data and new methods

type="main"> This study uses a new statistical technique, Panel Analysis of Nonstationarity in Idiosyncratic and Common Components (PANIC) analysis, to examine causal linkages between electricity consumption and economic development in 12 Asian countries over the period 1971–2011. The findings indicate that there was no long-run equilibrium relationship between electricity consumption and economic development in the region as a whole. More importantly, the causality tests detected unidirectional causality from economic development to electricity consumption for East Asian countries and a reverse causal relationship for South Asian countries. These findings have important policy implications for sustainable energy consumption.