Gender differences in the employment effects of climate policy

This paper investigates gender differences in labor market responses to changes in energy prices in European regions. We use a shift-share instrumental variable approach to exploit exogenous variation in regions’ exposure to energy price shocks, which are a proxy for more stringent climate policy. We document a negative effect of energy prices on the employment rate for women but not for men, which leads to a rise in the gender gap in employment rates and persists beyond the short-run. Exploring the mechanisms, we find evidence that the gendered employment responses are stronger in clerical occupations, for workers with low education and for cohabiting women. Women also exhibit a lower increase in cross-regional commuting in response to energy price increases. • Increases in energy prices reduce women’s employment rates. • Men are unaffected, which means that the gender gap increases. • The effect is concentrated among women who cohabit and have a low education level. • Commuting across regions increases more for men than for women.