Investments in the green economy are used for both environmental goals and fiscal stimulus. The success of these investments depends, at least in part, on whether they create new jobs and whether such jobs are available to workers hurt by a green transition. We evaluate the employment effect of green investments from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Most job creation from green ARRA investments is permanent and emerged in the post-ARRA period, but the plausible range of estimates is extremely wide (0-25 jobs per $1 million dollars). Such large uncertainty on aggregate effects masks substantial heterogeneity across communities. The green stimulus mostly benefited areas with a greater prevalence of pre-existing green skills that created 40% additional jobs than average communities. New jobs are primarily manual labor and in occupations performing green tasks, especially in renewable energy. However, manual labor wages do not increase. Descriptive evidence suggests that the skill gap between green energy and fossil fuel workers is modest, but green jobs require significantly more training. Because the spatial distribution of skills and jobs matters, using green stimuli can help reshape the economy in the long-run, but may also exacerbate regional inequities associated with the green energy transition.

The Employment Impact of Green Fiscal Push: Evidence from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act / D. Popp, F. Vona, G. Marin, Z. Chen. - In: BROOKINGS PAPERS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. - ISSN 1533-4465. - (2021 Sep 08). [Epub ahead of print]

The Employment Impact of Green Fiscal Push: Evidence from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

F. Vona
Secondo
;
2021

Abstract

Investments in the green economy are used for both environmental goals and fiscal stimulus. The success of these investments depends, at least in part, on whether they create new jobs and whether such jobs are available to workers hurt by a green transition. We evaluate the employment effect of green investments from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Most job creation from green ARRA investments is permanent and emerged in the post-ARRA period, but the plausible range of estimates is extremely wide (0-25 jobs per $1 million dollars). Such large uncertainty on aggregate effects masks substantial heterogeneity across communities. The green stimulus mostly benefited areas with a greater prevalence of pre-existing green skills that created 40% additional jobs than average communities. New jobs are primarily manual labor and in occupations performing green tasks, especially in renewable energy. However, manual labor wages do not increase. Descriptive evidence suggests that the skill gap between green energy and fossil fuel workers is modest, but green jobs require significantly more training. Because the spatial distribution of skills and jobs matters, using green stimuli can help reshape the economy in the long-run, but may also exacerbate regional inequities associated with the green energy transition.
Settore SECS-P/01 - Economia Politica
8-set-2021
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/904428
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