The Regional Economic Impact Of An Airport: The Case Of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

The completion of the so-called 'third package' in the liberalization of European aviation has changed the environment in which airports operate considerably. The continued growth of air traffic has led to a public debate in many Western countries about the expansion of airport capacity in the light of the externalities emanating from these traffic nodes. In this paper we try to measure the economic impact of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on the Greater Amsterdam region, by means of a social accounting matrix of this region. The paper tries to avoid some of the pitfalls of earlier studies by using a counterfactual approach in measuring the economic impact. We are able to distinguish employment created in sub-regions of the Greater Amsterdam region, and the education and qualification levels associated with this employment. Our results indicate that the total multiplier of direct employment on Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is approximately 2: one job on the airport leads to approximately one job in indirect and induced employment.