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Journal Article
Industry Decline and Household Finances
Technological innovations that displace demand for local producers can hurt finances for households in the same area. Demand for Appalachian coal declined precipitously between 2011 and 2018 following a technology-induced shift in electricity generation from coal to natural gas. This coal decline decreased people’s credit scores in that region and increased their credit utilization rates, credit card delinquencies, third-party collections, and bankruptcies. Credit scores fell the most for households that were already near the subprime threshold, where small changes can have large impacts on ...