This paper uses a new measure of international trade, i.e. the international trade potential index, to measure the welfare gains from trade across countries. The measure is based on the import shares of countries in their gross domestic products. It is observed that gains from international trade are low in prosperous economies, but they are larger in poorer economies. Then, the paper investigates the impact of the index of international trade potential on renewable energy consumption in the unbalanced panel dataset of 36 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries from 1966 to 2016. The novel evidence is that international trade potential is positively related to renewable energy consumption. It is also found that per capita income, per capita carbon dioxide emissions, and energy prices increase the demand for renewable energy.

本文采用一种新的国际贸易衡量标准，即国际贸易潜力指数，来衡量各国贸易带来的福利收益。该措施基于各国进口占其国内生产总值的份额。据观察，国际贸易的收益在繁荣的经济体中较低，但在较贫穷的经济体中更大。然后，本文在 1966 年至 2016 年 36 个经济合作与发展组织成员国的不平衡面板数据集中研究了国际贸易潜力指数对可再生能源消费的影响。新的证据是国际贸易潜力是正向的。与可再生能源消耗有关。还发现人均收入、人均二氧化碳排放量、