Do the effects of unilateral and multilateral sanctions on energy poverty differ in target economies?

This paper explores whether the effects of various types of unilateral and multilateral sanctions, such as military, financial, or trade sanctions, on energy poverty differ in target economies. It also examines the moderating effects of income levels on the underlying relationships. A dyadic panel data set comprising of 5151 country pairs with 199 sender states (economies) and 131 target states (economies) over the period 1995 to 2020 is used for the empirical analysis. Using fixed effects and instrumental variable approaches, we show that various types of multilateral sanctions increase energy poverty in target economies while the effects of most unilateral sanctions are largely insignificant. Results also show that most multilateral sanctions exacerbate energy poverty in low-income countries but alleviate energy poverty in high-income countries. Policy instruments, such as targeted energy allowance, financial incentives for energy efficiency improvements, and free energy advisory services solely for low-income groups, can help reduce energy poverty in sanctioned economies. • Different types of multilateral sanctions increase energy poverty in target economies. • The effects of most types of unilateral sanctions on energy poverty are insignificant. • Most multilateral sanctions exacerbate energy poverty in low-income economies. • High-income can reverse the energy poverty inducing effects of most multilateral sanctions.