Employment Responses to Increased Biodiversity Transition Risk
Duc Duy Nguyen, Huyen Nguyen, Trang Nguyen, Vathunyoo Sila
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 20,
2025
Abstract
This paper examines how firms adjust the number and types of workers they hire in response to increased biodiversity transition risk. Using the adoption of the Key Biodiversity Areas Standard of 2016 as a source of variation that increases the risk of future land-use restrictions, we find that firms reduce job postings in affected areas and reallocate labor to less exposed regions. This effect is concentrated among firms that make negative impacts on biodiversity. Cuts are stronger among production roles, while hiring in green and adaptive occupations increases. The effect is not driven by changes in capital investment or workers’ labor supply decisions. Our findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the costs and benefits of biodiversity conservation policies and their implications for labor market outcomes.
Read article
Media Response
Media Response February 2026 IWH: Effizienter und produktiver in: Backnanger Kreiszeitung, 09.02.2026 IWH: Reformansätze enttäuschen Fakten müssen die Grundlage sein Soll das IWH…
See page
Halle Institute for Economic Research
Labour Markets: Sharpened Focus With the new name, the Department places its research focus on labour economics at the centre. Core topics remain structural change, wages,…
See page
Archive
Media Response Archive 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 December 2021 IWH: Ausblick auf Wirtschaftsjahr 2022 in Sachsen mit Bezug auf IWH-Prognose zu Ostdeutschland: "Warum Sachsens…
See page
Research Clusters
Three Research Clusters Each IWH research group is assigned to a topic-oriented research cluster. The clusters are not separate organisational units, but rather bundle the…
See page
Organisation of Research
Tasks of the IWH Guided by its mission statement , the IWH places the understanding of the determinants of long term growth processes at the centre of the research agenda. Long…
See page
Internships
Internship at Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) Interested in gaining an authentic insight in the interesting daily business and the variable tasks of an institute for…
See page
14th CompNet Annual Conference
14th CompNet Annual Conference 25-26 September, 2025 in Vilnius, Lithuania Programme Highlights – 14th CompNet Annual Conference, Vilnius, 25–26 September 2025 The conference…
See page
Research Articles
Research Articles Explore cutting-edge research based on CompNet’s micro-aggregated firm-level data and related analytical tools. These articles cover empirical and theoretical…
See page
Economic Outlook
IWH Economic Outlook 2026 Slight Upturn on the Horizon, Structural Problems Remain December 11, 2025 As the year draws to a close, it remains uncertain whether the German economy…
See page
