Decoupling Economic Growth and Energy Use. An Empirical Cross-Country Analysis for 10 Manufacturing Sectors

The paper provides an empirical analysis of decoupling economic growth and energy use and its various determinants by exploring trends in energy- and labour productivity across 10 manufacturing sectors and 14 OECD countries for the period 1970-1997. A cross-country decomposition analysis reveals that in some countries structural changes contributed considerably to aggregate manufacturing energy-productivity growth and, hence, to decoupling, while in other countries they partly offset energy-efficiency improvements.