Energy and Economic Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from OECD Countries

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to the original order of the global economy and has had an influence on the social and economic growth of countries all over the globe. As a result, the aim of this paper is to explore the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on a sample of OECD countries with regard to energy and the economy. For empirical investigation, data from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2022 are used, and the system generalized method of moments is applied. The findings reveal that during the COVID-19 pandemic, energy consumption impeded economic growth while economic expansion was the primary driver of energy resource consumption. Furthermore, an examination of heterogeneous effects reveals that economic growth and energy consumption are heterogeneous both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. To conclude, these findings might provide a contribution to the body of research that has already been undertaken on this subject.