Locational patterns of new graduate employment and regional economic performance in Australia

Abstract

The locational patterns of employment of new graduates from universities in Australia are examined in relation to the endogenous regional employment growth of destination regions. The data sources used include the 2006 database provided by the Graduate Careers Council for more than 65,000 university graduates detailing the postcodes locations where they have obtained jobs within six months after graduation in addition to the university where they studied. The analysis investigates the degree to which university graduates obtained jobs within the same region where they studied. In addition, the paper examines the relationship between the attractive force of regions as measured by their share of new graduate jobs generated and the endogenous regional employment growth performance of those regions over the decade 1996–2006 and the national share scale of regional labour markets.