Mortality during resource booms and busts

Andrew Boslett and Elaine Hill

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2022, vol. 115, issue C

Abstract: Using national data on county-level mortality, coal mining, and shale development, we examine the effects of resource booms and busts on mortality in the United States. We find evidence that decreases in operating coal mines increased total all-cause mortality, non-drug mortality, and opioid overdose mortality, especially for counties with greater than 10 operating coal mines in 2000. Our model results for drug overdose mortality and opioid overdose mortality are sensitive to the panel's start year. For shale development, the shale boom is associated with increases in non-drug suicides but otherwise had little impact on mortality. Our findings suggest a potential role for job-training programs and the cultivation of local healthcare resources in regions suffering coal busts and suicide prevention in areas with shale development.

Keywords: Opioid epidemic; Shale boom; Coal bust; Economic shocks; Mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I15 Q00 Q33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:115:y:2022:i:c:s0095069622000614

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2022.102696

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