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Who’s fit for the low-carbon transition? Emerging skills and wage gaps in job ad data

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  • Saussay, Aurelien
  • Sato, Misato
  • Vona, Francesco
  • O’Kane, Layla

Abstract

As governments worldwide increase their commitments to tackling climate change, the number of low-carbon jobs is 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 there will be labour reallocation costs as workers transition into low-carbon activities. This suggests a role for targeted public investments in re-skilling to minimise transitional costs and ensure a workforce fit to deliver a rapid transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Saussay, Aurelien & Sato, Misato & Vona, Francesco & O’Kane, Layla, 2022. "Who’s fit for the low-carbon transition? Emerging skills and wage gaps in job ad data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117253, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:117253
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/117253/
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    2. Bluedorn, John & Hansen, Niels-Jakob & Noureldin, Diaa & Shibata, Ippei & Tavares, Marina M., 2023. "Transitioning to a greener labor market: Cross-country evidence from microdata," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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