Purpose—The purpose of this paper is to examine the transmission mechanisms and dynamic spillover effects between gold spot prices and US equity prices following the 2007 Global Financial Crisis. It also aims at estimating hedging effectiveness between stocks and gold in major US financial market. Design/methodology/approach—There is large agreement in the literature that gold exhibits the main requirements to qualify as a risk-mitigating instrument against changes in stock prices and other market variables. To test the validity of this conception, this study applies a VAR-ADCC-BVGARCH model for 2,870 daily observations of US financial market during 2007–2017. Findings—The results suggest that the hedging effectiveness of gold against US stocks tends to diminish as stock market capitalization increases, implying that a marginal level of risk exposure is mitigated considering the relatively high proportion of funds that need to be invested in gold against stocks. Originality/value—The real economy is heavily influenced by financial markets, the implications of which are imperative for investors, policy makers and portfolio managers. The key findings of this study are critical in formulating optimal hedging strategies.

This paper aims at determining the relationship between economic growth and energy consumption in Jordan within the neo-classical productivity theory framework where capital, labour and energy are treated as separate production factors. It constructs an econometric model using annual time series data covering the period 1970–2011. After estimating the parameters of the model, it uses causality tests to examine the existence and direction of causality between output growth and production factors including energy consumption. Empirical findings suggest that there exists Granger causality running from GDP to energy consumption, but there is no Granger causality running from energy consumption to GDP. The implication being that energy supply constraints could be introduced with little or no impact on economic growth. This unidirectional causality provides empirical evidence that Jordan is a less energy-dependent economy. Such findings undermine the theory of energy conservation policies and support the Government policies that aim at raising the prices of energy and reducing public demand for energy consumption mainly to reduce the deficit of government budget, foreign debt, and its services.

The authors undertook to examine 720 monthly observations of activity in 15 Arab stock markets over four years (from 2014 to 2017) to identify the dynamic linkages among those markets. To achieve this, several forms of the Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model were utilized. Both panel and individual stationarity, in addition to cointegration tests, were employed to highlight the interaction between these markets. The results suggest that Arab stock markets have weak linkages with the exception of those of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The authors also find out that the TARCH, EGARCH, PARCH, and Component GARCH (1,1) models are suitable in terms of passing the econometric analysis tests. Nevertheless, they conclude that the EGARCH model is the most appropriate for capturing the cross-market dynamic linkages, thereby outperforming the other GARCH specifications under study. The empirical findings bear special implications for economic literature regarding linkages of stock markets in the Arab world.

Examining the Economic Impact of Renewable Energy in Green Buildings: A Case Study of Jordan

This paper aims to use photovoltaics as a case study of a green building in Jordan to provide electric power, boost the power provided by the national grid, and enhance energy policies to reduce CO2 emissions. The photovoltaic PV panels are used to provide nearly 7.4 kW of electricity power for the lighting. The study uses Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Screen (RETScreen) computer software to achieve this aim. Three different aspects were subjected to the analysis: Firstly, the proposed case power system; secondly, emission analysis; and finally, financial analysis. The worksheet of the analysis of emission reduction is used to estimate the emission of CO2 in the proposed project. The study findings reveal that the GHG emission factor in tCO2/MWh equals 0.924, while the net annual GHG emission reduction in tCO2 is 8,367.4, which is equivalent to the consumption of 19,459 barrels of crude oil.