Energy intensity convergence in Iranian provinces: evidence from energy carriers' consumption intensity

Investigating the energy intensity convergence in Iran, as a country with very high energy intensity in the world, is important in order to assess whether the government's energy policies were effective to reduce energy intensity and its externality effects. This research investigated the convergence of total energy intensity and energy carriers' consumption intensity in Iran and whether the energy intensity in the provinces with high energy intensity has been converged to the provinces with low energy intensity. To that end, the Markov chain method was used to investigate the convergence of total energy intensity and energy carriers' consumption intensity in Iranian provinces from 2002 to 2016. The results indicated that there was club convergence in total energy, natural gas, electricity, and oil consumption intensity. Therefore, provinces with similar levels of energy intensity (e.g., high energy intensity and low energy intensity) converged to a unique steady state.