The Employment Effects of Environmental Policy: An International Comparison: Germany and USA

Frank G. Müller

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DOI: 10.2190/0CC0-BFFC-DBTD-B3F7

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of environmental policy and its effects on the level of employment The first section sets the conceptual framework and evaluates the studies undertaken for Germany and USA, while in the second section broader issues of environmental policy will be discussed. Despite the difficulty of securing reliable estimates of employment effects of environmental policy some conclusions can be drawn: The presently implemented conventional programs are purely technological measures and control mainly the symptoms and not the causes of environmental degradation. The macro-economic models seem to indicate that the overall employment effect is moderately positive. In the ongoing debate regarding environmental quality and other economic objectives the author believes that a conventional environmental policy will not succeed in the long-run to improve environmental quality and to alleviate the problems of unemployment and inflation.

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