Work

Distributional Equity in the Employment and Wage Impacts of Energy Transitions

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: We use restricted-access, geocoded data on the near-universe of workers in 23 US states to quantify the impact of wind energy development on local earnings and employment, by race, ethnicity, sex, and educational attainment. We find significant impacts that persist for several years beyond the project construction phase. Our estimates are larger than those from previous studies but still small relative to typical economic multipliers for fiscal spending or investment in other industries. We find the largest percentage increases for black workers and workers who either do not have a high school diploma or who have a college degree. We also find the economic gains for men to be much larger than those for women. Finally, we find estimates from data aggregated to the county level to be significantly lower than our worker-level estimates. We suggest a number of areas for further study building off the justice implications of our findings.

Source: Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

DOI: 10.1086/732186

Authors: Ben Gilbert, Ben Hoen, Hannah Gagarin

Language: English

Topic: Sustainable Development and Policies

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities, Affordable and clean energy, No poverty, Gender equality

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Wind Energy Technologies Office