---
title: "Coal phase-out and local labour markets (research idea)"
description: "A \"just transition\" is now a common theme in the economics journals, and many coal plants and mines have announced closure dates. Closures known years in advance are a rare chance to see whether workers and towns can prepare. What happens to coal workers' earnings, and to the towns around them?"
url: https://scholar4ai.com/ideas/coal-phase-out-and-local-labour-markets
markdown_url: https://scholar4ai.com/ideas/coal-phase-out-and-local-labour-markets.md
license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
share_text: "Coal phase-out and local labour markets (research idea): A \"just transition\" is now a common theme in the economics journals, and many coal plants and mines have announced closure dates."
date: "2026-10-23"
updated: "2026-10-23"
status: "seed"
tags: ["economics", "energy", "labor"]
keywords: ["just transition", "coal-fired power plants"]
---

# Coal phase-out and local labour markets

A "just transition" is now a common theme in the economics journals, and many coal plants and mines have announced closure dates. Closures known years in advance are a rare chance to see whether workers and towns can prepare. What happens to coal workers' earnings, and to the towns around them?

## What prompted this

Since October 2025, "just transition" appears on 38 papers, 36 of them in economics journals, and "coal-fired power plants" on 12. Energy topics are rising on the [trends page](/trends), from energy markets to critical minerals.

## Questions

- When a coal plant or mine closes, how much do its workers' earnings fall, and for how long, compared with workers at plants that stay open?
- Do announced closure dates let workers and towns adjust earlier, softening the blow?
- Do transition funds, such as the EU's Just Transition Fund, reach the affected workers and towns, and do they help?

## Data that could help

Plant closure dates (Global Coal Plant Tracker, national registers), linked employer-employee data or local labour statistics, and transition fund allocations.

## Next step

Compile the announced and actual closure dates of coal plants in one country and compare employment in their counties with similar counties without closures.

## Related research activity

*The keywords this note follows, in the tracked finance, accounting, economics, management, operations research and AI journals as of 2026-10-26*

| Keyword | Papers, last 30 days | Rank | Papers per month, Oct 23 – Oct 26* | Papers, last 36 months |
|---|---:|---:|---|---:|
| just transition | 0 | – | 1, 2, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 3, 0, 1, 2, 4, 0, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 0, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 4, 1, 5, 5, 4, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2, 0 | 72 |
| coal-fired power plants | 1 | #2881 | 1, 2, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 1, 1, 0, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1 | 35 |

## Cite this page

Scholar4AI. (2026). Coal phase-out and local labour markets. Journal Research Rankings. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/ideas/coal-phase-out-and-local-labour-markets

```bibtex
@misc{scholar4ai-ideas-coal-phase-out-and-local-labour-markets,
  author = {{Scholar4AI}},
  title = {Coal phase-out and local labour markets},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/ideas/coal-phase-out-and-local-labour-markets}},
  urldate = {2026-10-23},
  note = {Journal Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0}
}
```

License: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).