Does Energy Productivity Affect a Country's Economic Efficiency? Evidence from Selected ASEAN Countries

Authors

  • Nor Azam Abdul-Razak Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Nur Hafizah Ismail Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Mohd Zaini Abd Karim Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Roslan Abdul-Hakim Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Arshian Sharif Sunway University Malaysia, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/jes2026.8.1.5

Keywords:

Energy consumption, energy productivity, economic efficiency, CS-ARDL, ASEAN

Abstract

With the continuous increase in the demand for energy, rapid and sustained growth in energy consumption and low growth in energy production, one of the top priorities for sustainable development and environmental protection is to reduce energy usage and improve economic efficiency. Although it is clear that energy productivity has a positive impact on a country’s economic efficiency, how sensitive is the response of economic efficiency is to the increase in energy productivity needs to be analyzed. Hence, our study intends to analyze the effect of energy productivity on economic efficiency in the ASEAN countries. The present study utilizes the advanced methodology of CS-ARDL, which is known for producing robust and reliable results, on the ASEAN region which comprises countries that are still dependent on non-renewable energy, thereby drastically polluting the environment. The findings from the CS-ARDL method revealed that energy productivity has a positive and significant relationship with economic efficiency. Based on the findings, several recommendations are proposed, such as adopting renewable energy resources that support environmentally friendly energy production to ensure sustainable energy and encouraging smart energy systems to be installed at government buildings or manufacturing buildings which deploy new technologies that increase energy efficiency.

References

Ahmed, K., Bhattacharya, M., Shaikh, Z., Ramzan, M., & Ozturk, I. (2017). Emission intensive growth and trade in the era of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration: An empirical investigation from ASEAN-8. Journal of Cleaner Production, 154, 530-540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.008

Alam, M. S., Miah, M. D., Hammoudeh, S., & Tiwari, A. K. (2018). The nexus between access to electricity and labour productivity in developing countries. Energy policy, 122, 715-726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.08.009

Ang, J. B. (2008). Economic development, pollutant emissions and energy consumption in Malaysia. Journal of Policy Modeling, 30(2), 271-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2007.04.010

Antonakakis, N., Chatziantoniou, I., & Filis, G. (2017). Energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and economic growth: An ethical dilemma. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 68, 808-824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.105

Anwar, A., Siddique, M., Dogan, E., & Sharif, A. (2021). The moderating role of renewable and non-renewable energy in environment-income nexus for ASEAN countries: Evidence from Method of Moments Quantile Regression. Renewable Energy, 164, 956-967, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.09.128

ASEAN Centre for Energy (2023). Outlook on ASEAN Energy 2023. Retrieved from https://aseanenergy.org/publications/outlook-on-asean-energy-2023/

ASEAN Centre for Energy (2025). ASEAN Energy Statistics Leaflet 2025. Retrieved from https://aseanenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ASEAN-Energy-Statistics-Leaflet-AESL-2025_Report.pdf

Bai, J., & Carrion-I-Silvestre, J.L., (2009). Structural changes, common stochastic trends, and unit roots in panel data. The Review of Economic Studies, 76(2), 471–501. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-937X.2008.00530.x

Banerjee, A., & Carrion‐i‐Silvestre, J. L. (2017). Testing for panel cointegration using common correlated effects estimators. Journal of Time Series Analysis, 38(4), 610-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsa.12234

Banker, R.D., Charnes, R.F. and Cooper, W.W. (1984). Some models for estimating technical and scale inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis. Management Science, 30, 1078-1092.

Benkraiem, R., Lahiani, A., Miloudi, A., & Shahbaz, M. (2019). The asymmetric role of shadow economy in the energy-growth nexus in Bolivia. Energy policy, 125, 405-417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.10.060

Breitung J., Pesaran M.H. (2008) Unit Roots and Cointegration in Panels. In: Mátyás L., Sevestre P. (Ed), The Econometrics of Panel Data. Advanced Studies in Theoretical and Applied Econometrics, vol46, pp 279-322. Berlin: Springer

Casu, B. and Molyneux, P. (2003). A comparative study of efficiency in European banking. Applied Economics, 35(17), 1865-1876.

Choi, B.W.P., Yu, BK. (2017). Energy intensity and firm Growth. Energy Economics, 65, 399-410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.05.015

Choi, I. (2001). Unit root tests for panel data. Journal of international money and Finance, 20(2), 249-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5606(00)00048-6

Choi, I. (2006). Combination Unit Root Tests for Cross-Sectionally Correlated Panels. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1783.1/129

Chudik, A., & Pesaran, M. H. (2015). Common correlated effects estimation of heterogeneous dynamic panel data models with weakly exogenous regressors. Journal of Econometrics, 188(2), 393-420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2015.03.007 Çoban, S., & Topcu, M. (2013). The nexus between financial development and energy consumption in the EU: A dynamic panel data analysis. Energy Economics, 39, 81-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2013.04.001

de Oliveira, R.L. (2018) Powering the future: Malaysia’s energy policy challenges. Policy IDEAS No. 55, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.

Eberhardt, M., Teal, F., (2010). Productivity Analysis in Global Manufacturing Production. Retrieved from https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ea831625-9014-40ec-abc5-516ecfbd2118/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=paper515.pdf&type_of_work=Wor king+paper

Energy Institute (n.d.). Statistical Review of World Energy Dataset. Retrieved from https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review

Energy Market Authority of Singapore (2025). Singapore Energy Statistics 2025 – Chapter 3: Energy Consumption. Retrieved from https://www.ema.gov.sg/resources/singapore-energy-statistics/chapter3

Eurostat (n.d.). Primary Energy Consumption Dataset. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/nrg_ind_eff__custom_14761509/bookmark/table?l ang=en&bookmarkId=359e498a-f4d0-44fe-8b37-5cd88db31f2b&c=1734615379151

Gales, B., Kander, A., Malanima, P. and Rubio, M. (2007). North versus South: Energy transition and energy intensity in Europe over 200 years. European Review of Economic History, 11(2), 219-253.

Halkos, G. and Tzeremes, N. (2009a). Exploring the existence of Kuznets curve in countries’ environmental efficiency using DEA window analysis, Ecological Economics, 68(7), 2168-2176.

Halkos, G. and Tzeremes, N. (2009b). Electricity generation and economic efficiency: panel data evidence from world and east asian countries, Global Economic Review, 38(3), 251-263.

Heidari, H., Katircioğlu, S. T., & Saeidpour, L. (2015). Economic growth, CO2 emissions, and energy consumption in the five ASEAN countries. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 64, 785-791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2014.07.081 https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-consumption

Hu, J.L. and Wang, S.C. (2006). Total-Factor Energy Efficiency of Regions in China. Energy Policy, 34(17), 3206-3217.

Husaini, D. H., & Lean, H. H. (2015). Does electricity drive the development of manufacturing sector in Malaysia?. Frontiers in Energy Research, 3, 18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2015.00018

Im, K. S., Pesaran, M. H., & Shin, Y. (2003). Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels. Journal of econometrics, 115(1), 53-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(03)00092-7

International Energy Agency (2020). World Energy Outlook 2020. Retrieved from https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/a72d8abf-de08-4385-8711-b8a062d6124a/WEO2020.pdf

International Energy Agency (2021). World Energy Outlook 2021. Retrieved from https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/4ed140c1-c3f3-4fd9-acae-789a4e14a23c/WorldEnergyOutlook2021.pdf

International Energy Agency (2022). World Energy Outlook 2022. Retrieved from https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/830fe099-5530-48f2-a7c1-11f35d510983/WorldEnergyOutlook2022.pdf

International Energy Agency (2023). World Energy Outlook 2023. Retrieved from https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/86ede39e-4436-42d7-ba2a-edf61467e070/WorldEnergyOutlook2023.pdf

International Energy Agency (n.d.). Total primary energy supply by country in Southeast Asia, 2000-2020. Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/total-primary-energy-supply-by-country-in-southeast-asia-2000-2020

Ismail, N.H., Nayan, S., Kadir, N., & Mat Yusoff, M.Y. (2020). Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emission, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence from Selected Southeast Asia Countries. Journal of Emerging Economies and Islamic Research, 8(2), 1–12

Karim, M.Z.A., Gee, C.S., Ismail, N.H., & Sharif, A. (2022). Does energy productivity lead to economic efficiency and lower CO2 emission in Malaysia? Evidence from Bootstrapped ARDL approach. Journal of Sustainability Science and Management, 17(3), 32-50. http://doi.org/10.46754/jssm.2022.03.004

Khan, Z., Ali, M., Jinyu, L., Shahbaz, M., & Siqun, Y. (2020). Consumption-based carbon emissions and trade nexus: Evidence from nine oil exporting countries. Energy Economics, 89, 104806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104806

Kraft, J., & Kraft, A. (1978). On the relationship between energy and GNP. The Journal of Energy and Development, 3(2), 401-403.

Lean, H. H., & Smyth, R. (2010). CO2 emissions, electricity consumption and output in ASEAN. Applied Energy, 87(6), 1858-1864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.02.003

Levin, A., Lin, C. F., & Chu, C. S. J. (2002). Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties. Journal of econometrics, 108(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(01)00098-7

Liddle, B. (2018). Consumption-based accounting and the trade-carbon emissions nexus in Asia: A heterogeneous, common factor panel analysis. Sustainability, 10(10), 3627. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103627 Lluís Carrion‐i‐Silvestre, J., Del Barrio‐Castro, T., & López‐Bazo, E. (2005). Breaking the panels: An application to the GDP per capita. The Econometrics Journal, 8(2), 159-175. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1368-423X.2005.00158.x

Maddala, G. S., & Wu, S. (1999). A comparative study of unit root tests with panel data and a new simple test. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 61(S1), 631-652. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0084.0610s1631

Madlener, R. and Alcott, B. (2009). Energy Rebound and Economic Growth: A Review the Main Issues and Research Needs. Energy, 34, 370-376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2008.10.011

McKinsey (2011). Energy efficiency: A compelling global resource, Mc Kinsey and Company, Australia.

Moon, H. R., & Perron, B. (2012). Beyond panel unit root tests: Using multiple testing to determine the nonstationarity properties of individual series in a panel. Journal of Econometrics, 169(1), 29-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2012.01.008

Mulder, P. and de Groot, L.F. (2011). Energy Intensity across Sectors and Countries: Empirical Evidence 1980–2005, CPB Discussion Paper 171.

Nathaniel, S., & Khan, S. A. R. (2020). The nexus between urbanization, renewable energy, trade, and ecological footprint in ASEAN countries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 272, 122709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122709

Ockwell, D.G. (2008). Energy and economic growth: Grounding our understanding in physical reality. Energy Policy, 2008, 36(12), 4600-4604.

Odhiambo, N. M. (2009). Energy consumption and economic growth nexus in Tanzania: An ARDL bounds testing approach. Energy policy, 37(2), 617-622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.09.077

Our World in Data (n.d.). Energy Production and Consumption Dataset. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/

Ozturk, I. (2010). A literature survey on energy-growth nexus. Energy policy 38(1), 340-349.

Payne, J.E. (2010) A Survey of the Electricity Consumption-Growth Literature. Applied Energy, 87, 723-731.

Pesaran, M. H. (2006). Estimation and inference in large heterogeneous panels with a multifactor error structure. Econometrica, 74(4), 967-1012. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0262.2006.00692.x

Pesaran, M. H. (2007). A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross‐section dependence. Journal of applied econometrics, 22(2), 265-312. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.951

Pesaran, M. H. (2015). Testing weak cross-sectional dependence in large panels. Econometric reviews, 34(6-10), 1089-1117. https://doi.org/10.1080/07474938.2014.956623

Pesaran, M. H., & Yamagata, T. (2008). Testing slope homogeneity in large panels. Journal of econometrics, 142(1), 50-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2007.05.010

Phillips, P. C., & Moon, H. R. (1999). Linear regression limit theory for nonstationary panel data. Econometrica, 67(5), 1057-1111. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0262.00070

Saboori, B., & Sulaiman, J. (2013). CO2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries: A cointegration approach. Energy, 55, 813-822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2013.04.038

Saidi, K., & Hammami, S. (2015). The impact of CO2 emissions and economic growth on energy consumption in 58 countries. Energy Reports, 1, 62-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2015.01.003

Salim, R., Yao, Y., & Chen, G. S. (2017). Does human capital matter for energy consumption in China?. Energy Economics, 67, 49-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.05.016

Sarwar, S., Chen, W., & Waheed, R. (2017). Electricity consumption, oil price and economic growth: Global perspective. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 76, 9-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.063

Shaari, M., Hussain, N., & Ismail, M. (2012). Relationship between energy consumption and economic growth: Empirical evidence for Malaysia. Business Systems Review, 2(1), 17-28.

Shahbaz, M., Van Hoang, T. H., Mahalik, M. K., & Roubaud, D. (2017). Energy consumption, financial development and economic growth in India: New evidence from a nonlinear and asymmetric analysis. Energy Economics, 63, 199-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.01.023

Statista (n.d.). Electricity Consumption Worldwide by Region (in Terawatt-hours) Dataset. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/688164/worldwide-consumption-of-electricity-by-region/

Swamy, P. A. (1970). Efficient inference in a random coefficient regression model. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 311-323. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913012

Tan, F., Lean, H. H., & Khan, H. (2014). Growth and environmental quality in Singapore: Is there any trade-off? Ecological indicators, 47, 149-155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.04.035

The World Bank (2009). World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change. Washington DC: The World Bank.

The World Bank (2015). The World Bank Annual Report. Washington DC: The World Bank.

The World Bank. (2019). World DataBank. Retrieved from https://databank.worldbank.org/home.aspx

Tsani, S. Z. (2010). Energy consumption and economic growth: A causality analysis for Greece. Energy Economics, 32(3), 582-590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2009.09.007

Westerlund, J. (2007). Testing for error correction in panel data. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and statistics, 69(6), 709-748. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2007.00477.x

Westerlund, J., & Edgerton, D. L. (2008). A simple test for cointegration in dependent panels with structural breaks. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 70(5), 665-704. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2008.00513.x

Yao, Y., Ivanovski, K., Inekwe, J., & Smyth, R. (2019). Human capital and energy consumption: Evidence from OECD countries. Energy Economics, 84, 104534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2019.104534

YCharts (n.d.). Asia Pacific Primary Energy Consumption (I:APPEC) Dataset. https://ycharts.com/indicators/asia_pacific_primary_energy_consumption

Downloads

Published

31-01-2026

How to Cite

Abdul-Razak, N. A., Ismail, N. H., Karim, M. Z. A., Abdul-Hakim, R., & Sharif, A. (2026). Does Energy Productivity Affect a Country’s Economic Efficiency? Evidence from Selected ASEAN Countries. Journal of Economics and Sustainability, 8(1), 84-101. https://doi.org/10.32890/jes2026.8.1.5