Publications

Journal Article

This SI might be considered as a follow up of the SI “Oil and Gas Perspectives in the 21st century” published by Energy Policy in January 2014. This is because the 2014 SI explores some of the turbulence in oil and gas markets while this SI explores the effects of energy (or oil) on macro-economic growth.

This issue is timely, in view of the effects of the Great Recession and the tremendous volatility of the oil market in the past year, and the number of questions that have emerged, both as to causes and consequences. There are eight papers in this collection, five of which deal with oil prices and oil shocks, while three focus on the role of energy on economic growth, with emphasis on the cost share and the evidence that the output elasticity of energy appears to be larger than its cost share. Several of the papers report econometric results that are in conflict with the predictions of neo-classical (Solovian) economic growth models. Those models explain growth as a consequence of capital (and labor) accumulation and exogenous improvements in technology, or total factor productivity.