Influences of Extreme Precipitation on China’s Mining Industry

Abstract

Global climate change is increasingly influencing the economic system. With the frequent occurrence of extreme weather events, the influences of climate change on the economic system are no longer limited to the agricultural sector, but extend to the industrial system. However, there is little research on the influences of climate change on industrial economic systems. Among the different sectors of the industrial economic system, the mining industry is more sensitive to the influences of climate change. Here, taking the mining industry as an example, we analyzed the influences of extreme precipitation on the mining industry using the trans-logarithm production function. In addition, the marginal output elasticity analysis method was employed to analyze the main factors influencing the mining industry. It was found that the mining investment in fixed assets, labor input, and technical progress could promote the development of the mining economy, while the extreme precipitation suppressed the growth of the mining industry. The increase in fixed asset investment and the technical progress could enhance the resistance of the mining industry to extreme precipitation, while there was no indication that labor input can reduce the influences of extreme precipitation.