bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
AWAs and Individual Bargaining in the Era of WorkChoices: A Critical Evaluation Using Negotiation Theory
Authors: Sheldon Peter , Kohn Nancy
Published: March 2013

The Howard government’s WorkChoices legislation appeared set to irremediably remake industrial relations in Australia by prioritising individual agreement making (through AWAs) at the expense of Australia’s traditional award systems based on collective bargaining. That government explicitly intended these changes to reduce labour market rewards to, and protections for, low paid and more vulnerable employees. Yet, it also deployed a rhetoric of individual choice in advocating these changes, promoting, in particular, a notion that individual bargaining and agreement making under WorkChoices empowered individual employees by opening opportunities for integrative (mutual gains) bargaining. This article asks what these changes really meant for bargaining between individual employee and employer. We analyse crucial elements of WorkChoices to highlight how its main structural mechanisms intensified employee bargaining weakness in individual bargaining. As well, we use negotiation theory, especially in relation to integrative bargaining, to evaluate the government’s own published advice to individual employees on how to bargain for an AWA. We find that the government explicitly sought to disempower employees through WorkChoices’ additional legal and institutional impediments and also through the concerted attempt at coaching employees to choose a losing path in their AWA negotiations.
Beyond WorkChoices: Negotiating a Moment
Authors: Gardner Margaret
Published: March 2013

Australian industrial relations was a curious beast for much of the twentieth century. For many it was the institutional equivalent of a marsupial — native to the Australian environment. It developed in the economic and social circumstances of the nineteenth century. Indeed the development and elaboration of the arbitral model of Australian industrial relations was one of the major social experiments of a vibrant, young and successful Australia.
Privatisation, Myopia and the Long-Run Provision of Economic Infrastructure in Australia
Authors: Johnson Michael
Published: March 2013

The privatisation of economic infrastructure in Australia that began in the 1980s has continued to be actively pursued by state and federal governments. Evaluations of the effects of the change of policy, ownership, control and regulatory arrangements that have accompanied privatisation and their impact on the longer-term stock of infrastructure and the growth of the economy have received less attention than the immediate privatisation decisions. This article reviews some of the studies that have been carried out to evaluate the impact of privatisation, focusing on long-term impacts on infrastructure provision. In particular, it discusses the myopia created by the emphasis on commercial transactions and managing markets that continues to shape the debate about the provision of infrastructure to meet Australia's economic, environmental and other objectives. Objectives have become even more difficult to achieve as an increasingly extensive and complex regulatory framework is required to manage privatised activities. This adds to costs and limits the potential for the introduction of new initiatives to address pressing problems. The issue is increasingly relevant, given the current perceived shortage of infrastructure and the flow-on effects of the current international financial crisis on Australia. The slow-down in economic growth accompanying the financial crisis is putting pressure on government budgets and threatening to perpetuate the existing policy bias towards short-term solutions, exacerbating the longer run problem of ensuring an adequate supply of public economic infrastructure.
‘The Government is the Best Landlord I've Ever Had’: Older Public Housing Tenants and Social Inclusion in Inner Sydney
Authors: Morris Alan
Published: March 2013

In this qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with fifteen older public housing tenants in inner-city neighbourhoods in Sydney, the life circumstances of older public housing tenants are explored. A primary aim of the study was to interrogate the notion that public housing is a form of housing tenure that is no longer worth pursuing due to it being a harbinger of misery and social exclusion for its residents. The research suggests that this conclusion is, in many ways, mythology. For the older public housing tenants interviewed, being accommodated in this tenure form was viewed as a ‘life-saver’. Despite the ever-increasing residualisation of public housing, the provision of affordable, adequate and secure accommodation in convenient locations gave them the capacity to pursue a life that they valued.
Low-Skill Workers, Technology, and Education: A New Vision for Workforce Development Policy
Authors: Gatta Mary
Published: March 2013

Meeting the education and training needs of low-skill working adults will require a transformation of United States workforce development policy. A significant component of this transformation is the development of education and training programs that are crafted around the needs of these workers. Traditional classroom based learning — which is inflexible in time and place — presents a series of barriers to low-skill adults. This article documents the relationship between educational attainment and labour market status in the US. It explores the extent to which the use of technology and online learning may help to equalise access to education and training by providing learning opportunities that can better incorporate working adults' work, education and family demands.
The Rise and, Hopefully, the Fall of Economic Neo-Liberalism in Theory and Practice
Authors: Harcourt G. C.
Published: March 2013

I count it a great privilege to contribute the opening essay to this issue of The Economic and Labour Relations Review, which is celebrating its first 20 years. Over that time, the journal has been an outlet for independent and outspoken, often unfashionable views, upholding traditions steeped in the thoughts of Michal Kalecki and Maynard Keynes, and some of Australia’s wisest economists. (Even Karl Marx gets a mention.) I am most grateful to the editors for asking me to be their opening bat.
The Duality of Labour and the Financial Crisis
Authors: Bryan Dick
Published: March 2013

The current financial crisis has meant a sudden drying-up of the widely-assumed basis of profitability and capital accumulation — reward for entrepreneurship or risk. In this context, it is timely to revisit the Marxian concept that profits derive from the dual role of labour, as both a commodity and a non-commodity. Surplus is created by the difference between the commodity dimension of labour, the value of labour power, and its non-commodity dimension — the value added by labour, over and above the value of inputs, or the cost of reproducing the workforce. Since the 1980s and 1990s, however, labour has become a commodity in a new sense. Risks to working class self-reproduction in the form of wage decline and withdrawal of state welfare, have pushed workers into becoming entrepreneurs of their own lives, calculating the risks of debt servicing and involuntarily buying services from privatised and financialised utilities and health care providers. In this sense, newly commodified labour is required to treat itself as a commercial entity, and it is thereby a player in the market for risk. The reproduction of labour power has itself become a source of surplus value, in the form of interest payments. But, as indicated by the US sub-prime housing market and its fall-out, capital now shares in the risk, through a fall in the value of labour power (lower consumption), and through incalculable financial instability.
From Terranova to Terra Firma: A Critique of the Role of Free Labour and the Digital Economy
Authors: van den Broek Diane
Published: March 2013

On-going class action against America Online's use of ‘free labour’ has divided opinion about the management of ‘digital’ labour in the ‘new’ economy. Web-based systems of collaboration between and within firms and their customers, as well as customer engagement in product innovation, have underscored claims about the evaporation of traditional labour markets and labour processes as well as about (weakening) divisions between production and consumption. This has led to (exaggerated) debates about the contribution of ‘free’ or ‘immaterial’ labour to contemporary economies. This paper argues that while significant restructuring has changed traditional organisational forms, capital markets remain centralised and digital labour remains as regulated as other labour. As such, while labour cannot be fully commodified, digital labour is neither free or immaterial, because it is not the content of labour itself, but rather its relationship with capital that gives it ‘weight’ and value.
The Fair Work Act: As Good as it Gets?
Authors: Barnes Alison , Lafferty George
Published: March 2013

The Your Rights at Work Campaign in the lead-up to the 2007 Australian federal election successfully mobilised a groundswell of community opposition to the radically anti-union Work Choices employment relations legislation of 2005. There were hopes that its successor, the 2009 Fair Work Act, would usher in a new regime of good-faith workplace relations, support for collective bargaining and vulnerable workers’ access to enforceable labour rights. Major gaps are the failure to address workplace power imbalance, especially in small workplaces, and lack of support for employee participation and voice mechanisms. A case is made for the inclusion of such mechanisms in legislative National Employment Standards. The article concludes by arguing that it is a mistake for unions to expect too much from legislation, rather than investing in the pursuit of the sort of community alliances which, after all, have made a restoration of Work Choices untenable.
Protected Industrial Action and Voluntary Collective Bargaining under the Fair Work Act 2009
Authors: McCrystal Shae
Published: March 2013

This article explores the enactment of a right to strike in the Australian federal industrial relations system in order to ascertain what the legislation reveals about the commitment of successive federal governments to the principles of voluntary collective bargaining. The article reflects briefly on Australia’s international obligations to respect the right to strike under ILO and UN Conventions before outlining the main features of protected industrial action under the federal system from 1993 through to the passage of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The discussion reveals that the right to strike in Australia is very limited, particularly with respect to the content and level of agreement making that may be supported by protected industrial action. Focusing on multi-enterprise agreement making in particular, the article concludes that the current legislative regime does not permit industrial parties to determine their own industrial agendas and support those agendas through protected industrial action.
Good Faith and the Fair Work Act: Its Potential, in Light of the New Zealand Experience
Authors: Dorsett Shaunnagh , Lafferty George
Published: March 2013

This article addresses the potential of the Fair Work Act’s good faith bargaining provision to enhance good faith bargaining and employment relationships, using New Zealand’s good faith provisions under the Employment Relations Act 2000 as a comparative frame of reference. It explores the limitations of the Fair Work Act’s compliance-based approach to good faith, which consists mainly of the parties presenting a legally defensible appearance of not acting in bad faith. In contrast, the New Zealand legislation aims to suffuse good faith with considerable content and definition, enabling parties to the employment relationship to extend good faith well beyond bargaining. In contrast to the Employment Relations Act, the formalistic, procedural approach promoted by the Fair Work Act is unlikely to encourage a significant cultural change towards meaningful good faith principles and practices.
Will the Fair Work Act Bring Improvements for Migrant Women Workers?
Authors: Zhang Angela
Published: March 2013

This non-refereed article is adapted from the paper presented on 21 August 2009 by Ms Angela Zhang, to the symposium, The Fair Work Act: Promises, Potential, Protections and Pitfalls. This symposium was designed to bring academic analysis together with voices representing low-paid workers. The community organisation Asian Women at Work, based in western and south western Sydney, believes that legislative reform will bring greater fairness at work only if it is accompanied by a concerted multilingual campaign to educate women of their legal rights at work, and their sources of redress. Employer education, union right of workplace entry, and an effective inspection regime are also crucial. The legislated minimum conditions in the National Employment Standards are seen as being set too low to offer real protection. Even if low-paid workers could access the new collective bargaining stream, the Individual Flexibility Arrangements that are mandatory in every collective agreement are likely simply to continue employers’ power to dictate working arrangements. Whilst the Act improves the regulation of unfair dismissal, many migrant women will remain unprotected, because of small business exemptions. Nevertheless, in coming together to lobby and campaign, the women have found a source of strength and power.
Labour as a (Fictitious) Commodity: Polanyi and the Capitalist ‘Market Economy’
Authors: Paton Joy
Published: March 2013

In The Great Transformation, Karl Polanyi problematised the commodity status of labour. He described it as ‘fictitious’ and asserted the human aspect of labour necessitates ‘protection’. In bringing Polanyi’s mature works to bear on these claims, this article uses the ‘fictitious commodity’ concept to highlight the tension in neoclassical theory between concrete reality and its idealist construction of the economy. This contradiction directly challenges the veracity of the self-regulating market. The article develops two related themes. The first is Polanyi’s critique of the neoclassical conception of ‘the economy’ as an ideal (market) construct which gave rise to the notion that labour could be regulated by the forces of supply and demand. The second is the lack of logic in the notion of a ‘self regulating’ market and Polanyi’s appreciation of the concrete tendencies of capitalist economies to develop institutional arrangements that ensure the economy is always, and necessarily, more than ‘the market’.
Seeds of Destruction: The Decline and Fall of the US Car Industry
Authors: Freedman Craig , Blair Alexander
Published: March 2013

Japanese car makers were able dramatically to expand their share of the US car market in the seventies and eighties. This was partly the result of their own efforts and partly fortuitous. This paper examines why the US car makers of this period were vulnerable and how the Japanese were able to exploit their own technical and organisational strengths. An understanding of this key period in the history of Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ indicates why some two decades later the US companies found themselves on the brink of corporate ruin.
Why Keynesian Policy was More Successful in the Fifties and Sixties than in the Last Twenty Years
Authors: Nevile J. W. , Kriesler P.
Published: March 2013

In the 1950s and 1960s unemployment averaged about 2 per cent. The lowest level of unemployment in the last twenty years was double that and long term unemployment, virtually unknown in the 1950s and 1960s, has been a severe problem. In each period there were two major slumps. We examine the progress of each slump and macroeconomic policy responses in each case, in order to search for reasons for this contrast. The priority given to minimising unemployment rather than restraining inflation is the most important difference between the two periods. Other major principles stand out, the most important of which are that in response to a downturn a fiscal policy stimulus is essential and must play the major part of any response; and that implementation must be swift and then followed up by further measures if necessary.
Privatisation and ‘Light-Handed’ Regulation: Sydney Airport
Authors: O’Donnell Michael , Glennie Miriam , O’Keefe Peter , Kwon Seung-Ho
Published: March 2013

This paper examines the privatisation of Sydney Airport and the regime of ‘light-handed’ monitoring of service quality and airport charges that followed the sale in 2002. The arguments for privatisation are reviewed, in particular the need for increased competition and/or appropriate regulation where a former public monopoly, such as Sydney Airport, is sold. The aftermath of the privatisation of the airport has led to complaints by the major airlines and consumers of ever increasing charges for use of the airfield and for car parking and other services. This highlights that the ‘light-handed’ monitoring regime has not constrained the airport’s ability to charge monopoly rents. The aftermath of privatisation has resulted in labour shedding, outsourcing and a focus on cost minimisation by the airport’s management.
University Students’ Financial Literacy Levels: Obstacles and Aids
Authors: Cull Michelle , Whitton Diana
Published: March 2013

In the last decade, the increased complexity of, and levels of access to, financial products and services, together with rising household debt and the funding of an ageing population, have prompted the State to place increased focus on financial education, with the dual objectives of regulating to enhance market efficiency and mitigating social welfare issues attributed to poor financial decisions. Financial literacy is crucial for young adults as they embark on life events involving major expenditure and debt, particularly for university students who have already accrued a debt based on Higher Education contribution scheme liability and who are making labour market decisions. This paper investigates the determining factors of personal financial literacy levels among a sample of university students at different stages of study and across diverse study areas including business, education, arts, humanities and the sciences; with some interesting findings for policy makers. It also provides indicative evidence of students’ preferred method of learning more about personal finance to facilitate the effective design of personal financial literacy programs.
Assessing the Impact of Employment Regulation on the Low-Paid in Victoria
Authors: Cockfield Sandra , Buttigieg Donna , Jerrard Marjorie , Rainnie Al
Published: March 2013

Since 1993 and the removal of the separate award system for the Australian State of Victoria, many Victorian workers have been on five minimum conditions and on pay levels well below that of employees in other States. Despite attempts to rectify the situation (with Victorian common rule awards), issues of coverage and employer compliance remained. The implementation of WorkChoices legislation in 2006 posed a further challenge to Victorian low-paid workers. Our research found that the impact of WorkChoices on the Victorian low-paid has been largely insidious, surfacing primarily as an increased wage-effort ratio, with people working more unpaid hours and at an increased pace. The implications of this are that these hidden effects are more likely to linger, even with the replacement of WorkChoices with the Fair Work Act, 2009. Furthermore, it appears that employer compliance with minimum conditions requires more adequate enforcement by the Federal Government.
Population Ageing and Tax Reform in a Dual Welfare State
Authors: Spies-Butcher Ben , Stebbing Adam
Published: March 2013

Traditionally, older people have been the key targets of Australia’s targeted welfare state. Flat rate pensions and widespread home ownership have ensured relative equality in older life. However, in response to perceived fiscal pressures generated by population ageing, Australia has increasingly shifted its policy settings, encouraging private savings over public risk pooling. Private savings are increasingly supported by public subsidy through tax policy. This has led to overlapping policy priorities, as public subsidies are used both as incentives to promote savings and as social policy instruments to promote adequate living standards in retirement. This conflict is evident in recent policy reviews of taxation, public spending and pension policy. This article explores the development of this conflict and how it manifests in proposals for reform. We argue that the conflation of welfare and taxation goals increasingly creates a dual welfare state that promotes private provision at the expense of both equity and efficiency. We suggest that more explicit identification of the roles of tax policy, and the welfare implications of tax changes, would help to improve policy design.
Equity in Retirement: Are All Australians Getting a Fair Deal?
Authors: Asher Anthony
Published: March 2013

This article evaluates the Australian retirement system using a framework of justice. Justice (alternatively, equity or fairness) is taken as requiring a full consideration of the criteria of needs, equality, liberty and just deserts, as well as matters of efficiency. Inequity occurs when the interests of weaker stakeholders are given inadequate consideration. Applying these criteria suggests that the Australian retirement system intrudes on the liberty of some groups of stakeholders inconsistently and inappropriately in mandating contributions at younger ages particularly, and by the imposition of unnecessarily bureaucratic means tests. It also fails to provide for the incapacitated older aged.
Trade Unionists in Parliament and Macroeconomic Performance: Evidence from Germany
Authors: Berlemann Michael , Zimmermann Klaus W.
Published: March 2013

This article focuses on the role of unionised members of parliament. While unions have a direct effect on the labour market via wage negotiations, they often also take part in political debates. In many countries, significant shares of the members of parliament are also members of a trade union. However, up to now little empirical evidence is available on the extent to which unionised members of parliament try to achieve union-specific goals and thereby influence the macroeconomic conditions of an economy. A recent study for Germany comes to the conclusion that union members in the Bundestag cannot be seen as the parliamentary arm of the trade unions. However, we present contradicting empirical results by showing that, in Germany at least, the degree of unionisation of parliamentary members has a negative impact on economic growth and increases inflation, while unemployment remains unaffected.
The Post-School Education Choices of Young Women in Australia and Canada
Authors: Austen Siobhan , MacPhail Fiona
Published: March 2013

Young Canadian women engage in post-school study at a much higher rate than their Australian peers, with a large part of the difference in this rate attributable to differences in rates of participation in the non-university sector. This article uses data from the Australian Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth and the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey to generate a unique cross-country comparison of the characteristics of young women engaged in different types of post-school education. The results highlight important differences in the role played by academic ability and parental resources in the allocation of educational ‘slots' in the non-university sectors of the two countries. The results suggest that ‘second-tier’ post-school institutions could play a role in boosting rates of post-school education in Australia, with important consequences for the design of policy on this sector.
Complementary Climate Change Policies: A Framework for Evaluation
Authors: Denniss R. , Grudnoff M. , Macintosh A.
Published: March 2013

There has been much debate about the role of carbon prices in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. However there has been far less attention paid to the evaluation of complementary and other non-price policies designed to accompany the carbon price. The purpose of this article is to develop a framework for considering the case for, and effectiveness of, the wide range of existing and proposed complementary policies that are designed to accompany the carbon price in the effort to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. The article concludes that an effective evaluation of complementary policies should include identifying the market failure the policy is aimed at correcting. The complementary policy should work in conjunction with, not opposition to, other polices aimed at reducing emissions. It should be complementary with the policies of other levels of government and it should also consider issues of efficiency, equity, accountability and adaptability.
Gambling with Public Money: An Economic Analysis of National Sports Team Funding
Authors: Mitchell Heather , Spong Heath , Stewart Mark
Published: March 2013

Many governments across the world provide extensive funding to national sports teams and individual athletes in pursuit of success at international competitions such as the Olympic Games. One factor that motivates governments to fund national sports teams is the potential to exploit the elevation in nationalistic pride that attends international sporting success. Drawing on research in the psychology of sport, this article contends that politicians can access the ‘reflective glow’ of successful athletes for their political benefit. The statistical correlation between government funding and Olympic success is explored using the basic prisoners’ dilemma to represent the decisions of two governments competing for sports success. While the analysis is simple, we argue that it sheds some light on recent examples and represents a first step in understanding this complex issue.
Comparing Attendances and Memberships in the Australian Football League: The Case of Hawthorn
Authors: Lenten Liam J. A.
Published: March 2013

While the linkage between team performance and attendances is well established, there has been negligible previous research using club memberships as an alternative indicator of demand for sport. Little attention has been paid to how the number of memberships is affected by common measures of team performance, such as the team’s win-ratio. This study utilises a previously unavailable long range time-series data set of annual memberships for an Australian Football League (AFL) club, Hawthorn FC. A succession of basic correlation analyses demonstrates that, while the relation between club membership numbers and win-ratios is strongly positive as it is for attendances (for most of the sample), some of the finer properties are substantially different. It is suggested that much of the reason for this lies in differences between the segmented nature of these markets for attendances and memberships.
Climate Change
Authors: Bhaduri Amit
Published: March 2013

The author surveys shifts in macro-economic policy and thought from Keynes and Kalecki to the present, tracking the changing climate of economic opinion. As Kalecki foresaw, the success of Keynesian demand management was undermined when, in an era of full employment, the power of labour threatened industrialists’ authority over the economy. From the 1970s, this led governments to introduce pro-capitalist measures. Countering recessions with budget deficits was now seen as irresponsible. The rise of globalisation meant that domestic demand management became less effective, especially in economies highly dependent on imports. Opening up economies meant that their exchange rates and stock markets became more vulnerable to capital flights. As the reach of finance became increasingly global, those private credit rating agencies became the game changers. Today private credit agencies, through their rating of the investment climate and sovereign risk of a country, in effect rate the quality of its government. Capitalist democracies are now dominated by private finance. Management of the investment climate is increasingly done through the virtual rather than the real economy, creating artificial financial asset and housing market bubbles. At the same time, in the neglected real economy, inequality and unemployment have increased, and living standards are falling.
‘Low-Skilled’ Work in Canada
Authors: Amine Samir
Published: March 2013

This research note focuses on the situation of workers classed in Canada as low-skilled. Using data from the Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics Canada, we seek to answer the following questions: are workers classed as low-skilled disproportionately affected by rising unemployment rates? What types of jobs are classed as low-skilled? Are these jobs predominantly full-time or part-time? Within this category of low-skilled workers, we will also focus on the situation of women who, according to several recent studies including those by the OECD, are increasingly employed in precarious jobs.
Exchange rates and the macroeconomy in an era of global financial crises, with special reference to Australia
Authors: Kriesler Peter , Nevile J W , Harcourt G C
Published: March 2013

Unless the global financial system is radically reformed – and the necessary reforms are looking increasingly unlikely to occur – it will continue to be conducive to financial crises. Government rhetoric and actions can often influence in desirable ways both the speculative actions that now determine the exchange rate and the effect of exchange rate movements on the domestic economy. Managing the exchange rate should start with Australian support for measures such as the Tobin tax that dampen speculation. In 2008 and 2009, exchange rate changes were helpful in reducing the impact of the global financial crisis on Australia, largely because of a very clear commitment by the Australian government to make preservation of jobs its top priority. In 2009, a rapid rise in the exchange rate was unhelpful. In the short run, little can be done about this, but in the longer run, it is possible to offset the adverse effects.
The Economy in the Nineties: Through the Slump to Prosperity?
Authors: Nevile J.W. , Stegman T.R.
Published: March 2013

There is general agreement that the economy is in slump. There is also general agreement that the slump is the product of macroeconomic policy. In an attempt to redress the adverse balance of payments public policy has dampened economic activity through tight fiscal and monetary policy. The need to contain the growth in imports will have a vital bearing on the economic growth facilitated by public policy in the short and medium term. The paper details the factors determining the appropriate levels of growth in the short term which will enable a “soft” landing for the economy. However, the paper doubts that this “soft” landing will be achieved. The paper also examines the longer term prospects. It argues that, given the appropriate policy framework, a period of prosperity is achievable.
The Case for Deregulation: Economic Science or Ideology?
Authors: Nevile J.W.
Published: March 2013

Economists tend to have a bias towards faith in market forces. For many economists this is re-enforced by a libertarian social philosophy. Professional judgements made by such economists often reflect their social philosophy as much as the conclusions of purely economic analysis.
The Dynamics and Dimensions of Industrial Relations Change: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Niland John , Clarke Oliver
Published: March 2013

This paper summarises the conclusion of an OECD-based study on the nature and dynamics of change in industrial relations. A number of industrialised market countries are examined, six of which — Australia, Japan, Britain, the United States of America, West Germany and Sweden — are the focus of a detailed study. Successive parts of the paper examine the experience of change, the agents of change, factors facilitating change, and barriers to change. The paper concludes with several generalised propositions about the macro change process drawn from the experience of the countries reviewed, and a review of policy options.
‘Throwing down the Gauntlet’: ACTU Special Unions Conference, May 1991
Authors: Davis Edward M
Published: March 2013

The ACTU convened a Special Unions Conference following the April 1991 National Wage Case Decision. In contrast to its previous responses to National Wage Decisions during the Accord era, the ACTU Wages Committee recommended rejection of the decision. Moreover, it encouraged affiliates to seek direct negotiations with employers over the Accord VI claims turned down by the Commission. This note explores the background to these developments and details the debate at the ACTU Conference.
Natural Resource Accounting and Sustainability
Authors: Common Michael
Published: March 2013

The recent emergence of concern for sustainability, or sustainable development, has lead to a renewed interest in the adequacy of national income accounts for monitoring economic performance. It has been argued that natural resource accounting is needed, and that national income accounting conventions need modifying. The paper reviews this background and argument, and distinguishes several types of natural resource accounting. It is noted that adjustment of measures of national income requires valuation, and that with respect to sustainability objectives market and surrogate market prices are inappropriate. It is argued that the pursuit of sustainability requires modelling rather than historical accounting. Some recent, unofficial, attempts at revising national income data to reflect sustainability concerns are critically reviewed. Finally, data requirements for ecological sustainability are considered.
W(h)ither Australian Unions?
Authors: Plowman David H.
Published: March 2013

Recent years have seen Australian unions suffer major membership losses. Unions now represent only 46 per cent of the workforce and less than one third of the private sector workforce. The paper examines union membership trends and analysis the appropriate environment, structures and strategies for addressing union decline.
Solidarity in the Nineties? An Analysis of the ACTU Blueprint and the Costa/Duffy Critique
Authors: Ellem Bradon
Published: March 2013

Plans to restructure the trade union movement have received little critical analysis. The most striking exception to this appeared in the first issue of this journal where Costa and Duffy argued that amalgamation plans were ‘fatally flawed’. This perspective, although drawing out some problems with the ACTU’s program, is itself unsatisfactory because too much of its argument remains implicit and it relies on highly debatable assumptions. Like so much industrial relations debate in Australia, the arguments in and about union strategies are made more difficult because they proceed without reference to theory or history. The main burden of this article is, after a detailed analysis of the Costa and Duffy prescription, to show why this matters and to suggest some areas of detailed research.
Industrial Relations and the Coalition’s Fightback Package: An Assessment
Authors: Buchanan John
Published: March 2013

Proponents of voluntary exchange in labour markets place great reliance on the contract of employment as an appropriate vehicle for the practical implementation of their exchange model. This paper argues a contrary view and suggests that the contract of employment may not be an appropriate vehicle for the voluntary exchange of labour.
The Effects of Productivity Enhancement: Some Community Views
Authors: Savery Lawson K. , Soutar Geoffrey N.
Published: March 2013

The need to improve workplace performance and productivity is a commonly expressed view. This paper reports on community perception of productivity. It suggests that workers’ negative perceptions regarding a distribution of the benefits of productivity may act as a barrier to productivity enhancement.
The Nature of Workplace Relations: A Typology of Social Relations and Analysis of Industrial Relations Systems
Authors: Morgan David E.
Published: March 2013

There has been growing concern over the role of industrial relations arrangements in the workplace in Australia. In response more industrial relations research has focused on the workplace over the recent past. Although this work has centred on a range of themes, it has however relied on essentially the same theoretical framework or industrial relations paradigm. The basis of which is the analysis of bargained rules — the result of the joint-regulation of employment and workplace practice. In other words, the bargaining paradigm focuses overwhelmingly on one type of labour-management relation — viz. bargaining. This paper proposes a typology based on a number of types of social relations in order to broaden the basis of industrial relations analysis. It is used to analyse the characteristics and dynamics of a number of industrial relations systems currently under debate in Australia over the reshaping of industrial relations.
Macroeconomic Policy for Recovery
Authors: McDonald Ian M.
Published: March 2013

The major economic problem from which Australia suffers at the present time is an excessively—high rate of unemployment. Australia also appears to have, at present, an excessively—low rate of saving. In contrast to the views of the “minimalists”, who argue that government macroeconomic policy should not be adjusted to offset high rates of unemployment, it is argued in this paper that a policy for recovery is desirable. This argument is based on empirical evidence which suggests that the degree of price flexibility required for the economy to return automatically to full employment does not exist. The appropriate policy for recovery, given the low rate of saving, is an expansionary monetary policy. Indicators of monetary policy do suggest that the current stance of monetary policy is indeed expansionary. It is difficult to say whether an even more expansionary monetary policy should be adopted.
Award Restructuring, Workplace Reform and the Changing Nature of Australian Industrial Relations
Authors: Fells R E
Published: March 2013

This paper examines the changes taking place in Australian industrial relations. It takes as its starting point the policy objective of improving workplace productivity and examines the impact of reforms on this objective using Lewin’s framework for the analysis of change and a mining operation as a case study. The paper suggests that the reforms are only facilitative and this exposes a reliance on management for the achievement of the policy objective. The dominance of managerial perspective changes the fundamental nature of the industrial relations system and raises several important policy considerations, in particular issues relating to the recognition of trade unions.
The 1993 ACTU Congress: Rewriting the Rules
Authors: Davis Edward M
Published: March 2013

The 1993 Congress endorsed extensive revisions to the ACTU’s rulebook including major changes to the ACTU’s decision making structure. Congress reaffirmed the importance of enterprise bargaining for wage fixation in conjunction with awards as safety—nets and the foundation for bargaining. This was the Congress that saw the bulk of members in twenty unions.
Australia’s Future in the Asian—Pacific Economy: A Japanese View
Authors: Kinugasa Tatsuo
Published: March 2013

Australia’s economic future depends on policies to achieve economic allies and prosperity within the Asia—Pacific region. To do this more than expanding primary exports is needed, because the growth rate of primary industry is relatively low. There are already countries in the Asia—Pacific region who have specialised in secondary industry, but Australia is well placed to specialise in leisure and tourism and also in the information industry, meaning not computing but consulting work and research.
Job Creation: From Public Works to a Job Compact
Authors: Stromback Thorsten
Published: March 2013

The premise of this paper is that when long-term unemployment reaches very high levels, increasingly costly forms of assistance, like job creation have to be used to redress the disadvantage the long-term unemployed encounter. It then goes on to argue that effective job creation requires a new institutional framework, regional or local employment boards formed by local business and community organisations. Such an institution is well placed to satisfy the many conflicting objectives of job creation, and would ensure the public funds are used imaginatively to the benefit of both the unemployed and the community as a whole.
Unemployment and the Structure of Unemployment Benefits
Authors: Norris Keith
Published: March 2013

Analysis suggests that the higher the replacement ratio, that is the level of unemployment benefit relative to average earnings, the higher the level of unemployment is likely to be. This effect comes about in two main ways. The replacement ratio will influence both the rate of inflow into unemployment and the period for which people remain unemployed. The empirical evidence supports these propositions although the sensitivity of unemployment to changes in the replacement ratio is fairly weak. In the light of equity considerations reducing unemployment benefits as a policy weapon to counteract unemployment is thus not a viable option. Changing the rules relating to part-time earnings and unemployment benefit however could reduce long-term unemployment.
“Restoring Full Employment”: Further Research Needs
Authors: Dawkins Peter
Published: March 2013

This paper outlines some of the deficiencies in the research evidence upon which we were able to draw in putting together the Western Australian Labour Market Research Centre’s submission to the Committee on Employment Opportunities, and some further deficiencies that have become evident from reading the Green Paper. Consequently some suggestions are made about further research needs. Broadly speaking, there are four types of research that appear to be necessary. Firstly, there is research which seeks to monitor and evaluate the specific effects of specific policies, such as those that are expected to result from the proposed Job Compact. Secondly, there is the more general research agenda on the operation of labour markets in Australia, which help to shed light on issues of relevance to policy decisions. Thirdly, there is a broader research agenda on issues associated with productivity, competitiveness and economic growth, bearing in mind the importance of a substantial and sustained increase in the underlying rate of economic growth. Finally, there is research which would improve our ability to undertake valuable future orientated scenario modelling simulations.
Enterprise Bargaining: The Truth Revealed at Last
Authors: Rimmer Malcolm , Watts Lee
Published: March 2013

This paper is a selective review of recent Australian research upon enterprise bargaining and workplace industrial relations. It begins with a discussion of data collection methods, pointing out some strengths and weaknesses of survey, case study, and agreement text analysis methods. It then focusses upon two substantive issues to test the success of research. The first concerns the infrastructure for enterprise bargaining. Our conclusion is that research illuminates this topic, and reveals general unreadiness. The second issue is productivity performance and enterprise bargaining. We are far more sceptical that research has proved a relation between the two. We conclude with the observation that researchers may be on the wrong track if they try to quantify the effects of enterprise bargaining on productivity performance. The paper recommends that greater attention be given to change management programmes designed to increase competitiveness, and to the outcomes sought from these, rather than to productivity.
An Overview of Protection of Australian Manufacturing: Past, Present and Future
Authors: Conlon R. M.
Published: March 2013

Australia, and before Federation, the colonies, have long histories of tariff protection. However, by the end of this century tariffs for imports of most commodities will have been lowered to negligible levels. This paper briefly examines the history of the tariff and the changing structure of assistance to manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s. As the tariff has been dismantled, a variety of alternative measures have been implemented. Thus, while the ‘old’ protectionism of tariffs on imports has been discredited, a ‘new’ form of protectionism — much to do with providing assistance for exports — has arisen to at least partially take its place. The protective effects of many of these measures is far less apparent and possibly more deleterious than the tariffs they replace.
Regulating Natural Monopoly: Are Price Caps an Alternative to Rate of Return Targets?
Authors: Kearney Colm , Favotto Ivo
Published: March 2013

As the process of corporatisation and privatisation of both State and Federal Government Business Enterprises gathers pace, increasing attention is being placed on the way in which these organisations are regulated. The Prices Surveillance Authority has recently proposed a change in the way it conducts surveillance of prices from a cost based system to a price cap system. Price capping, as a form of regulation, has been used extensively in the UK and the US for some time. The article argues that the lesson of this international experience is that price caps may not be the answer to the traditional problems associated with cost based regulation and that price caps may have additional disadvantages, particularly incentives for under investment, although it may have some other advantages. Some alternative regulatory options are then examined, mainly involving modifications to both cost based and price cap regulation.
An Economic Impact Assessment of ‘Safety Net’ Wage Increases
Authors: Skeffington Robert
Published: March 2013

This analysis examines the impact of the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ (ACTU) application to the 1994 National Wage Case, on economic indicators such as employment, inflation, business investment, gross domestic product, interest rates and the current account balance by using the well respected econometric model devised by Mr Chris Murphy. The economic impact is assessed by inputting specific shocks to the Murphy Model along the lines of the wage increases proposed by the ACTU.

This paper examines the differences in outcomes between arbitrated wages increases and wage movements consistent with market conditions. Given the likely detrimental effect of wage increases sanctioned by tribunals, particularly on unemployment, there are a number of policy implications. These policy implications will also be examined.
On the Dangers of Targeting the Budget Deficit
Authors: Perkins J.O.N.
Published: March 2013

This paper examines a number of the deficiencies of the use of the budget balance, or changes in it, as an intermediate target for macroeconomic policy. It draws attention to a number of defensible alternative definitions of ‘the budget deficit’ - which may give conflicting indications of the direction in which the budget balance is moving. It then outlines some of the ways in which alternative measures for effecting a given change in the budget balance may have different effects on the principal objectives of macroeconomic policy. It is pointed out that even if a reduction in the rate of increase in government debt is in itself desirable, it is only after consideration of the costs and benefits of alternative ways of achieving that aim that one can logically decide what policy measures - and what consequent change in the deficit - are appropriate. An appendix draws on some simulations for the UK economy and for the OECD to illustrate how different measures having the same effect on the PSBR may have different relative effects on the various macroeconomic objectives.