Skills intensity: a human capital approach to understanding the development of regions

Our paper analyses the importance of the skill intensity of occupations as a key driver of economic development in regions. To this end, it uses the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) to evaluate and examine skill intensity for the Melbourne Statistical Division (MSD) and the Outer East of Melbourne (OEM). It analyses employment change in the region and uses hierarchical regression in order to determine and identify which sets of skills provide a larger economic premium in the labour market. The paper concludes that different skill levels contribute to earnings differences to some extent in both cases, although to a much lesser extent in the OEM.