Papers by Author: Ming Liu

Abstract: This research studies the causal relationship between energy consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), and foreign direct investment (FDI) in Germany for a period of 1971-2010. The empirical results reveal that there is a unidirectional causality running from GDP to energy consumption and from GDP running to FDI in Germany. This is due to the highly rising trends of economic activities in the country which can lead to the expansion in energy consumption. As there is an increase in economic activities within the country, then the growth rate will be in the rising path. As a result, the foreign investors will see the promising future and then invest in the host country. The conservative energy policy is recommended to support the energy saving because it will have little or no adverse effect on GDP. The energy efficiency should be applied by encouraging the use of renewable energy sources in economic activities as an alternative to stimulate the economic growth of the country. Also, the public expenditure should be expanded to increase the country’s economy and attract foreign investors. In addition, the government should support for the service industry such as insurance, finance and banking, and tourism because this type of industry does not consume as much energy as the manufacturing industry does in the overall manufacturing processes. Besides, the government should provide tax credit for the manufacturers who can fulfill the energy efficiency for their operation.

Abstract: There have been considerable efforts contributed to the development of effective energy demand forecast models due to its critical role for economic development and environmental protection. This study focused on the adoption of artificial neural network (ANN) and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models for energy consumption forecasting in Hong Kong over the period of 1975-2010. Four predictors were considered, including population, GDP, exports, and total visitor arrivals. The results show most ANN models demonstrate acceptable forecast accuracy when single predictor is considered. The best single input model is the case with GDP as predictor. Population and exports are the next proper single inputs. The model with total visitor arrivals as sole predictor does not perform satisfactorily. This indicates that tourism development demonstrates a different pattern from that of energy consumption. In addition, the forecast accuracy of ANN does not improve considerably as the number of predictors increase. Findings imply that with the ANN approach, choosing appropriate predictors is more important than increasing the number of predictors. On the other hand, ARIMA generates forecasts as accurate as some good cases by ANN. Results suggest that ARIMA is not only a parsimonious but effective approach for energy consumption forecasting in Hong Kong.

Abstract: Since 1990, the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), a United States based national non-profit organization, has led the green restaurant movement by providing certification for restaurants to become more environmentally responsible. Certification services include rating existing restaurants and food service operations with points in seven environmental categories. The present study intended to employ Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to examine and understand the impact of consumers’ beliefs on attitudes and patronage intention toward green restaurant in Taiwan. A total of 389 respondents completed a survey conducted at the downtown hectic transit station of Taipei’s Metro system. The results of a structural equation analysis revealed that consumers’ beliefs of green restaurant positively affected their attitudes and patronage intentions toward green restaurant. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Abstract: This study examines the effect of tourism development on energy consumption, CO₂ and economic growth in China over the period from 1981 to 2010. An extension of ARIMA model was performed to investigate the relationship between variables. Two principle test results emerge from this study. First, increases on visitors may largely give rise to GDP. On the other hand, increase on tourism receipts may result in greater energy consumption and CO₂ emission to some extent as compared to number of visitors. However, the amount of effects from either tourism receipts or number of visitors to energy consumption and CO₂ emission are limited. From an energy conservation and economic growth point of view, the results support the hypothesis of tourism-led economic growth in the China economy with relatively limited increase of energy consumption and CO₂ emission.

Abstract: This study examines the causal relationship among economic growth, energy consumption and tourism development in Taiwan over the period from 1965 to 2010. Three Principle test results emerge from this study. First, test results indicate a long-run equilibrium relationship and a bi-direction of causality between energy consumption and tourism development with one proxy, number of visitors, being more significant than the other, visitor expenditures. Second, a bi-directional causality between energy consumption and economic growth is observed. Third, test results indicate no reciprocal causal relationship between tourism development and economic growth. From an energy conservation and sustainable tourism point of view, it is suggested policy makers and industry leaders develop high value, high profit tourism products that aim on attracting more visitor expenditures rather than numbers of visitor.