In  1987,  Tom Johnson (Department of Agricultural Economics) published "Income Uncertainty and the Quality of Life. A Socio-Economic Study of Virginia's Coal Counties." This publication used quantitative quality-of-life
indicators to focus  attention on measures by which Virginia's coalfield counties lagged other areas of the state. The work was sponsored by Powell River Project. The publication attracted much attention throughout the state. In
1988, the Lacy Commission was established by the Virginia General Assembly to study southwestern Virginia's
economic plight. In 1989, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority was established in response to Lacy Commission recommendations.

Publications

Broomhall, David, and Thomas G. Johnson. 1994. Economic factors that influence educational performance in rural schools. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech. 29 pages.

Broomhall, David E., and Thomas G. Johnson. 1992. Community and Family Influences on Educational Performance in Appalachian Communities. Southern Rural Development Center Bulletin 161. 35 pages.

Broomhall, David, and Thomas G. Johnson. 1992. The Valuation of Education in Rural Communities. Paper presented at 1992 Annual Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association. Department of Agricultural Economics, Virginia Tech.

Johnson, Thomas G. 1992. Education and National Economic Growth. Paper presented at 1992 Annual Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association. 

Johnson, T. G. 1992. Education and Rural Economic Development. Education, Off- Farm Employment and Rural Economic Development: Perspectives from States in the Southeast (Proceedings of a Rural Development Symposium at the 1992 meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, pub. Southern Rural Development Center), pp. 1-3.

Johnson, T. G. and D. E. Broomhall. 1992. Education and Economic Development in Rural Appalachia. Education, Off-Farm Employment and Rural Economic Development: Perspectives from States in the Southeast (Proceedings of a Rural Development Symposium at the 1992 meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, pub. Southern Rural Development Center), pp. 20-29.

Broomhall, David E. 1991. The Influence of Perceived Employment Opportunities
on Educational Performance in Appalachia. Ph.D. Dissertation. Agricultural Economics.

Johnson, T.G., D. Kraybill, and B. Deaton. 1989. Improvements in well-being in Virginia's coalfields hampered by low and unstable income . Rural Development

Kraybill, D. S., T. G. Johnson and B. J. Deaton. 1987. Income Uncertainty and the Quality of Life. A Socio-Economic Study of Virginia's Coal Counties. Virginia Ag. Exp. Sta. Bulletin 87-4.

Seltzer, Curtis. 1987. Economic Development in Virginia's Coal Counties: Strategies for the Future. Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research. Blacksburg, VA.

Bernat, G. A., Jr. and T. G. Johnson. 1985. An input-output model with endogenous unemployment benefits. In: 1985 Annual Meetings of the American Agricultural Economics Association.

Bernat, G. A., Jr. and T. G. Johnson. 1985. The regional distribution of income: an input-output approach. In: Annual Meetings of the Southern Regional Science Association, Washington, D.C.

Kraybill, D. S., B. J. Deaton, and T. G. Johnson. 1985. Social indicators for assessing institutional performance in education, health and housing in Appalachia. Proceedings, Appalachian Studies Conference, Berea, KY.