Are Green Jobs Real Jobs? The Case of Photovoltaic Power in Italy

Abstract

The European Union has made the promotion of renewable energies a key objective of its energy, environmental, and industrial policies. The underlying assumption is that several benefits may be delivered: Preventing the perceived environmental externalities, insuring energy security through reduced import dependency of conventional energy sources, promoting innovation and creating new jobs. This paper addresses this latter issue. Unfortunately, a fair assessment of the net occupational impact of green subsidies is quite complex because, among other reasons, reliable data are lacking. We try to estimate whether subsidies to solar power in Italy actually created more jobs than they destroyed (or prevented the creation thereof) because of the negative macroeconomic effect of higher electricity prices.