The effect of temporary and permanent shocks of productivity on intensity of energy consumption in Iran (Application of Blanchard-Quah method)

Energy consumption in various sectors of Iran economy is very significant, hence the necessity of reducing energy consumption in the economy considerrable. Improvement of total factor productivity can lead to lower production inputs as well as energy consumption. The aim of the present study is to survey the productivity shock affect on intensity of energy consumption during 1974-2010 in Iran. For this purpose, productivity shocks were separated to components of temporary and permanent with using Blanchard-Quah method. Then, the effect of temporary and permanent shocks of productivity on energy intensity was studied using structural vector autoregressive model. The results of model estimation show that temporary shocks of productivity are the main source of short-term changes in energy intensity. In addition, the permanent shocks of productivity will lead to reducing energy intensity in the long-run. Hence, to reduce energy consumption in Iran, total factor productivity growth should be improved.