Job losses and political acceptability of climate policies: why the ‘job-killing’ argument is so persistent and how to overturn it

Political acceptability is an essential issue in choosing appropriate climate policies. Sociologists and behavioural scientists recognize the importance of selecting environmental policies that have broad political support, while economists tend to compare different instruments first on the basis of their efficiency, and then by assessing their distributional impacts and thus their political acceptability. This paper examines case-study and empirical evidence that the job losses ascribed (correctly or incorrectly) to climate policies have substantial impacts on the willingness of affected workers to support these policies. In aggregate, the costs of these losses are significantly smaller than the benefits, both in terms of health and, probably, of labour market outcomes, but the losses are concentrated in specific areas, sectors and social groups that have been hit hard by the great recession and international competition. Localized contextual effects, such as peer group pressure, and politico-economic factors, such as weakened unions and tightened government budgets, amplify the strength and the persistence of the ‘job-killing’ argument. Compensating for the effects of climate policies on ‘left-behind’ workers appears to be the key priority to increase the political acceptability of such policies, but the design of compensatory policies poses serious challenges.

Key policy insights

• Public perception of, and support for, climate policies is substantially reduced in the presence of large negative shocks, especially job losses.

• Climate policies can be perceived as negative for employment, especially in areas where polluting industries represent a large share of employment and in occupations and sectors already damaged by globalization and automation.

• Policymakers should distinguish between small and large distributional effects of climate policies, and find the appropriate combination of revenue recycling schemes, industrial and retraining policies as well as compensation packages to increase the support for such policies.

     

省际边缘区的就业空间结构模式及动力机制——以淮海经济区为例

淮海经济区是我国典型的省际边缘区,通过对淮海经济区118个县(市)、市区的就业结构与空间分布特征进行主成分分析和聚类分析,得出省际边缘区7种就业空间模式:连续型同心圆圈层就业模式、非连续型同心圆圈层就业模式、跳跃式同心圆圈层就业模式、混合型同心圆圈层就业模式、母子型同心圆圈层就业模式、核心转移型就业空间模式、带状空间就业模式,并从边界、中心城市、交通、城市间关系4个方面总结出各种模式的形成机制。     

Rural diversification in Bulgaria

Agriculture has always been very important for the Bulgarian economy, but during the socialist period there was considerable progress made in the diversification of employment opportunities in rural areas. While many people commuted to non-agricultural jobs in the townships (and there was a large permanent transfer from rural to urban areas), there were additional opportunities in small factories and local services in the villages themselves. The transition has seen these opportunities much reduced, at precisely the time when full-time paid work in agriculture has declined due to market restructuring while complex problems have emerged associated with liquidating the state-run cooperatives and establishing a viable alternative. The paper discusses the general issues and presents a case study from the north-central part of the country. The rebuilding of a cooperative farming system (along with other forms of consolidation) is a positive trend which could increase spending power in the villages and help in the growth of employment in rural industries and services. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Problems of agriculture in Slovenia with special reference to Cirkovce

The transition in the Slovenian countryside is examined through a case study of Cirkovce, a local centre for the central southern section of the Dravsko polje plain where natural and socio-geographical factors underpin a mixed rural-urban structure. Farming is intensive, but a high percentage of people are now employed outside agriculture; a situation which is reflected clearly in the appearance of the settlement. The process of rural depopulation, balanced by the growth of employment in industry and services, is reflected in a secondary knot of settlement around Cirkovce's railway station. Agriculture is still very significant but there needs to be some consolidation of landholding to create larger units suitable for market production and food processing. But the village must also improve its range of functions and provide a better environment for the non-agricultural population which will become increasing important for its future development. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

关于三峡库区移民就业问题的几点看法

本文认为三峡库区移民就业问题实际是三峡工程建设而引起整体的社会－经济－环境问题，也就是地球学中新的人地关系问题，即在符合经济效益前提下实现人与地的协调与社会的整合。首先不应当把迁移出的农民完全转向已负担沉重的传统农业方面。而应当转向新出现的环境（如新出现的水域与水位波动带）、新出现的行业（旅游景区的发掘、建设和开发）、新的就业方向（劳务输出）、与新的社会－经济开发区（新的城镇建设和新的工业建设而形     

Job Accessibility and Male Teenage Employment, 1980–1990: The Declining Significance of Space?*

The spatial mismatch hypothesis, which argues that job decentralization has had a major impact on the economic fortunes of inner-city minorities, has been a popular argument in academic and policy circles. It is possible, however, that employment decentralization was a temporary shock to inner-city labor markets and that labor supply has successfully adjusted by residential relocation and alterations in job search patterns. This paper examines this issue with an empirical analysis of the 1980 and 1990 employment probabilities of black and white male teenagers living in the largest metropolitan areas of the United States. Findings indicate that the impact of job accessibility on employment probabilities declined between 1980 and 1990, especially for black male teenagers not enrolled in school. Accessibility had a declining effect for this group because of losing the advantage of accessibility rather than overcoming the disadvantage of inaccessibility. By 1990, black male teens living in job-accessible areas no longer enjoyed as much of an employment advantage relative to teens living in job-inaccessible areas as they did in 1980. We should thus be cautious about ascribing too much theoretical or policy importance to job accessibility factors.     

Feminism and the new multi-scaling in employment policy

In the last decades, employment policy design and implementation partly shifted from the national to local and regional scales in most European countries. In addition, the European Union appeared as an important new actor in this policy field in the late 1990s. We argue that the new geographical multi-scaling of employment policy can be used strategically by feminists to promote different aspects of gender equality simultaneously: Feminist claims related to gender equity, i.e., demands to secure equal participation of women and men in the labour market, should be advocated at the national scale. Claims related to the recognition of gender difference, i.e., demands related to typical female and male employment needs and their social recognition should be promoted at the local scale. The regional scale is the most appropriate one to advance gender plurality, i.e., non-traditional employment of women and men. In the empirical part of the paper we discuss how the ideal leverage of claims at different spatial scales and inter-linkage between scales could operate. We will show that the link to EU policy strengthens feminist claims in the highly gender-differentiated societies and political settings of Austria and Germany. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The spatial structure of employment in the metropolitan region of Tokyo: A scale-view

Despite Tokyo’s size and position in the global urban system, studies of its employment distribution have been few. This research identified the locations and ranks of the employment centers in the entire metropolitan region and analyzed the characteristics of the economic sectors in those centers by using fine scale economic census data. Minimum sizes for a center were explored at a range from as small as 250 by 250 m to 3,000 by 3,000 m, and the Local Indicators of Spatial Association technique was utilized for detecting centers in different ranks. The results showed that, from a regional view, Tokyo has a typical monocentric or concentric spatial structure. However, from a fine scale view, the distribution was revealed to be expanding along the railroads to the suburbs, and both the main central business district and the suburbs are polycentric. Through this research, the authors argue that rather than using thresholds of total employment and minimum densities as seen in the previous studies, centers can be effectively detected by comparing with the surrounding areas at different scales. This “scale-view” approach of center identification may provide a new perspective to other metropolitan regions of the world as well.     

临川市城区土地利用地质条件初析

在较全面地阐述了临川市城区土地利用地质条件的基础上,分析了其中的有利因素和限制性因素,并提出了有关土地利用地南条件评价和分区的初步设想。     

海洋强国战略下涉海大学生海洋领域就业研究

当代涉海专业大学生是建设海洋强国、实现国家发展战略的关键接班人和后备军。文章围绕某高校涉海大学生展开调查发现,海洋领域就业意向与专业满意度、家人的态度、实习经历等显著相关;影响择业的主要因素是收入和地域。文章提出,传播海洋强国战略、加强理想信念教育,弘扬海洋精神、培育敬业奉献素质,深化校企合作、拓宽海洋领域实习实践,细化职业规划、精准开展就业指导等途径,有助于培养和输送涉海大学生服务海洋战略、投身海洋重点领域就业。