Protecting biodiversity by developing bio-jobs: a multi-branch analysis with an application on French data

In each economy there is employment favourable to biodiversity, which we call bio-jobs. These jobs are located in a small number of branches linked to or controlling natural resources: green core activities, quarrying, public works, water and waste management, etc. We are interested in the economic policies for the preservation of biodiversity which affect the development of employment. We consider a model where government wields two types of instrument: it can support demand in sectors concentrating bio-jobs, through public procurement, or it can seek to promote the development of new productive combinations with more bio-jobs, with subsidies targeted at employment. We seek the most effective combination of these two instruments- demand and supply- and show that government must adopt a differentiated approach depending on the sectors being regulated. We find that the level of private demand and of wages play a major role in the government choice. Finally, we apply these reco mmendations to French data.