Abstract
We study the returns to green tasks — the green job wage premium — and its drivers using online job vacancy (OJV) data for 29 EU countries over the period 2018-2023. We use a transparent LLM to classify skills as green and define vacancies as green when they list at least one green skill. Green jobs pay a premium of 4.8% relative to comparable postings within the same occupation, controlling for nonmonetary job attributes making these jobs more attractive. Roughly half of this premium is explained by firm fixed effects, consistent with an important role for firm rents. An Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition reveals that, of the remaining half, one third is explained by the higher skill complexity of green jobs and two thirds (about 1%) reflects the residual return to green tasks. The green wage premium is higher outside the manufacturing sector, in low-carbon roles and in densely populated areas.
Suggested citation
Cass, L., Frattini, F., Sato, M., Saussay, A., Vona F. (2026). Returns to Green Tasks in Europe: Evidence from Online Job Vacancies.