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Jobs versus the environment: An industry-level perspective

Publication ,  Journal Article
Morgenstern, RD; Pizer, WA; Shih, JS
Published in: Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
January 1, 2002

The possibility that workers could be adversely affected by increasingly stringent environmental policies has led to claims of a "jobs versus the environment" trade-off by both business and labor leaders. The present research examines this claim at the industry level for four heavily polluting industries: pulp and paper mills, plastic manufacturers, petroleum refiners, and iron and steel mills. Combining a unique plant-level data set with industry-level demand information, we find that increased environmental spending generally does not cause a significant change in employment. Our average across all four industries is a net gain of 1.5 jobs per $1 million in additional environmental spending, with a standard error of 2.2 jobs - an economically and statistically insignificant effect. There are statistically significant and positive effects in two industries, but total number of affected jobs remains quite small. These small positive effects can be linked to labor-using factor shifts and relatively inelastic estimated demand. © 2001 Elsevier Science (USA).

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Published In

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

DOI

ISSN

0095-0696

Publication Date

January 1, 2002

Volume

43

Issue

3

Start / End Page

412 / 436

Related Subject Headings

  • Agricultural Economics & Policy
  • 3801 Applied economics
  • 1402 Applied Economics
  • 1401 Economic Theory
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management
 

Citation

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Morgenstern, R. D., Pizer, W. A., & Shih, J. S. (2002). Jobs versus the environment: An industry-level perspective. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 43(3), 412–436. https://doi.org/10.1006/jeem.2001.1191
Morgenstern, R. D., W. A. Pizer, and J. S. Shih. “Jobs versus the environment: An industry-level perspective.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 43, no. 3 (January 1, 2002): 412–36. https://doi.org/10.1006/jeem.2001.1191.
Morgenstern RD, Pizer WA, Shih JS. Jobs versus the environment: An industry-level perspective. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 2002 Jan 1;43(3):412–36.
Morgenstern, R. D., et al. “Jobs versus the environment: An industry-level perspective.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 43, no. 3, Jan. 2002, pp. 412–36. Scopus, doi:10.1006/jeem.2001.1191.
Morgenstern RD, Pizer WA, Shih JS. Jobs versus the environment: An industry-level perspective. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 2002 Jan 1;43(3):412–436.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

DOI

ISSN

0095-0696

Publication Date

January 1, 2002

Volume

43

Issue

3

Start / End Page

412 / 436

Related Subject Headings

  • Agricultural Economics & Policy
  • 3801 Applied economics
  • 1402 Applied Economics
  • 1401 Economic Theory
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management