Hydropower & HDI Nexus in Nordic Countries Using VAR Techniques

Abstract

Although the movement of people from rural to urban areas has caused the increased use of energy, the abundance of water resources can be made into a form of renewable energy known as hydroelectricity. As European countries are ranked as the first users and exporters of hydropower, the production of renewable energy in developed countries such as the Nordic region has caused great impacts on economic growth and human development. The importance of this paper is to investigate the relationship between hydroelectricity and the Human Development Index by depending on some variables such as urbanization, rule of law, corruption, trade openness, and GDP per capita from 2002 to 2021 in Nordic countries. The results were estimated depending on impulse response function after conducting the Vector autoregressive model (VAR) model and Granger causality test. Results showed a negative impact from hydro plants in the short run but a significant positive impact in the long run in Nordic countries. The long-term sustainment of Human Development Index (HDI) is due to policies limiting the immigration of labor as well as protection of energy use. Water batteries are gaining popularity across Europe and their implementation is near mandatory.