OIL PRICE SHOCKS AND EMPLOYMENT - THE CASE OF OHIO COAL-MINING

Economic theory suggests that oil price shocks will have an impact on employment in local coal markets. However, theory is silent on both th e absolute and relative magnitudes. Based on vector autoregressive mod els, we find that oil price shocks, and therefore OPEC policies, have significant impacts on Ohio coal mining employment. Our study indicate s that oil price shocks have larger impacts on Ohio coal mining employ ment than do shocks to coal prices or coal wages. Our study is unusual in that we have examined the impact of oil price shocks on employment in a specific industry.