Energy Poverty: Macroeconomic Insight on Romania, Bulgaria and the Vișegrad Group within the European Context
Recent studies suggest a core-periphery pattern of energy poverty in the European Union. The energy vulnerability of Romania, Bulgaria, and the economies of the Visegrad Group as "peripheral" countries is frequently attributed to the legacy of the centrally planned economy and post-comm...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Amfiteatru Economic |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.amfiteatrueconomic.ro/temp/Article_3205.pdf |
| Summary: | Recent studies suggest a core-periphery pattern of energy poverty in the European Union.
The energy vulnerability of Romania, Bulgaria, and the economies of the Visegrad Group as
"peripheral" countries is frequently attributed to the legacy of the centrally planned economy
and post-communist economic transformations towards a market economy. The aim of the
paper is to investigate the potential occurrence of a core-periphery pattern and the relative
situation of Romania, Bulgaria and the V4 countries in this pattern by employing a model
that integrates three energy poverty thresholds, namely physical, technological, and
economic. The research findings reveal some disparities among the selected countries
following each of these thresholds and suggest the emergence of two clusters that are
describable by a core-periphery pattern but, in our opinion, with some different meanings
from those stated by classical economic development theory. The evidence provided by our
study would prove its value and usefulness, on the one hand, by opening up new research
directions and, on the other hand, by describing a state of affairs that calls for increasing
attention from macroeconomic decision-makers, all the more so as the contextual factors that
have shaped the socioeconomic environment in recent years (the Coronavirus pandemic, the
military conflict in Ukraine) add even more value to research in this thematic registry, since
not only energy security but also the achievement of sustainable development goals are
seriously questioned |
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| ISSN: | 1582-9146 2247-9104 |