Stochastic convergence in per capita energy use in world

This paper examines the pattern of convergence in per capita energy use in a sample of 109-country covering the period 1971–2013. In addition to the full sample of countries, existence of convergence is also examined in seven subsets of countries: OECD countries, OPEC countries, and also countries in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, Europe, and the Middle East. In contrast to the previous studies which mainly used unit root or stationarity tests, we use the results from subsampling confidence intervals. Furthermore, instead of considering convergence to a particular country benchmark, we explore all the possible pair-wise convergences. The findings, based on 7962 pairs of countries, are more favorable to the existence of the convergence. Another finding of the paper is that the per capita energy use, despite being convergent, is highly persistent. •The paper studies the convergence of per capita energy consumption in 109-countries and seven subsets of countries.•We use subsampling confidence intervals for the sum of the AR(p) coefficients to examine the convergence.•Instead of considering convergence to a particular country benchmark, we explore all the possible pair-wise convergences.•The results based on 7962 pairs of countries, are more favorable to the existence of the convergence.