Is there convergence in per capita renewable energy consumption across US States? Evidence from LM and RALS-LM unit root tests with breaks

摘要

Given the federal and state policy initiatives to curb fossil fuel consumption and expand the use of renewable energy sources in the U.S., this study investigates the convergence properties of per capita renewable energy consumption across U.S. states (including the District of Columbia). In addition to cross-sectional tests of 13 and sigma-convergence, our study employs LM and RALS-LM unit root tests with endogenously determined structural breaks to test for stochastic convergence. Traditional cross-sectional tests indicate that both (beta- and sigma-convergence of per capita renewable energy consumption exists across U.S. states. Moreover, our results also provides clear support for stochastic convergence of per capita renewable energy consumption for a majority of U.S. states (including the District of Columbia) once allowance is made for structural breaks.