Coal Abundance and Regional Development: Evidence from the Counties in China

Associate Professor at School of Economics, Xiamen University.

Xiaoping He's personal website

This article examines the long-term impact of coal resources on local economy, based on a county-level dataset from eastern China. By using an elaborately constructed indicator for coal abundance, the study finds that coal abundance exerts an asymmetric impact on local economy in long-run and the effects are the result of the interaction of market cycles and changes in economic institutions. The findings conditionally support for the mechanism of the Resource Curse.