{"title":"Electricity prices, renewable energy, and sustainability of the energy and manufacturing sectors in the new EU member states","authors":"Mihaela Simionescu , Magdalena Radulescu","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101934","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment (FDI), and electricity pricing on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions in the energy supply and manufacturing sectors of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in the period 2007–2021. This study uses dynamic panel data models to examine the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and the pollution haven and halo hypotheses to understand the sector-specific emission patterns and identify the factors that influence environmental sustainability. Most other studies do not consider a sectoral approach providing the same proposals for all sectors, while this paper provides original, sector-targeted policy recommendations to balance economic growth with EU climate goals, emphasizing renewable energy incentives and stringent FDI standards. The results reveal an N-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in the energy sector and an inverted N-shaped relationship in the manufacturing sector, indicating distinct emission trajectories that warrant targeted policy responses. The empirical findings demonstrate that renewable energy consumption significantly reduces emissions in both sectors, substantially impacting the energy sector. Additionally, the U-shaped relationship between FDI and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions suggests that while FDI initially brings cleaner technologies (halo effect), it may later contribute to higher emissions under insufficient environmental regulations (haven effect). Higher electricity prices for non-household consumers are also found to effectively lower emissions, particularly in the energy sector, by encouraging energy-efficient practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101934"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Utilities Policy","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178725000499","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment (FDI), and electricity pricing on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the energy supply and manufacturing sectors of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in the period 2007–2021. This study uses dynamic panel data models to examine the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and the pollution haven and halo hypotheses to understand the sector-specific emission patterns and identify the factors that influence environmental sustainability. Most other studies do not consider a sectoral approach providing the same proposals for all sectors, while this paper provides original, sector-targeted policy recommendations to balance economic growth with EU climate goals, emphasizing renewable energy incentives and stringent FDI standards. The results reveal an N-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions in the energy sector and an inverted N-shaped relationship in the manufacturing sector, indicating distinct emission trajectories that warrant targeted policy responses. The empirical findings demonstrate that renewable energy consumption significantly reduces emissions in both sectors, substantially impacting the energy sector. Additionally, the U-shaped relationship between FDI and CO2 emissions suggests that while FDI initially brings cleaner technologies (halo effect), it may later contribute to higher emissions under insufficient environmental regulations (haven effect). Higher electricity prices for non-household consumers are also found to effectively lower emissions, particularly in the energy sector, by encouraging energy-efficient practices.
期刊介绍:
Utilities Policy is deliberately international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral. Articles address utility trends and issues in both developed and developing economies. Authors and reviewers come from various disciplines, including economics, political science, sociology, law, finance, accounting, management, and engineering. Areas of focus include the utility and network industries providing essential electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater, solid waste, communications, broadband, postal, and public transportation services.
Utilities Policy invites submissions that apply various quantitative and qualitative methods. Contributions are welcome from both established and emerging scholars as well as accomplished practitioners. Interdisciplinary, comparative, and applied works are encouraged. Submissions to the journal should have a clear focus on governance, performance, and/or analysis of public utilities with an aim toward informing the policymaking process and providing recommendations as appropriate. Relevant topics and issues include but are not limited to industry structures and ownership, market design and dynamics, economic development, resource planning, system modeling, accounting and finance, infrastructure investment, supply and demand efficiency, strategic management and productivity, network operations and integration, supply chains, adaptation and flexibility, service-quality standards, benchmarking and metrics, benefit-cost analysis, behavior and incentives, pricing and demand response, economic and environmental regulation, regulatory performance and impact, restructuring and deregulation, and policy institutions.