Electricy production and Spanish growth. A long term perspective

Abstract

The electricity sector has been key in the industrialization process. Hence, the analysis of the relationship between electricity production and growth becomes an interesting field of research, highlighted in the historiography but with contradictory empirical results. In this paper, using a cointegration model for short time series, we examine the causal relationship between electricity and the Spanish GDP during the period 1945-2011 and we conclude that electricity production boosted GDP growth and not the other way round. Disaggregating by sources of generation, it is concluded that both the electricity obtained from renewable sources and nuclear power led to economic growth; this economic growth, however, led to the production of electricity in conventional power plants. Consequently, policies that promote renewable or nuclear power can raise Spanish economic growth.