Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
In this exploratory study, it is observed that there is a potentially important dimension of the quality of life that has been effectively ignored in prior migration studies in the U.S.: air quality as reflected by the presence of coal dust per se. Accordingly, it is hypothesized in this study that an elevated presence of coal dust in close proximity to a prospective residence will act to discourage in-migration (both net in-migration and gross in-migration) because of the greater threat of adverse health impacts and because of elevated expected and/or actual pure economic costs per se, for example, deterioration of one’s physical assets, including automobile(s) and housing, that accompany close proximity to elevated airborne coal dust. There is strong empirical support for this ‘coal dust/in-migration hypothesis’.