Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0

Author-Name: Kevin Berry
Author-Name-First: Kevin
Author-Name-Last: Berry
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Alaska Anchorage

Author-Name: Alexander James
Author-Name-First: Alexander
Author-Name-Last: James
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Alaska Anchorage

Author-Name: Brock Smith
Author-Name-First: Brock
Author-Name-Last: Smith
Author-Workplace-Name: Montana State University

Author-Name: Brett Watson
Author-Name-First: Brett
Author-Name-Last: Watson
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Alaska Anchorage

Title: Geography, Geology, and Regional Economic Development

Abstract: We examine long-run development effects of regional productivity shocks in the United States. We exploit the timing and location of large resource discoveries to measure exogenous variation in labor demand and consider heterogeneous effects based on environmental amenity and geographic isolation, developing novel measures of both. Using a dynamic event-study analysis we find that productivity shocks increase population both in the short and long-run, but this largely refl
ects the experience of low amenity, geographically isolated places that may otherwise struggle to develop. Moreover, this study offers several insights into the observed spatial pattern of development in the United States.

Creation-date: 2019-08
Number: 2019-03

Handle: RePEc:ala:wpaper:2019-03
File-URL: http://www.econpapers.uaa.alaska.edu/RePEC/ala/wpaper/ALA201903.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf

Classification-JEL: Q32; Q33; R11
Keywords: Natural-Resource Discoveries; Regional Development; Long-Run Growth; Geography; Environmental Amenities; Resource Economics
Publication-Status: