The dynamic role of institutional quality, renewable and non-renewable energy on the ecological footprint of OECD countries: do institutions and renewables function as leverage points for environmental sustainability?

This article examines for the first time the impact of disaggregated energy sources and institutional quality on the ecological footprint (EF) of 29 OECD countries, by explaining how the diversification in countries' energy mix and their institutional performance are associated with sustainable environmental performance. We use panel data from 1984 to 2016 and we apply second-generation techniques to arrange the critical issues of cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity. The applied cointegration tests expose a long-run equilibrium relationship that associates renewable/non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth, institutional quality, and the EF of OECD countries. The robust cross-sectional augmented distributed lag (CS-DL) estimator shows that economic growth and the adoption of non-renewable energies are detrimental to the environment, while the operational quality of institutions adds to ecological sustainability. Concurrently, the negative effect of renewables on EF does not seem to cause a significant beneficial impact on the environment. Moreover, there is evidence that non-renewable energy and institutional quality have a bidirectional causal association with EF. Also, a weak unidirectional causal effect is running from the EF to renewables consumption. The study further demonstrates the inefficient integration of renewable energy forms in OECD countries and the concomitant essential role of institutions on environmental sustainability by providing relevant policy orientations.

Investigating the dynamic linkages among carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption: evidence from developing countries.

This research paper examines the causal relationships among carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, for a panel of 68 developing countries over the period 1990 - 2014. We use the multivariate panel cointegration framework and apply a battery of conventional (Pedroni 1999, 2004; and Kao 1999) as well as newly developed methodologies accounting for heterogeneity and cross-sectional correlation (Westerlund's ECM panel cointegration (2007) and panel bootstrap cointegration (2007) tests). The pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effects (DFE) methodologies were further applied to trace out the short-run dynamics. The results support evidence of significant dynamic linkages among the involved variables and reveal possible differences in the magnitude of the impacts from renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on environmental quality. The issue of distinguishing by source and determining the magnitude of the detected effects could provide valuable information for a sustainable economic and environmental development, substantially helping policy makers to designate more efficient policy measures.

Public support toward tobacco control: consumer responsiveness and policy planning.

OBJECTIVES: To explore individual differences in support toward antismoking policies by investigating psychosocial, socioeconomic, and demographic characteristics; smoking restrictions; smoking status; and individually perceived cigarette price. METHODS: The empirical analysis uses data from a random sample of 680 consumers and employs a bivariate semiordered probit model. RESULTS: Consumer responsiveness shows strong association with optimistic bias, perceived positive and negative consequences of smoking, health status, and family smoking patterns. Smoking status, gender, age, and occupation also affect antismoking policy support. CONCLUSIONS: Public support toward tobacco control reflects potential smoking acceptance and social norms, confirming policy effectiveness and current needs for demarketing tobacco use.