Resilience after localeconomic shocks

Abstract

The rapid closure of pits during the 1980s in the UK is an example of an economic shock which is not only specific to a particular industry but also to local economic areas. In 1983, only 29 of the 459 local authority areas in the UK was coal mining more than 10% of total employment. Over the 20-year period 1983–2002, average percentage employment growth in these areas was less than the UK as a whole. But the key feature is the huge diversity across areas, with three showing employment falls of nearly 20% and three exhibiting employment gains of more than 30%. Some areas showed great resilience in the face of a serious shock. Two general factors account for over half the variability of this experience. First, the greater the percentage in coal mining in 1983, the lower was 20-year employment growth. Second, the more militant an area was during the miners' strike of 1984/85, the lower also was employment growth.

Notes

¹ The data is available for male and female employment, both full- and part-time. These are aggregated into a single series for overall employment. The distinction between full- and part-time employment has become increasingly blurred in recent years.