Energy financing in COVID-19: how public supports can benefit?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajid Iqbal ◽  
Ahmad Raza Bilal

PurposeThe study aims to empirically estimate the role of public supports for energy efficiency financing and presents the way forward to mitigate the energy financing barriers that incurred during the COVID-19 crisis.Design/methodology/approachUsing the G7 countries data, the study estimated the nexus between the constructs. Generalized method of moments (GMM) and conventional increasing-smoothing asymptotic of GMM are applied to justify the study findings. Wald econometric technique is also used to robust the results.FindingsThe study findings reported a consistent role of public support on energy efficiency financing indicators, during the COVID-19 crisis period. G7 countries raised funds around 17% through public supports for energy efficiency financing, and it raised 4% of per unit energy usage to GDP, accelerated 16% energy efficiency and 24% output of renewable energy sources, during COVID-19. By this, study findings warrant a maximum support from public offices, energy ministries and other allied departments for energy efficiency optimization.Practical implicationsThe study presents multiple policy implications to enhance energy efficiency through different alternative sources, such as, on-bill financing, direct energy efficiency grant, guaranteed financial contracts for energy efficiency and energy efficiency credit lines. If suggested policy recommendations are applied effectively, this holds the potential to diminish the influence of the COVID-19 crisis and can probably uplift the energy efficiency financing during structural crisis.Originality/valueThe originality of the recent study exists in a novel framework of study topicality. Despite growing literature, the empirical discussion in the field of energy efficiency financing and COVID-19 is still shattered and less studied, which is contributed by this study.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuc Anh Tu ◽  
Ehsan Rasoulinezhad

PurposeOne of the major negative effects of the Coronavirus outbreak worldwide has been reduced investment in green energy projects and energy efficiency. The main purpose of this paper is to study the role of green bond proposed by the World Bank in 2008, as a reliable instrument to enhance the capital flow in energy efficiency financing and to develop green energy resources during and post the current challenging global time.Design/methodology/approachWe model energy efficiency for 37 members of OECD through a panel data framework and quarterly data over 2007Q1–2020Q4.FindingsThe major results reveal the positive impacts of issued green bonds and regulatory quality index on energy efficiency, while any increase in inflation rate and urbanization decelerates the progress of raising energy efficiency.Practical implicationsAs highlighted concluding remarks and policy implications, it can be expressed that the tool of green bond is a potential policy to drive-up energy efficiency financing and enhancing environmental quality during and post-COVID period. It is recommended to follow green bond policy with an efficient regulation framework and urbanization saving energy planning.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, although a few scholars have investigated the impacts of COVID-19 on green financing or examined the energy efficiency financing, the matter of modeling energy efficiency–green bond relationship has not been addressed by any academic study. The contributions of this paper to the existing literature are: (1) it is the first academic study to discover the relationship between energy efficiency and green bond in OECD countries, (2) since our empirical part provides estimation results based on quarterly data covering the year of 2019 and 2020, it may offer some new policy implications to enhance energy efficiency financing in and post-COVID period, (3) furthermore, we consider energy efficiency indicator (mix of industrial, residential, services and transport energy efficiency) as the dependent variable instead of using the simple energy intensity variable as a proxy for energy efficiency.


Author(s):  
Rade M. Ciric ◽  
Sasa N. Mandic

AbstractThe Republic of Serbia must make significant efforts to promote and exploit renewable energy sources and increase energy efficiency in all energy sectors to ensure energy security and economic competitiveness, reduce the negative impact on the environment from energy production and use, and contribute to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Within the paper several issues of integration of recently realized CHP plant are introduced and discussed. Firstly, the legal and energy policy issues in the Republic of Serbia regarding connecting CHP to the grid are presented. The challenges and technical solutions for CHP connection to the grid, as well as power quality issues and the role of the CHP plant during the restoration of power supply during the maintenance of the substation and unplanned loss of high voltage supply, are presented and discussed. Finally, the impact of prospective massive integration of CHP on the energy balance and CO2 emission reduction in the province of Vojvodina in Serbia is investigated and discussed. Since it is the first CHP plant realized in Serbia, it is crucial that experience be shared to all potential stakeholders in the future energy efficiency projects.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahryar Habibi

Purpose The purpose of this study is to design a zero-energy home, which is known to be capable of balancing its own energy production and consumption close to zero. Development of low-energy homes and zero-net energy houses (ZEHs) is vital to move toward energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment. To achieve zero or low energy targets in homes, it is essential to use the design process that minimizes the need for active mechanical systems. Design/methodology/approach The methodology discussed in this paper consists of an interfacing building information modeling (BIM) tool and a simulation software to determine the potential influence of phase change materials on designing zero-net energy homes. Findings BIM plays a key role in advancing methods for architects and designers to communicate through a common software platform, analyze energy performance through all stages of the design and construction process and make decisions for improving energy efficiency in the built environment. Originality/value This paper reviews the literature relevant to the role of BIM in helping energy simulation for the performance of residential homes to more advanced levels and in modeling the integrated design process of ZEHs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahar Tayachi ◽  
Ahmed Imran Hunjra ◽  
Kirsten Jones ◽  
Rashid Mehmood ◽  
Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Faryan

Purpose Ownership structure deals with internal corporate governance mechanism, which plays important role in minimizing conflict of interests between shareholders and management Ownership structure is an important mechanism that influences the value of firm, financing and dividend decisions. This paper aims to examine the impact of the ownership structures, i.e. managerial ownership, institutional ownership on financing and dividend policy. Design/methodology/approach The authors use panel data of manufacturing firms from both developed and developing countries, and the generalized method of moments (GMM) is applied to analyze the results. The authors collect the data from DataStream for the period of 2010 to 2019. Findings The authors find that managerial ownership and ownership concentration have significant and positive effects on debt financing, but they have significant and negative effects on dividend policy. Institutional ownership shows a positive impact on financing decisions and dividend policy for sample firms. Originality/value This study fills the gap by proving the policy implications for both firms and investors, as managers prefer debt financing, but at the same time try to ignore dividend payment. Therefore, investors may not invest in firms with a higher proportion of managerial ownership and may choose to invest more in institutional ownership, which lowers the agency cost.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moncef Guizani ◽  
Ahdi Noomen Ajmi

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how Islamic banks' financing affects corporate investment efficiency.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the research purpose, an empirical model was constructed to describe the relationship between Islamic banks' financing and corporate investment efficiency. The empirical model was tested through generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique using a panel data of 163 Malaysian listed firms for the period 2007–2017.FindingsThis study provides evidence that Islamic banks' financing plays an important role in enhancing investment efficiency and that this positive effect comes mainly from non-PLS contracts. Moreover, the results show that the effect of Islamic banks' financing in preventing suboptimal investments is stronger in the financial crisis period. The results also reveal that the contribution of Islamic banks' financing in reducing suboptimal investments is more prominent when firms face over-investment problems.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to the debate on the financial implications of Islamic banks' financing modes by exploring their effect on corporate investment efficiency.Practical implicationsFrom a managerial perspective, the research findings are beneficial to Islamic bank managers to the extent that they highlight the role of Islamic financial contracts in improving corporate investment efficiency. In addition, the lower effect of PLS contracts on investment efficiency implies that policymakers in Malaysia should multiply their efforts to further expand the PLS financing.Originality/valueThis paper offers some insights on the role of Islamic banks' financing in mitigating agency conflicts and reducing asymmetric information problems. It is the first attempt focusing on the role of Islamic financing in fostering corporate investment decisions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Noman ◽  
Mohammad Nakibur Rahman ◽  
Atsuyuki Naka

Purpose – This paper aims to uncover potential contemporaneous relationship between foreign portfolio investment (FPI) and another popular type of cross-border investment outflow, namely, foreign direct investment (FDI). Design/methodology/approach – The relationship between FPI and FDI are modeled using simultaneous equations approach to take potential endogeneity in to account. In a panel of 45 countries over the period of 2001-2009, FPI and FDI are found to be strategically complimentary to each other. Findings – The two-stage least square estimates suggest existence of both statistically and economically significant relationship between these two types of outflows. In particular, the FDI outflow has empirically significant predictive power in explaining the FPI outflow. Similarly, the FPI outflow also has significant explanatory power for the observed level of FDI outflow. Second, the FPI has greater explanatory power for FDI outflow than the FDI for the FPI outflow. Originality/value – The authors believe that the paper would contribute to the relevant literature in terms of its originality and scope. The empirical findings of the paper have valuable policy implications.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Quoc Hoi ◽  
Hương Lan Trần

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the credit composition and income inequality reduction in Vietnam. In particular, the authors focus on the distinction between policy and commercial credits and investigate whether these two types of credit had adverse effects on income inequality. The authors also examine whether the impact of policy credit on income inequality is conditioned by the educational level and institutional quality.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the primary data set, which contains a panel of 60 provinces collected from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam from 2002 to 2016. The authors employ the generalized method of moments to solve the endogenous problem.FindingsThe authors show that while commercial credit increases income inequality, policy credit contributes to reducing income inequality in Vietnam. In addition, we provide evidence that the institutional quality and educational level condition the impact of policy credit on income inequality. Based on the findings, the paper implies that it was not the size of the private credit but its composition that mattered in reducing income inequality, due to the asymmetric effects of different types of credit.Originality/valueThis is the first study that examines the links between the two components of credit and income inequality as well as constraints of the links. The authors argue that analyzing the separate effects of commercial and policy credits is more important for explaining the role of credit in income inequality than the size of total credit.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-73
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammed Khalel Al-Shawaf ◽  
Tahira Yasmin

With the pace of development and competitiveness, innovation plays an important role to capture the market share. Various countries have effective strategies to enhance Research and Development (R&D) and exchange value added products in international market. So, based on this the aim of this research is to examine the role of R&D, industrial design and charges for intellectual property in innovative exports in South Korean economy. Time series data for the period 1998 to 2017, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) models are used to determine the dynamic interrelationship among the study variables. In summary, the overall results show that there is co-integration rank of in both trace test and value test at 1% significance level. Moreover, OLS and GMM findings depict that there is significant and positive coefficient for ID & RD which represent that they have positive impact on HT. Whereas, the IP displays a negative and significant relationship with high technology exports accordingly. Lastly, the diagnostic tests show that model is stable for the study time period and result is reliable. The current study also suggests some policy implications which can enhance innovative export products of South Korea while enhancing R&D.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 92-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Gordon ◽  
Joseph Ciorciari ◽  
Tom van Laer

Purpose This paper aims to present a study using encephalography (EEG) to investigate consumer responses to narrative videos in energy efficiency social marketing. The purpose is to assess the role of attention, working memory, emotion and imagination in narrative transportation, and how these stages of narrative transportation are ordered temporally. Design/methodology/approach Consumers took part in an EEG experiment during which they were shown four different narrative videos to identify brain response during specific video segments. Findings The study found that during the opening segment of the videos, attention, working memory and emotion were high before attenuating with some introspection at the end of this segment. During the story segment of the videos attention, working memory and emotion were also high, with attention decreasing later on but working memory, emotion and imagination being evident. Consumer responses to each of the four videos differed. Practical implications The study suggests that narratives can be a useful approach in energy efficiency social marketing. Specifically, marketers should attempt to gain focused attention and invoke emotional responses, working memory and imagination to help consumers become narratively transported. The fit between story object and story-receiver should also be considered when creating consumer narratives. Social implications Policymakers and organisations that wish to promote pro-social behaviours such as using energy efficiently or eating healthily should consider using narratives. Originality/value This research contributes to theory by identifying brain response relating to attention, working memory, emotion and imagination during specific stages of narrative transportation. The study considers the role of attention, emotion, working memory and imagination during reception of stories with different objects, and how these may relate to consumers’ narrative transportation.


foresight ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 535-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Horner ◽  
Antonio Geraldo de Paula Oliveira ◽  
Richard Silberglitt ◽  
Marcelo Khaled Poppe ◽  
Bárbara Bressan Rocha

Purpose This paper aims to use quantitative metrics to chart the unique history leading to Brazil’s leadership in renewable energy and identifies a set of meta-scenarios that define possible future carbon performance. These meta-scenarios provide a context for discussing specific energy policy implications both at the national scale and from the perspective of Brazil’s urban centres. Design/methodology/approach The paper defines and uses three metrics – energy efficiency, decarbonisation and carbon efficiency – to plot both Brazil’s historic energy pathway and a set of future energy scenarios put forth by various national and international energy agencies. The authors then use a meta-scenario approach to group these alternate pathways, identifying specific policy levers associated with the realisation of each. Findings The authors identify plausible policy changes that will help move Brazil off a current trajectory of stagnated energy performance to a “greener” scenario in which carbon efficiency improves even as Brazil’s economic growth continues. Such policies include energy efficiency programmes and continued expansion of the country’s already extensive hydropower and biomass capacity. Adoption of policies that would put Brazil on a more aggressive path towards a global sustainability scenario currently seems impractical. Originality/value This paper brings a standardized set of metrics to bear on Brazil’s unique energy history, which in turn helps identify specific policy impacts for continued GHG reduction in Brazil’s future from national and urban perspectives.


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