Moving to Economic Opportunity: The Migration Response to the Fracking Boom

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Human Resources
Year: 2022
Volume: 57
Issue: 3

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Exploiting positive labor market shocks from localized “fracking” booms, I estimate that fracking increased migration to impacted areas, but there is significant heterogeneity across both demographics and regions. Migrants to fracking areas were more likely to be male, unmarried, young, and less educated than movers more generally. These local booms increased in-migration rates to North Dakota fracking counties by nearly twice as much as other fracking areas. Differences across geography in labor market impacts, commuting behavior, initial population characteristics, or nonlinearities only partially explained this gap. There is evidence that heterogeneous information flows might be playing a role.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:uwp:jhriss:v:57:y:2022:i:3:p:918-955
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29