How many jobs were lost with the collapse of Ansett?

The objective of this paper is to determine the adverse impact of the collapse of Ansett on employment using the latest Australian input-output table. The indirect contribution of the collapse of Ansett to the creation of unemployment in various industries is quantified by adopting the "shut-down of industry" approach. Ansett operated within the air and space transport industry which possesses strong backward and forward linkages. It is found that due to sectoral multiplier and flow-on effects each job lost in such an important sector leads to a loss of approximately 3 extra jobs in the economy as a whole. The empirical results are broadly consistent with previous estimates. Overall, the Ansett collapse brought about an indirect loss of 54880 jobs in 105 sectors of the Australian economy. Losses were particularly marked in the following industries which were the fastest growing industries in terms of employment during the 1985-2000 period: Retail trade; Business services; Education; Health services; Accommodation, cafes and restaurants.