Effect of Energy Poverty Alleviation, Education Quality, and Gender Equality on Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis of the E7 Countries

SART G., ÖZTÜRK Ö. F., Bayar Y.

Sustainability (Switzerland), vol.18, no.3, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 18 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2026
  • Doi Number: 10.3390/su18031205
  • Journal Name: Sustainability (Switzerland)
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Geobase, INSPEC
  • Keywords: economic growth, energy poverty alleviation, gender equality, panel econometrics, quality education
  • Uşak University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Economic growth is required for making progress in most of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Energy access and quality education, along with gender equality, are amongst the SDGS and have also been amongst the essential factors to achieve improvement in economic growth. Hence, this research explores the impact of energy poverty alleviation, education quality, and gender equality on per capita GDP across E7 economies for the years of 2000–2024 benefiting from panel econometrics. The panel causality analysis uncovers a bidirectional causality between energy poverty alleviation, gender equality, and economic growth but a bilateral causal nexus from education quality to economic growth. Further, the cointegration coefficients indicate that education quality and gender equality are drivers of economic growth in E7 countries, while energy poverty alleviation is a positive determinant of economic growth in only China, India, and Indonesia.