Energy consumption, income and price interactions in Saudi Arabian economy : a vector autoregression analysis

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the interactions among energy consumption, real income and energy price in Saudi Arabia using annual data from 1982 to 2007. We analyzed the dynamic interaction by applying widely used time series analysis techniques such as unit root tests, Vector Autoregressive model, Granger causality tests, impulse response functions and the forecast error variance decompositions. Results show that real income and energy consumption are clearly Granger causal for energy price, and there is bidirectional causality between energy consumption and income. On the other hand energy price isn't a Granger causal for either energy consumption or real income. Thus, real income can play an important role in policy that targeting to enhance the energy efficiency to save energy in Saudi Arabia. - energy consumption ; vector autoregressive (VAR) model ; Granger causality ; impulse response