The asymmetric effect of economic and political stability on renewable energy generation: an example of developed and emerging countries

This study investigates the asymmetric effects of economic and political stability on renewable energy use across a sample of developed and developing countries. While renewable energy investments have predominantly been examined within the framework of political stability in the literature, the role of the misery index (MISERY)—which captures both inflation and unemployment—has received relatively limited attention. To address this gap, the study employs the nonlinear panel ARDL (PMG-NARDL) approach for 37 countries using annual data covering the period 2002–2022, and tests the robustness of the findings through the AMG and CCEMG estimators. In the analysis, positive changes in the misery index (MISERY+) indicate a deterioration in economic conditions, whereas negative changes (MISERY-) reflect an improvement. The PMG-NARDL results reveal that the MISERY component has a significant impact on renewable energy use in some model and country groups; however, this effect appears to weaken under the AMG and CCEMG estimations. Similarly, the coefficients for political stability fail to retain statistical significance under alternative estimators. In contrast, while per capita income generally promotes the use of renewable energy, ecological footprint indicators exert a strong and negative influence on renewable energy investments across all models. Overall, the findings suggest that income levels, environmental pressures, and structural factors play a more decisive role in the renewable energy transition than short-term macroeconomic fluctuations.