Shock persistency to material consumption, renewable and non-renewable energy resources? A (non)linear evidence from the highest carbon emitting countries

With the need to provide more evidence on the possibility of reducing material resources utilization and dependency i.e., improving material resources efficiency, this study considers 10 countries with the largest cumulative emissions over centuries (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the UK, and the USA) by employing the linear and non-linear unit root tests with the Fourier function and dataset that covers centuries (1850–2021). Specifically, domestic material consumption was implemented for the period 1970-2019, and 1965-2021 for renewable and non-renewable energy resources. Given the linearity and non-linearity evidence, the investigation reveals whether there is persistent or transitory shock in domestic material consumption, renewable energy (REC), and non-renewable energy sources (REC). For (linearity) unit root test evidence, there are transitory shocks in domestic material consumption only in China, France, Indonesia, and Japan, for China, France, India, Japan, England, and the USA in REC, and in all the countries except Brazil, Canada, Germany, and Indonesia for the NREC series. On the ground of (non-linearity) unit root test, the result reveals that shocks to non-renewable energy consumption are temporary only for Canada, Japan, and the USA and the shocks to renewable energy and domestic material consumptions are permanent in all the examined countries. Indeed, the outcome of these findings offers important knowledge to decision makers on how to carefully develop and implement transitory and persistence policy choices.