Monika Papież, Sławomir Śmiech* Economic Growth and Energy Consumption in Post-Communist Countries: a Bootstrap Panel

A b s t r a c t. The aim of this paper is to identify Granger causality between energy consump-tion and economic growth in post-communist countries in the period 1993 to 2011. Bootstrap panel Granger causality test was used as a research tool in order to accommodate for country-specific heterogeneity and to avoid the problem of cross-sectional dependence. The analysis allowed for the verification of the hypothesis regarding the links between eco-nomic growth and energy consumption in nine countries. The hypotheses were confirmed: the growth hypothesis in three countries and the feedback hypothesis in one country. K e y w o r d s: energy consumption, economic growth, bootstrap panel Granger causality test, energy efficiency. J E L Classification: C33, Q43