Employment Effects of Renewable Energy Supply - A Meta Analysis

The paper investigates a central hypothesis of the green economy concept, which states that transitioning to a low-carbon economy is justified on a sound economic basis. We analyze this hypothesis by focussing on employment effects from renewable energy deployment, based on an evaluation of 23 selected impact studies from peer-reviewed journals. The studies are categorized into two clusters, one consisting of studies that represent employment factors of specific renewable technologies, and another that compiles model-based scenario assessments on employment effects from specific renewable policies. Both clusters distinguish the applied methodologies and the type of employment effects considered – direct, indirect, induced, gross or net. Given the heterogeneity of assumptions, the results of the different studies are hardly comparable, although we find that a majority of the investigated scenarios show positive net employment effects. These results crucially depend on the financing of an RES support scheme and the global competitiveness (technological lead) for a specific technology. The positive link between renewable energy deployment and job creation is thus not straightforward, since different assumptions, system boundaries and modelled interactions such as the crowding out of alternative energy production or effects from prices, income and foreign trade influence the results. Further research is needed.