The last major contraction experienced by the Australian economy
took place over the period 1989/90 - 1992/93. In that recession aggregate employment
fell by 7.5 percent in Victoria but only by 2.9 percent in New South Wales. This paper
aims to do two things. First, to explain why there was such a large difference in the
employment experience of the two states during the recession. Second, to demonstrate
that more than one shift-share decomposition may be used in an attempt to isolate the
contribution of industry-mix c.f. differential growth to the difference in the reduction in
employment between the two states.