Human Capital in Appalachia: An Analysis of Vulnerability, Resilience, and Skills in Preparation of a Greener Economy

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dc.contributor.authorPierce, Timothy Samuelen
dc.contributor.committeechairChen, Susan Elizabethen
dc.contributor.committeememberGupta, Anubhaben
dc.contributor.committeememberAlwang, Jeffrey R.en
dc.contributor.departmentAgricultural and Applied Economicsen
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-09T08:00:14Zen
dc.date.available2022-09-09T08:00:14Zen
dc.date.issued2022-09-08en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis constructs a novel resilience index and a comparative advantage measure of professional skills to enhance our understanding of economic resilience in Appalachian counties that are vulnerable to the transition to a greener economy. The index-based results indicate that resilience is clustered throughout the region and strongly related to local labor market demand for the skills required to complete non-routine cognitive tasks. Resilient labor markets hold a comparative advantage over their less resilient counterparts in twelve skills. These skills are highly prevalent in growing and emerging occupations and strongly related to resilience in the existing literature on regional economic shocks. This thesis also develops a database that enables future researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders to geospatially analyze skill prevalence at a county level and make informed and proactive decisions in the face of a changing economy.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralThis thesis constructs a novel resilience index and a measure of professional skills to enhance our understanding of economic resilience in Appalachian counties that are exposed to changes to the workforce. The results indicate that resilience is clustered throughout the region and strongly related to the skills required for rapidly growing and emerging occupations. Resilient labor markets hold a comparative advantage over their less resilient counterparts in twelve key skills. These skills are highly prevalent in vital to the literature and closely related to the ability of local economies to withstand recessions and other economic disruptions. My thesis also develops a database that enables future research, policymakers, and industry leaders to easily understand the professional skills found in counties to make informed and proactive decisions in the face of a changing economy.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:35669en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/111772en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectmultidimensional indexen
dc.subjectenvironmental regulationen
dc.subjectwork force retrainingen
dc.subjecteconomic clusteringen
dc.subjectpollutant industriesen
dc.titleHuman Capital in Appalachia: An Analysis of Vulnerability, Resilience, and Skills in Preparation of a Greener Economyen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineAgricultural and Applied Economicsen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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