Lost highway: Segmented and precarious employment of migrants in the green transition

The need to achieve a safe and just ecological transition is a key target of European policy makers. Green jobsare often presented as key levers to achieve this objective, as they enable the creation of new employmentopportunities across a wide spectrum of occupations, including low skill ones. In this paper we investigate ifand how these opportunities are seized by one of the most vulnerable segments of the labor force, namelymigrants. By relying on detailed administrative data covering more than 12 million contract activations inthe Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy) we document that, after controlling for potential confounders, migrantsare less likely than natives to find employment in green jobs. Moreover, when they do, they have higherchances to be hired with either a fixed-term or an agency contract. Heterogeneity analysis across industriesand occupations reveals that such precarious employment patterns are driven primarily by firm attempts toreduce green costs. These results are rationalized through the lenses of institutional segmentation theory.Related policy implications are discussed.