Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Yu, Sherry
Area of Concentration
Economics
Abstract
This paper studies the determining factors contributing to the decline of coal consumption since its peak in 2007. Using ordinary least-square estimators, our empirical analyses show that electricity demand, natural gas prices, and environmental regulations have a significant effect on coal consumption. More specifically, the analysis shows that the recent decade of declining coal consumption may be explained primarily by the decreasing growth rate of electricity demand, followed to a lesser extent by decreasing natural gas prices and recently implemented federal regulations. A structural break in 2008 linked to the structural change of the US manufacturing sector may be related to the recent trend in coal consumption. Nonetheless, this study may be subject to endogeneity and omitted variable bias. Future research should utilize state-level data with higher frequency within a smaller time frame to study the regional economic and policy effect on coal consumption changes and to isolate the effects of these factors within the last decade from other trends prior to the structural break in 2008.
Recommended Citation
Baruch, Julien, "THE FALL OF KING COAL: AN ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS LEADING TO THE DECLINE OF THE U.S. COAL INDUSTRY" (2018). Theses & ETDs. 5474.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5474