Do Renewables Create Local Jobs?

65 Pages Posted: 27 May 2022

See all articles by Natalia Fabra

Natalia Fabra

Charles III University of Madrid

Eduardo Gutiérrez Chacón

Banco de España

Aitor Lacuesta

Banco de España

Roberto Ramos

Banco de España

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 2022

Abstract

We examine the temporal and spatial propagation of the impacts of renewable energy investments on local employment and unemployment. We exploit the variation in the timing and size of the investment projects across more than 2,000 Spanish municipalities from 2006-2020. We find strong heterogeneity in the magnitude and the pattern of the impacts for solar and wind investments. On average, solar investments increase employment by local firms (mainly during the construction phase), but the effects on unemployment of local residents are weak. This suggests that firms tend to hire non-residents to carry out the plants' construction. The effects of wind investments on local employment and unemployment are mostly non-significant. Our results suggest that the hosting municipalities should be compensated in order to more evenly distribute the benefits from renewable investments.

Keywords: employment, job multipliers, NIMBY, Renewable Energy, spatial effects, unemployment

JEL Classification: C33, L94, O25, R23

Suggested Citation

Fabra, Natalia and Gutiérrez Chacón, Eduardo and Lacuesta, Aitor and Ramos, Roberto, Do Renewables Create Local Jobs? (April 2022). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP17206, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4121381

Natalia Fabra (Contact Author)

Charles III University of Madrid ( email )

CL. de Madrid 126
Madrid, 28903
Spain

Eduardo Gutiérrez Chacón

Banco de España ( email )

Alcala 50
Madrid 28014
Spain

Aitor Lacuesta

Banco de España ( email )

Madrid 28014
Spain

Roberto Ramos

Banco de España ( email )

Alcala 50
Madrid 28014
Spain

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
2
Abstract Views
588
PlumX Metrics