Fuinhas, José AlbertoMarques, António Cardoso2019-01-142019-01-142012http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/6765The paper examines the nexus between primary energy consumption and growth in Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey (PIGST), with annual time series data, from 1965 to 2009. PIGST are southern European economies which have experienced several episodes that make them of particular interest to the study of periods of economic expansion and stagnation. An ARDL bounds test approach is a suitable technique to examine energy-growth nexus, within the context of countries with both sporadic shocks (outliers) and permanent shocks (structural breaks). Empirical results suggest bidirectional causality between energy and growth in both the long-run and short-run, supporting the feedback hypothesis. The results reveal themselves to be robust to panel framework. An energy conservation policy will reduce GDP growth, while a saving phenomenon is observed, since one additional unit of product requires less than one unit of energy.engARDL bounds testShort and long-run elasticitiesEnergy-growth nexusPIGSTjournal article10.1016/j.eneco.2011.10.003