This study examines the relationship between renewable and nuclear energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth by using the Granger causality and non-linear impulse response function in a business cycle in Spain. We estimate the threshold vector autoregression (TVAR) model on the basis of annual data from the period 1970–2018, which are disaggregated into quarterly data to obtain robust empirical results through avoiding a sample size problem. Our analysis reveals that economic growth and CO₂ emissions are positively correlated during expansions but not during recessions. Moreover, we find that rising nuclear energy consumption leads to decreased CO₂ emissions during expansions, while the impact of increasing renewable energy consumption on emissions is negative but insignificant. In addition, there is a positive feedback between nuclear energy consumption and economic growth, but unidirectional positive causality running from renewable energy consumption to economic growth in upturns. Our findings do indicate that both nuclear and renewable energy consumption contribute to a reduction in emissions; however, the rise in economic activity, leading to a greater increase in emissions, offsets this positive impact of green energy. Therefore, a decoupling of economic growth from CO₂ emissions is not observed. These results demand some crucial changes in legislation targeted at reducing emissions, as green energy alone is insufficient to reach this goal.

This study explores the impact of clean energy and non-renewable energy consumption on CO₂ emissions and economic growth within two phases (formative and expansion) of renewable energy diffusion for three selected countries (France, Spain, and Sweden). The vector autoregression (VAR) model is estimated on the basis of annual data disaggregated into quarterly data. The Granger causality results reveal distinctive differences in the causality patterns across countries and two phases of renewables diffusion. Clean energy consumption contributes to a decline of emissions more clearly in the expansion phase in France and Spain. However, this effect seems to be counteracted by the increases in emissions due to economic growth and non-renewable energy consumption. Therefore, clean energy consumption has not yet led to a decoupling of economic growth from emissions in France and Spain; in contrast, the findings for Sweden evidence such a decoupling due to the neutrality between economic growth and emissions. Generally, the findings show that despite the enormous growth of renewables and active mitigation policies, CO₂ emissions have not substantially decreased in selected countries or globally. Focused and coordinated policy action, not only at the EU level but also globally, is urgently needed to overhaul existing fossil-fuel economies into low-carbon economies and ultimately meet the relevant climate targets.

For a long time, the explanation of the various determinants of oil price fluctuations and their impact on economic activity has been based on the supply and demand mechanism. However, with various volatile changes in the international situation in recent years, such as threats to public health and an increase in regional conflicts, special attention has been paid to the geopolitical context as an additional driver of oil price fluctuations. This study examines the relationship between oil price changes and GDP growth and other macroeconomic variables from the perspective of the vulnerability of oil-importing and oil-exporting countries to unexpected oil price shocks, driven by tense geopolitical events, in three European countries (Norway, Germany, and Poland). We apply the Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model and orthogonalized impulse response functions, based on quarterly data, in regard to two samples: the first spans 1995Q1–2019Q4 (pre-2020 sample), with relatively gradual changes in oil prices, and the second spans 1995Q1–2024Q2 (whole sample), with sudden fluctuations in oil prices due to geopolitical developments. A key finding of this research is that vulnerability to unpredictable oil price shocks related to geopolitical tensions is higher than in regard to expected gradual changes in oil prices, both in oil-importing and oil-exporting countries. Different causality patterns and stronger responses in regard to GDP growth during the period, including in regard to tense geopolitical events in comparison to the pre-2020 sample, lead to the belief that economies are not more resilient to oil price shocks as has been suggested by some studies, which referred to periods that were not driven by geopolitical events. Our research also suggests that countries implementing policies to reduce oil dependency and promote investment in alternative energy sources are better equipped to mitigate the adverse effects of oil price shocks.

The paper examines asymmetric responses of CO ₂ emissions to changes in GDP through the use of the VAR model considered for two specifications: linear and asymmetric in the EU countries divided into three groups with regard to the Knowledge Economy Index. Granger causality tests, the impulse response function and forecast error variance decomposition suggest that the GDP shocks have asymmetric effects on CO ₂ emissions in Belgium and Spain. Some weaker evidence are also found for France, Portugal and Germany. The evidence that the response of CO ₂ emissions to GDP shocks is procyclical or even asymmetric for some EU countries indicates that policy makers should also respond to this by altering the stringency of a policy.

This article examines the relationships between different dimensions of well-being and income inequalities across selected Central Eastern European countries after joining the European Union in 2004. Regarding the multivariety of well-being concept, it explores its 5 dimensions (material dimension, health dimension, education dimension, environmental dimension, happiness). Accounting for the interactions between dimensions of well-being matters for the inequalities, we conducted an in-depth analysis by adopting PMG estimation and panel ARDL model to assess the short-run and long-run links between variables. The results of conducted analysis allowed us to identify the canals through which income inequalities are linked directly or indirectly with the particular dimensions of well-being. In the long run, all the dimensions of well-being significantly affected income inequalities, and income inequality shaped material dimension, health, education, natural environment, and happiness. However, in the short run, the only dimension that shaped income inequalities was education. Income inequalities directly affected both health dimension and happiness.

This paper applies the threshold cointegration technique developed by Enders and Siklos (2001) to investigate the impact of an oil price changes on changes in production and inflation in the presence of structural break in seven European Union countries. This technique will allow for a different speed of adjustment to the long-run equilibrium depending on whether production in selected economies is above or below the long-run relationship. Given the presence of asymmetric cointegration between oil prices, production and inflation, we estimate threshold error correction models to examine long- and short-run Granger causality. We found evidence for cointegration with asymmetric adjustment in the case of France, Denmark and the total EU.