Economic and social indicators between coal mining LGAs and non-coal mining LGAs in regional Queensland, Australia

Coal mining is deemed beneficial for the national economy, although it might not be the case at regional level. Main benefits from coal mining at national level include exports, government royalty, employment, and income. At regional level, coal mining can increase stress not only on the environment but also on public services, housing, and job markets. Little is known on whether coal mining brought positive changes to the regions over time. This paper examines selected socio-economic indicators between coal mining and non-mining local government areas (LGAs) in Queensland, Australia. This study differs from other research in three important ways. First, this study is focusing on coal mining activities, instead of the overall mining sector, and focusing on regional Queensland. Coal mining is the largest contributor to the total direct expenditure of the minerals and energy sector in Queensland. By limiting the observations to LGA level in one state, which is Queensland, this study has advantage of fewer confounding factors that are correlated with each other such as institution and political environment. Second, this study examines the effect of coal mining through the business cycle of expansion, downturn, and recovery by employing census time-series data for about one decade, starting 2006 up to 2016. Therefore, this study provides a better understanding of the effect of coal mining over time. Third, this study looks at socio-economic indicators that are less discussed in the regional development literature in relation to mining impacts such as housing, low income, and public service indicators.