The national averages industry concentration index and Australian Bureau of national averages industry concentration index and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data (1996 to 2011) were used to explore links, if any, between industrial diversity and unemployment outcomes for ABS, Local Government Areas (LGAs) of New South Wales (NSW).
This paper found that while there had been a considerable improvement in unemployment outcomes from 1996 to 2011 in all NSW LGAs and especially those comin off high unemployment levels, variation from region to region still occur. Moreover, industry diversity, as measured by the National Averages Index approach, and as suggested in much of the literature as improving unemployment outcomes was not always able to explain this variation.
Indeed, from this research, there seems to be no clear advantage, in itself, for either industry diversification or industry specialisation as a regional strategy for improving labour market performance. Further research seeking associations between level of industry specialisation/diversification and associations between level of industry specialisation/diversification and additional labour market variables is suggested.