Welfare gains from international trade and renewable energy demand: Evidence from the OECD countries
用国际贸易潜力指数衡量各国贸易福利，发现富裕国家收益低、贫穷国家收益高，并证明贸易潜力正向影响可再生能源消费，人均收入、碳排放和能源价格也促进可再生能源需求。
This paper uses a new measure of international trade, i.e. the international trade potential index, to measure the welfare gains from trade across countries. The measure is based on the import shares of countries in their gross domestic products. It is observed that gains from international trade are low in prosperous economies, but they are larger in poorer economies. Then, the paper investigates the impact of the index of international trade potential on renewable energy consumption in the unbalanced panel dataset of 36 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries from 1966 to 2016. The novel evidence is that international trade potential is positively related to renewable energy consumption. It is also found that per capita income, per capita carbon dioxide emissions, and energy prices increase the demand for renewable energy.