Coal consumption and economic growth nexus: Evidence from bootstrap panel Granger causality test

Abstract

This paper explores the causal relationship between coal consumption and economic growth for a panel of 15 African countries using bootstrap panel Granger causality test. Specifically, this paper uses the Phillips-Perron unit root test to ascertain the order of integration for the coal consumption and economic growth series. A bootstrap panel Granger causality test is employed to determine the direction of causality between coal consumption and economic growth. The results provide evidence of unidirectional causality from economic growth to coal consumption. This finding implies that coal conservation measures may be implemented with little or no adverse impact on economic growth for the sample countries as a group.

Keywords

• coal consumption
• economic growth
• panel causality test