Economics of Modern Energy Boomtowns: Do Oil and Gas Shocks Differ from Shocks in the Rest of the Economy?

The SENR Seminar Series welcomes Mark Partridge, Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy and Professor, OSU Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, who will present Economics of Modern Energy Boomtowns: Do Oil and Gas Shocks Differ from Shocks in the Rest of the Economy?

The U.S. shale boom has intensified interest in how the expanding oil and gas sector affects local economic performance. Research has produced mixed results and has not compared how energy shocks differ from equal-sized shocks elsewhere in the economy. What emerges is that the estimated impacts of energy development vary by region, empirical methodology, as well as the time horizon. We find that while energy sector growth produces positive jobs multiplier effects for up to ten years, equal-sized shocks in the rest of the economy produce more jobs on average than oil and gas shocks, suggesting that policymakers should seek more diversified development.

The SENR Spring 2016 Seminar begins at 4:10 in 164 Howlett Hall. CarmenConnect into 123 Williams Hall will be available at http://carmenconnect.osu.edu/boomtowns/.