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What does an environmental economist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted expert
Yoav Wachsman Ph.D.
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Environmental economist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real environmental economist resumes:

  • Manage, utilize, and archive database for commodities in assign areas.
  • Develop, specify, and test econometric models using time-series econometrics, panel-data econometrics, and limit dependent variable techniques.
  • Utilize a combination of SQL querying and qualitative research to investigate results gain from statistical analyses.

Environmental economist skills and personality traits

We break down the percentage of Environmental Economists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Macro, 100%

    Conducted research and current analysis on macro economic and capital markets issues.

Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an environmental economist to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "economists must be able to review data and observe patterns to draw logical conclusions." Environmental economists often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "prepared reports and effectively communicated findings and recommendations to management about data quality, cleansing and enrichment. "

Compare different environmental economists

Environmental economist vs. Economic development internship

An economic development intern is responsible for supporting an organization's market performance, analyzing trends in the industry, and strategizing techniques to improve business services. Economic development interns perform administrative duties under the supervision of tenured staff and managers. They compile business and financial reports, update information on the database, respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, escalate complaints, and schedule appointments. An economic development intern may also assist in facilitating economic programs and other initiative developments.

The annual salary of economic development interns is $18,554 lower than the average salary of environmental economists.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an environmental economist are more likely to require skills like "macro," "environmental policy," "gams," and "environmental economics." On the other hand, a job as an economic development internship requires skills like "stata," "sql," "econometrics," and "powerpoint." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

The education levels that economic development interns earn slightly differ from environmental economists. In particular, economic development interns are 19.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an environmental economist. Additionally, they're 23.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Environmental economist vs. Economic developer

While a development specialist works on creating plans for community development, the economic developer helps implement the development strategies set forth by specialists. They help in the distribution of survey questionnaires and the collection of data, as well as the interpretation of results. The economic developer also helps in business creation, retention, and expansion. They take leads in developing a private sector-public relationship in terms of funding for project implementation. They are knowledgeable and have good communication skills.

On average, economic developers earn a $5,246 lower salary than environmental economists a year.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real environmental economist resumes. While environmental economist responsibilities can utilize skills like "macro," "environmental policy," "gams," and "environmental economics," economic developers use skills like "data entry," "financial statements," "business community," and "technical assistance."

In general, economic developers achieve lower levels of education than environmental economists. They're 13.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 23.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for environmental economists in the next 3-5 years?

Yoav Wachsman Ph.D.Yoav Wachsman Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Assistant Dean, Professor - Economics, Coastal Carolina University

Developing technical skills will make you more employable. One of the most desired skills in the job market right now is analyzing data sets. You can create an ability to analyze data by learning advanced statistics and data analysis software like SPSS or SAS. There is also a strong demand right now for web designers and computer programs. Even if you do not have the time to invest in learning a computer language, designing a website using essential tools like WordPress can be extremely useful for smaller businesses and organizations.

Environmental economist vs. Economist research assistant

An average economist research assistant eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of environmental economists. The difference in salaries amounts to economist research assistants earning a $65,809 higher average salary than environmental economists.By looking over several environmental economists and economist research assistants resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "macro," "data analysis," and "matlab." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from environmental economist resumes include skills like "environmental policy," "gams," "environmental economics," and "climate," whereas an economist research assistant is more likely to list skills in "research projects," "r," "statistical analysis," and "econometrics. "

When it comes to education, economist research assistants tend to earn lower degree levels compared to environmental economists. In fact, they're 6.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 17.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Environmental economist vs. Econometrician

Econometricians typically earn higher pay than environmental economists. On average, econometricians earn a $29,209 higher salary per year.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between environmental economists and econometricians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an environmental economist might have more use for skills like "macro," "environmental policy," "gams," and "environmental economics." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of econometricians require skills like "sas," "r," "regression," and "conference calls. "

In general, econometricians hold higher degree levels compared to environmental economists. Econometricians are 17.0% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 7.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of environmental economist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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