1,721,067 research outputs found
Replication and robustness analysis of ‘Energy and economic growth in the USA: a multivariate approach’
We replicate Stern (1993, Energy Economics), who argues and empirically demonstrates that it is necessary (i) to use quality-adjusted energy use and (ii) to include capital and labor as control variables in order to find Granger causality from energy use to GDP. Though we could not access the original dataset, we can verify the main original inferences using data that are as close as possible to the original. We analyze the robustness of the original findings to an alternative estimation approach, alternative definitions of variables, and alternative model specifications for both the (almost) original time span (1949-1990) and an extended time span (1949-2015). p-values tend to be substantially smaller if energy use is quality adjusted rather than measured by total joules and if capital is included. Including labor has mixed results. These findings tend to largely support Stern’s (1993) two main conclusions and emphasize the importance of accounting for changes in the energy mix in time series modeling of the energy-GDP relationship and controlling for other factors of production. We also discuss how the inclusion of the original author in designing the replication study using a pre-analysis plan can help to counterbalance the incentive of replicating authors to disconfirm major findings of the original article to increase the probability of getting published.ARC DP16010075
Lag length selection and p-hacking in Granger causality testing: prevalence and performance of meta-regression models
The academic system incentivizes p-hacking, where researchers select estimates and statistics with statistically significant p-values for publication. We analyze the complete process of Granger causality testing including p-hacking using Monte Carlo simulations. If the degrees of freedom of the underlying vector autoregressive model are small to moderate, information criteria tend to overfit the lag length and overfitted vector autoregressive models tend to result in false-positive findings of Granger causality. Researchers may p-hack Granger causality tests by estimating multiple vector autoregressive models with different lag lengths and then selecting only those models that reject the null of Granger non-causality for presentation in the final publication. We show that overfitted lag lengths and the corresponding false-positive findings of Granger causality can frequently occur in research designs that are prevalent in empirical macroeconomics. We demonstrate that meta-regression models can control for spuriously significant Granger causality tests due to overfitted lag lengths. Finally, we find evidence that false-positive findings of Granger causality may be prevalent in the large literature that tests for Granger causality between energy use and economic output, while we do not find evidence for a genuine relation between these variables as tested in the literature
The Impact of Electricity on Economic Development: A Macroeconomic Perspective
We find that electricity use and access are strongly correlated with economic development, as theory would suggest. Despite large empirical literatures and suggestive case evidence, there are, however, few methodologically strong studies that establish causal effects on an economy-wide basis. There is some evidence that reliability of electricity supply is important for economic growth. We propose that future research focuses on identifying the causal effects of electricity reliability, infrastructure, and access on economic growth; testing the replicability of the literature; and deepening our theoretical understanding of how lack of availability of electricity can be a constraint to growth.UK Department for International Development funding under the Energy and Economic Growth research programme
A multicointegration model of global climate change
We model the role of the ocean in climate change, using the concept of multicointegration. Surface temperature and radiative forcing cointegrate and the accumulated cointegration disequilibria represent the change in Earth system heat content, which is predominantly stored in the ocean. System heat content in turn cointegrates with surface temperature. Using a multicointegrating 1(2) model, we find that the climate sensitivity is 2.8 degrees C and the rate of adjustment to equilibrium is realistically slow. These results contrast strongly with those from 1(1) cointegration models and are more consistent with global circulation models. We also estimate Earth system heat content as a latent variable for the full period, 1850-2014, and this predicted heat content cointegrates with available ocean heat content observations for 1940-2014
How large is the economy-wide rebound effect in middle income countries? Evidence from Iran
Recent research suggests that the economy-wide rebound effect is near 100% in several high-income countries. Is it similarly large in middle-income countries? Iran is a middle-income country that is also a large oil producer. We estimate the economy-wide rebound effect for Iran using a structural vector autoregressive model and quarterly data from 1988:3 to 2018:1. We identify the structural shocks by independent component analysis, a statistical identification technique that does not require us to impose restrictions based on economic theory on the model. The results show that in response to an energy efficiency shock energy use falls initially but returns to near its original level over time. The economy-wide rebound effect in Iran is 84% after 6 years and its confidence interval includes 100%. This implies that policies that encourage energy efficiency innovation will have limited long-term impact on energy use
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Are biodiversity losses valued differently when they are caused by human activities? A meta-analysis of the non-use valuation literature
AN and SL are funded by fellowships of the Research
Foundation Flanders (11G2319N and 12G5418N,
respectively)
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