The Direction of Australian Investment from 1985/86 to 1988/89

Using unpublished data at a disaggregated level, this paper provides a detailed picture of the direction of investment over the 1985/86 to 1988/89 investment boom. Most of the growth in non-farm capital expenditure has been concentrated in a few industries, in particular, office construction. We also calculate an improved measure of the proportion of manufacturing investment which was directed towards tradeable capacity. This shows a modest rise in the latter part of the period studied.