IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/129168.html

Environmental restoration offsets population decline in postindustrial communities

Author

Listed:
  • Weber, Jeremy
  • McCoy, Shawn
  • Black, Katie Jo
  • Harleman, Max

Abstract

Can turning an environmental hazard into an amenity help sustain communities facing industrial and population decline? We study Pennsylvania coal communities over three decades, estimating how mine-impaired waterways and their restoration affected population growth as mining and manufacturing declined regionally. We find that communities with mine-impaired waterways and no restoration had 4 percentage points less population growth than similar nearby communities, leading to depopulation for many. Even partial restoration offset this effect, with growth driven by college-educated individuals and those age 65 and older. The presence of mine water treatment systems, usually a series of wetlands and ponds, did not affect population growth apart from effects on water quality. In the face of major economic transitions, environmental restoration can help communities retain and attract residents, thereby advancing the goals of traditional place-based economic development incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Weber, Jeremy & McCoy, Shawn & Black, Katie Jo & Harleman, Max, 2026. "Environmental restoration offsets population decline in postindustrial communities," MPRA Paper 129168, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:129168
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/129168/1/MPRA_paper_129168.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/129206/1/MPRA_paper_129206.pdf
    File Function: revised version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matthew Freedman & David Neumark, 2025. "Lessons Learned and Ignored in US Place-Based Policymaking," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Place-Based Policies, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Kuwayama, Yusuke & Olmstead, Sheila & Zheng, Jiameng, 2022. "A more comprehensive estimate of the value of water quality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    3. Raj Chetty & Matthew O. Jackson & Theresa Kuchler & Johannes Stroebel & Nathaniel Hendren & Robert B. Fluegge & Sara Gong & Federico Gonzalez & Armelle Grondin & Matthew Jacob & Drew Johnston & Martin, 2022. "Social capital I: measurement and associations with economic mobility," Nature, Nature, vol. 608(7921), pages 108-121, August.
    4. Brad Hershbein & Bryan A. Stuart, 2024. "The Evolution of Local Labor Markets after Recessions," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 399-435, July.
    5. Timothy J. Bartik, 2020. "Using Place-Based Jobs Policies to Help Distressed Communities," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 99-127, Summer.
    6. Moretti, Enrico, 2004. "Estimating the social return to higher education: evidence from longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 175-212.
    7. Tom Gillespie & Ronan C. Lyons & Stephen Hynes, 2024. "The Value of a Sea View: Hedonic Estimates Using 3D Simulation and Natural Language Processing," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 100(2), pages 278-295.
    8. Cassidy, Alecia & Meeks, Robyn C. & Moore, Michael R., 2023. "Cleaning up the Great Lakes: Housing market impacts of removing legacy pollutants," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    9. Asker, Erdal & Brunner, Eric & Ross, Steve, 2024. "JUE insight: The impact of school spending on civic engagement: Evidence from school finance reforms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    10. Marco A. Badilla Maroto & Benjamin Faber & Antoine B. Levy & Mathilde Muñoz, 2026. "Senior Migration, Local Economic Development and Spatial Concentration," NBER Working Papers 34725, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Richard Hornbeck, 2012. "The Enduring Impact of the American Dust Bowl: Short- and Long-Run Adjustments to Environmental Catastrophe," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(4), pages 1477-1507, June.
    12. Gordon H. Hanson, 2023. "Local Labor Market Impacts of the Energy Transition: Prospects and Policies," NBER Working Papers 30871, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Spencer Banzhaf & Lala Ma & Christopher Timmins, 2019. "Environmental Justice: The Economics of Race, Place, and Pollution," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 185-208, Winter.
    14. Todd BenDor & T William Lester & Avery Livengood & Adam Davis & Logan Yonavjak, 2015. "Estimating the Size and Impact of the Ecological Restoration Economy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Matias Busso & Jesse Gregory & Patrick Kline, 2013. "Assessing the Incidence and Efficiency of a Prominent Place Based Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 897-947, April.
    16. Waltert, Fabian & Schläpfer, Felix, 2010. "Landscape amenities and local development: A review of migration, regional economic and hedonic pricing studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 141-152, December.
    17. Lucie Schmidt & Paul N. Courant, 2006. "Sometimes Close Is Good Enough: The Value Of Nearby Environmental Amenities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 931-951, December.
    18. Moritz A. Drupp & Ulrike Kornek & Jasper N. Meya & Lutz Sager, 2025. "The Economics of Inequality and the Environment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 63(3), pages 840-874, September.
    19. Jiafeng Chen & Jonathan Roth, 2024. "Logs with Zeros? Some Problems and Solutions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 139(2), pages 891-936.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Palm, Lennart & Perl, Maximilian & Yesilbayraktar, Ugur, 2026. "Local effects of industrial complexes," Ruhr Economic Papers 1200, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Gordon Hanson & Dani Rodrik & Rohan Sandhu, 2025. "The US Place-Based Policy Supply Chain," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Place-Based Policies, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Gathmann, Christina & Helm, Ines & Schönberg, Uta, 2014. "Spillover Effects in Local Labor Markets: Evidence from Mass Layoffs," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100378, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Manon Garrouste & Miren Lafourcade, 2022. "Place-Based Policies: Opportunity for Deprived Schools or Zone-and-Shame Effect?," Post-Print hal-04329793, HAL.
    5. Albouy, David & Lue, Bert, 2015. "Driving to opportunity: Local rents, wages, commuting, and sub-metropolitan quality of life," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 74-92.
    6. Raimi, Daniel & Barone, Aurora & Carley, Sanya & Foster, David & Grubert, Emily & Haggerty, Julia & Higdon, Jake & Kearney, Michael & Konisky, David & Michael, Jennifer & Michaud, Gilbert & Nabahe, Sa, 2021. "Policy Options to Enable an Equitable Energy Transition," RFF Reports 21-09, Resources for the Future.
    7. Samuel Bazzi & Arya Gaduh & Alexander D. Rothenberg & Maisy Wong, 2016. "Skill Transferability, Migration, and Development: Evidence from Population Resettlement in Indonesia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2658-2698, September.
    8. Heather M. Stephens & Mark D. Partridge, 2015. "Lake Amenities, Environmental Degradation, and Great Lakes Regional Growth," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 38(1), pages 61-91, January.
    9. Edward Glaeser, 2013. "A Review of Enrico Moretti's The New Geography of Jobs," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 825-837, September.
    10. Sebastian Siegloch & Nils Wehrhöfer & Tobias Etzel, 2025. "Spillover, Efficiency, and Equity Effects of Regional Firm Subsidies," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 144-180, February.
    11. Enrico Moretti, 2014. "Local Economic Development, Agglomeration Economies, and the Big Push: 100 Years of Evidence from the Tennessee Valley Authority," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(1), pages 275-331.
    12. Freedman, Matthew & Khanna, Shantanu & Neumark, David, 2023. "Combining rules and discretion in economic development policy: Evidence on the impacts of the California Competes Tax Credit," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    13. Harald Bathelt & Maximilian Buchholz & Michael Storper, 2024. "The nature, causes, and consequences of inter-regional inequality," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 353-374.
    14. Hong, Hai & Huang, Yongbin, 2025. "Order! the border: Multitasking, air pollution regulation and local government responses," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    15. Breinlich, Holger & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2014. "Regional Growth and Regional Decline," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 683-779, Elsevier.
    16. David Autor & David Dorn & Gordon Hanson & Maggie R. Jones & Bradley Setzler, 2024. "Places versus People: The Ins and Outs of Labor Market Adjustment to Globalization," Working Papers 24-78, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    17. Gilles Duranton & Anthony J. Venables, 2018. "Place-Based Policies for Development," NBER Working Papers 24562, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. repec:ags:aaea22:343859 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Freedman, Matthew & Khanna, Shantanu & Neumark, David, 2023. "JUE Insight: The Impacts of Opportunity Zones on Zone Residents," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    20. Cingano, Federico & Palomba, Filippo & Pinotti, Paolo & Rettore, Enrico, 2022. "Making Subsidies Work: Rules vs. Discretion," CEPR Discussion Papers 17004, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    21. Gordon H. Hanson & Enrico Moretti, 2025. "Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone? Changes in the Geography of Work in the US, 1980-2021," NBER Working Papers 33631, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:129168. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.