Patrícia H. Leal, Antonio Cardoso Marques and Jose Alberto Fuinhas
Australia is one of the ten largest emitters of greenhouse gases but stands out from the others due to its economic growth without recession for 26 consecutive years. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Australia is one of the ten largest emitters of greenhouse gases but stands out from the others due to its economic growth without recession for 26 consecutive years. This paper aims to focus on the energy-growth nexus and the effects of energy consumption on the environment in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
This analysis is performed using annual data from 1965 to 2015 and the autoregressive distributed lag model.
Findings
The paper finds empirical evidence of a trade-off between economic growth and carbon dioxide (CO2) intensity. The results show that increased gross domestic product (GDP) in Australia increased investment in renewable energy sources (RESs), although the renewable technology is limited and has no impact on reducing CO2 intensity in the long run. In contrast to investment in RES, fossil fuels, coal and oil, are decreased by GDP. However, oil consumption increased renewable energy consumption, and this reflects the pervading effect of the growing economy.
Originality/value
Overall, this paper contributes to the literature by analysing the behaviour of both energy consumption and the environment on the growing Australian economy. In addition, this paper goes further by studying the impact of economic growth on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, as well as on CO2 emissions. The study is conducted on a single country for which literature is scarce, using a recent approach and a long time period.
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Luís Miguel Marques, José Alberto Fuinhas and António Cardoso Marques
The purpose of this paper is to focus on global energy consumption using the economic growth nexus, the prevalent energy hypothesis at a global level and the impact of the main…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on global energy consumption using the economic growth nexus, the prevalent energy hypothesis at a global level and the impact of the main historical events assessed for the period from 1965 to 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the confirmed presence of endogeneity and cointegration between energy consumption and economic growth, a vector error correction with structural dummies model was used. Furthermore, the impulse-response functions and variance decomposition were computed to evaluate the variables’ dynamics.
Findings
Bi-directional causality running from energy consumption to economic growth was found, both in the short and long-run, supporting the feedback hypothesis. It is proved that the 2008 crisis impacted on the global energy–growth nexus. Furthermore, there is evidence of the impact of the 1990s oil price shock on the nexus. Innovations in energy consumption have a positive impact on economic growth; however, this impact tends to be null in the long run.
Practical implications
The results suggest that at a global level, any energy policy should be carefully designed in order not to hamper economic growth. Countries should not remain indifferent to the policies that other countries might follow. Very few historical crises impacted on the global energy–growth nexus.
Originality/value
This paper offers a different approach to the study of the energy–growth nexus. The energy–growth nexus is analysed in the major macroeconomic aggregate. Global variables reveal their relevance as a benchmark in the energy–growth nexus. Furthermore, this paper arrives at some conclusions about how historical crises impact on global relationships.
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Jose Alberto Fuinhas, Antonio Cardoso Marques and Tânia Noélia Quaresma
The oil-growth nexus is studied in a panel of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPECs), for a long time span (1960-2011), controlling for the specific context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The oil-growth nexus is studied in a panel of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPECs), for a long time span (1960-2011), controlling for the specific context of oil production. Their membership in the cartel put them under a common guidance, which originates phenomena of cross-section dependence/contemporaneous correlation in the panel.
Design/methodology/approach
Recent panel data estimators and co-integration analyses are both pursued and discussed, namely, dealing with the heterogeneity of panels and the countries’ specific effects. The Driscoll–Kraay estimator proves to be appropriate in handling the panel properties.
Findings
Full understanding of the oil-growth nexus requires the short- and long-run effects to be broken down. The growth hypothesis was found only in the short run. The results suggest the presence of the resource curse phenomenon and prove that the cartel’s long-run growth goal could not being fully accomplished. Actually, both oil production and prices are not promoting economic growth in OPEC countries.
Originality/value
The focus is on a group of countries which, besides being oil exporters, have an institutional connection between them, i.e. the OPEC cartel. The paper also contributes by framing the relationship between oil consumption and economic growth within a context of countries that are primary energy producers. Additionally, the paper uses a novel econometric approach and a long time span (52 years) not tested.
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Cecília Rendeiro Carmo, José António Cardoso Moreira and Maria Cristina Souto Miranda
The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between earnings quality and the cost of debt for private companies in a “code-law” country (Ball et al., 2000). The analysis…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between earnings quality and the cost of debt for private companies in a “code-law” country (Ball et al., 2000). The analysis controls for company size, debt level and audited information.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the ordinary least squares regression technique to test the relationship between earnings quality and the cost of debt.
Findings
The collected empirical evidence shows a negative relationship between earnings quality and the cost of debt and controls for company size and debt level. Such a relationship is stronger when the company information is audited.
Research limitations/implications
Similar to other studies, this paper has two main limitations. There was no access to specific data on the interest rates charged on bank loans, implying that the cost of debt is measured by the ratio of the interest expense to interest-bearing debt. The research only uses earnings quality measures based on abnormal accruals.
Practical implications
The collected evidence suggests that earnings quality have economic consequences for private companies by affecting their cost of debt, similar to those observed in previous studies for listed companies. This evidence can be seen as an incentive for private companies to increase their financial information quality. For debt providers, namely, financial institutions, the findings can be of interest to help them price properly the loans they make available to private companies. In general, the findings of this research can be of interest for company managers and financial institutions in countries with an institutional environment similar to that of Portugal.
Originality/value
The relation between earnings quality and the cost of debt has been so far studied for listed companies in “common law” countries. This paper provides new and complementary evidence about such relation for private companies and “code-law” country.
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Antonio Cardoso, Mario de Araujo and Eduarda Coquet
This paper aims to identify the key factors in children's choice of clothing from six to 11‐year‐olds.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the key factors in children's choice of clothing from six to 11‐year‐olds.
Design/ methodology/ approach
This exploratory study was developed through a questionnaire answered by 313 children, between the ages of six and 11, from four different schools in Porto (Portugal), covering the private/ state and the rural/urban dimensions. The Logit and Probit binary choice models have been chosen to evaluate the factors that influence children's choice of clothing (proxy), based on a mix constituted by “brand name, functionality and fashion”.
Findings
The results showed that choice is positively related to age, sex, environment, parents' income, self‐esteem, susceptibility to interpersonal influence and utilitarian value (functional value). On the contrary, susceptibility to reference group influence, materialism (materialistic attitudes), ostentatious value and involvement are negatively related to choice.
Research limitations/implications
The results of the research are limited by the specific sample chosen for this purpose. It is very difficult to generalize the results taking into account all children. The translation and adaptation of the original scales to the case of children and to the Portuguese context may have caused some deviation. The determination of choice was not done directly, as it resulted from a proxy related to the choice of clothing.
Practical implications
Retailers and manufacturers of children's clothing can benefit from the findings of this study. The model developed was applied to the children's choice of clothing. However, it may be tested for a wider universe and applied to other product types.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by studying key factors that affect children's choice of clothing. Based on these results, indications for future research are pointed out: a change in the mix of clothing products available and a characterization of choice types through free, conditional, ordered and multinomial models.
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VENEZUELA: International 'defence' could backfire
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES198677
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
This chapter seeks to describe the successive stages in the training and recruitment of economists at the service of the political regime that ruled over Portugal between 1926 and…
Abstract
This chapter seeks to describe the successive stages in the training and recruitment of economists at the service of the political regime that ruled over Portugal between 1926 and 1974. This chapter presents the main institutional settings for the education and practices of those who served the government in economic functions throughout this period. Its main aim is to show the changes that occurred in the understanding of the problems related with the development of the Portuguese economy, seeking to elucidate the processes of legitimation of an authoritarian regime, but also to show the signs of a critical break with a model of economic and social organization and a political regime that had reached the point of exhaustion.
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Gonçalo das Neves Carneiro and Carlos Conceição António
In the reliability assessment of composite laminate structures with multiple components, the uncertainty space defined around design solutions easily becomes over-dimensioned, and…
Abstract
Purpose
In the reliability assessment of composite laminate structures with multiple components, the uncertainty space defined around design solutions easily becomes over-dimensioned, and not all of the random variables are relevant. The purpose of this study is to implement the importance analysis theory of Sobol’ to reduce the dimension of the uncertainty space, improving the efficiency toward global convergence of evolutionary-based reliability assessment.
Design/methodology/approach
Sobol’ indices are formulated analytically for implicit structural response functions, following the theory of propagation of moments and without violating the fundamental principles presented by Sobol’. An evolutionary algorithm capable of global convergence in reliability assessment is instrumented with the Sobol’ indices. A threshold parameter is introduced to identify the important variables. A set of optimal designs of a multi-laminate composite structure is evaluated.
Findings
Importance analysis shows that uncertainty is concentrated in the laminate where the critical stress state is found. Still, it may also be reasonable in other points of the structure. An accurate and controlled reduction of the uncertainty space significantly improves the convergence rate, while maintaining the quality of the reliability assessment.
Practical implications
The theoretical developments assume independent random variables.
Originality/value
Applying Sobol’ indices as an analytical dimension reduction technique is a novelty. The proposed formulation only requires one adjoint system of equilibrium equations to be solved once. Although a local estimate of a global measure, this analytical formulation still holds because, in structural design, uncertainty is concentrated around the mean-values.