Several studies have studied the determinants of energy efficiency. However, the influence of government institutions was mostly ignored as only few studies have provided evidence on the role of institutions in enhancing domestic energy efficiency. In this paper, we extend the previous literature by asking whether neighboring country's institutions could also have an impact on domestic energy efficiency. Thus, with the stochastic frontier approach and spatial econometric model, we investigate the spatial effect of institutional quality on energy efficiency in a panel of 99 countries (economies) for the period 1995–2016. Our results, first confirm the presence of spatial correlations in energy efficiency across countries. Secondly, we discover that the direct positive effect of institutional quality on energy efficiency is such that it overcomes the insignificant indirect negative effect, which suggests a total positive and significant effect. Our results, therefore, indicate that institutional quality matters in energy efficiency improvement and being close to countries with good institutional framework has a positive effect on domestic energy efficiency. Finally, the energy efficiency estimates demonstrate that global energy issue can only be addressed with long-term policies that increases technological progress.

一些研究已经研究了能源效率的决定因素。然而，政府机构的影响大多被忽视，因为只有少数研究提供了有关机构在提高国内能源效率方面的作用的证据。在本文中，我们通过询问邻国的制度是否也会对国内能源效率产生影响来扩展先前的文献。因此，通过随机前沿方法和空间计量经济学模型，我们研究了 1995-2016 年期间 99 个国家（经济体）的制度质量对能源效率的空间影响。我们的结果首先证实了各国能源效率的空间相关性。第二，我们发现制度质量对能源效率的直接积极影响是它克服了微不足道的间接消极影响，这表明总体积极而显着的影响。因此，我们的研究结果表明，制度质量对提高能源效率很重要，靠近具有良好制度框架的国家对国内能源效率有积极影响。最后，能源效率估计表明，全球能源问题只能通过促进技术进步的长期政策来解决。表明制度质量对提高能源效率很重要，靠近具有良好制度框架的国家对国内能源效率有积极影响。最后，能源效率估计表明，全球能源问题只能通过促进技术进步的长期政策来解决。表明制度质量对提高能源效率很重要，靠近具有良好制度框架的国家对国内能源效率有积极影响。最后，能源效率估计表明，全球能源问题只能通过促进技术进步的长期政策来解决。