Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/267496 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 031.2022
Publisher: 
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milano
Abstract: 
As governments worldwide increase their commitments to tackling climate change, the number of low-carbon jobs are expected to grow rapidly. Here we provide evidence on the characteristics of low-carbon jobs in the US using comprehensive online job postings data between 2010-2019. By accurately identifying low-carbon jobs and comparing them to similar jobs in the same occupational group, we show that low-carbon jobs differ from high-carbon or generic jobs in a number of important ways. Low-carbon jobs have higher skill requirements across a broad range of skills, especially technical ones. However, the wage premium for low-carbon jobs has declined over time and the geographic overlap between low- and high-carbon jobs is limited. Overall, our findings suggest the low-carbon transition entails potentially high labour reallocation costs associated with re-skilling and earning losses, indicating public investments in skills is needed to deliver a smooth and rapid transition.
Subjects: 
Low-carbon jobs
fossil-fuel jobs
skill gaps
job vacancy data
green wage premium
distributional effects
low-carbon transition
JEL: 
J23
J24
J31
Q52
Q54
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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