Is there any room for renewable energy innovation in developing and transition economies? Data envelopment analysis of energy behaviour and resilience data

Abstract

Developing countries suffer from greater energy vulnerability and therefore decreased resilience to energy shocks. This feature significantly influences the innovation process which fact calls for selected explorations disentangling the behavioural aspects of socioeconomic and ecological features associated with energy policy. Such an inquiry has the purpose to detect energy efficiency characteristics connected with renewable energy innovation, pollutants and their contribution to enhancing resilience in developing countries. This returns important information on human behaviour related to energy use and policy interventions. To reach these goals, non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is exploited along with the Tobit model. Energy policy and sustainable development data are scrutinised for a total of 148 developing and transition economies. It thus emerges that the innovation in renewable energy improves efficiency, acting on the resilience of the analysed countries. Renewable energy improve the energy efficiency performance both in the case of carbon emissions and particulates. These outcomes clarify the possible role of energy transition and innovation in less industrialised countries. This finding seems to suggest important environmental implications for energy policy modelling.