Empowering Bangladesh: Illuminating the path to sustainable economic growth: Using a cutting‐edge non‐linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach

Abstract

AbstractBangladesh, a developing country, is experiencing a rapid increase in its energy requirements due to its consistent economic growth in recent years. However, little is known about the economic contributions of access to electricity (AE), energy consumption (EC), and population growth (PG). In this study, the asymmetrical connection among PG, EC and electricity accessibility in Bangladesh is examined over a span of 36 years, from 1985 to 2021. The study used non‐linear ARDL cointegration methods as well as Granger Causality. For robustness, this study used Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR). The results reveal that PG has a notable favourable impact on economic growth, and conversely, a declining population also leads to a substantial positive influence on economic growth. Both favourable and adverse fluctuations in electricity accessibility exhibit detrimental effects on long‐term economic growth. Over the course of time, enhancing power accessibility has contributed to the rise in economic growth. Unfavourable EC shocks exhibit a meaningfully positive influence on economic growth in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, the positive EC shock does not have a notable impact on long‐term economic growth. The data also demonstrate bidirectional causality between PG and economic growth and EC and economic growth (EG). There is also a unidirectional causal link between PG and AE and EC and PG. The findings have significant policy ramifications for those in charge of making decisions in Bangladesh that would help the country achieve its economic goals by bolstering its energy industry.