Local Economic Impacts of Coal Mining in the United States 1870 to 1970

This article expands upon the current “resource curse” literature by using newly
collected county data, spanning over a century, to capture the short- and long-run
effects of coal mining activity. It provides evidence that increased levels of coal
production had positive net impacts on county-level population and manufacturing
activity over an initial ten-year span, which become negative over the subsequent
decades. The results provide evidence that any existence of a “resource curse”
on local areas due to coal mining is a long-run phenomenon, and in the short run
there are potential net benefits.<br>