bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metamorphoses: The Concept of Labour in the History of Political Economy
Authors: Theocarakis Nicholas J.
Published: March 2013

The emergence of an understanding of labour as the basis of value is traced from ancient Greek authors to classical political economy and Karl Marx, and the subsequent eclipse of the theory in neoclassical economics is then charted. While the ancient Greeks did not have a concept of labour as a measure of value, in Scholastic authors the notion was fixed that labour and cost of production determine value. Labour assumed a central role in Adam Smith, but it was with David Ricardo that a fully blown labour theory of value was achieved. Marx gave the concept its philosophical dimension, tying it to a critique of classical political economy. The labour theory of value came under attack in neoclassical formulations which in the end effected the analytical disappearance of labour in several ways. Labour became just another factor of production, with marginal productivity regulating its price. Then factors of production and final goods became analytically equivalent as sources of subjective utility, especially in the context of general equilibrium theory. In disutility models of labour supply, labour was substituted by its absence, ‘leisure’. Finally, attempts were made to explain the employment relationship as an application of agency theory, moving away from the pure commodity model of labour. Nevertheless, all these theories failed to account for what became the Achilles' heel of neoclassicism — namely the indeterminacy of the labour contract.
Legal Incentives to Promote Innovation at Work: A Critical Analysis
Authors: Dent Chris , Fenwick Colin , Newitt Kirsten
Published: March 2013

The allocation of any benefit that arises from worker-generated innovation is complicated by the importance of three separate areas of law — employment law, intellectual property law and equity — and the distinction between those types of innovation that attract intellectual propertyrightsand those types that do not (the latter being a category that is often referred to as ‘know-how’). The purpose of this article is to engage with the legal scholarship on the principles that are relevant to innovation. To date, the discussion has focused on two distinct approaches — what may be termed theeconomicand thefairnessperspectives. The former may be seen as a justification for the current regime, while the latter has focused on the perceived needs of workers (in large part in opposition to the employers). Our argument is that these two approaches are both incomplete. In an attempt to get closer to a workable framework for the effective allocation of benefits, we offer a third approach; one that is based on thepracticesthat are central to the employer-worker relationship.
Minimum Labour Standards Enforcement in Australia: Caught in the Crossfire?
Authors: Goodwin Miles , Maconachie Glenda
Published: March 2013

The complex transition from convict to free labour influenced state intervention in the employment relationship, and initiated the first minimum labour standards in Australia in 1828. Since then, two principal sets of tensions have affected the enforcement of such standards: tensions between government and employers, and tensions between the major political parties over industrial and economic issues. This article argues that these tensions have resulted in a sustained legacy affecting minimum labour standards’ enforcement in Australia. The article outlines broad historical developments and contexts of minimum labour standards’ enforcement in Australia since 1828, with more contemporary exploration focusing specifically on enforcement practices and policies in the Australian federal industrial relations jurisdiction. Current enforcement practices are an outcome of this volatile history, and past influences remain strong.
‘Modernising’ Employment Standards? Administrative Efficiency and the Production of the Illegitimate Claimant in Ontario, Canada
Authors: Gellatly Mary , Grundy John , Mirchandani Kiran , Perry J. Adam , Thomas Mark P. , Vosko Leah F.
Published: March 2013

In October 2010, the provincial government of Ontario, Canada enacted theOpen for Business Act(OBA). A central component of the OBA is its provisions aiming to streamline the enforcement of Ontario’sEmployment Standards Act(ESA). The OBA’s changes to the ESA are an attempt to manage a crisis of employment standards (ES) enforcement, arising from decades of ineffective regulation, by entrenching an individualised enforcement model. The Act aims to streamline enforcement by screening people assumed to be lacking definitive proof of violations out of the complaints process. The OBA therefore produces a new category of ‘illegitimate claimants’ and attributes administrative backlogs to these people. Instead of improving the protection of workers, the OBA embeds new racialised and gendered modes of exclusion in the ES enforcement process.
A Better and Larger GST?
Authors: Freebairn John
Published: March 2013

This article argues the case for changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a key part of fundamental tax reform in Australia. A more comprehensive base would bring gains in efficiency and simplicity, with equity goals better met by the income transfer system. Revenue gains of a broader GST base and/or a higher rate could fund tax mix change packages to replace more distorting state stamp duties and fund lower income tax rates. The tax mix change packages would improve efficiency and simplicity, with no substantial changes to aggregate revenue or to equity.
Enrolling Non-State Actors to Improve Compliance with Minimum Employment Standards
Authors: Hardy Tess
Published: March 2013

While the extent of employer non-compliance with minimum employment standards has yet to be decisively determined in Australia, there is evidence to suggest that it is both prevalent and persistent. This article draws on the scholarship emerging from the regulatory studies field to explore the underlying impulses and issues that may have led to this compliance gap. It considers how a more pluralistic and decentred understanding of regulation may improve compliance. This understanding is then applied to examine the various ways in which the federal labour inspectorate — the Fair Work Ombudsman — has sought to supplement and strengthen its existing compliance and enforcement mechanisms by harnessing or ‘enrolling’ non-state stakeholders, such as employer associations, trade unions, top-level firms and key individuals.
A Post Keynesian Perspective on Industry Assistance and the Effectiveness of Australia’s Carbon Pricing Scheme
Authors: Perry Neil
Published: March 2013

Australia’s carbon pricing scheme protects the profits of polluters and, as a consequence, has a negligible impact on the carbon emissions emanating from Australian industries. I concentrate on the assistance given to emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries and use a post Keynesian approach to explain that, despite the rhetoric, industries and firms will not move offshore under a carbon price and industry assistance is unnecessary. When assistance is given, profits are protected and could increase in certain industries, which occurred in the comparable European emissions trading scheme. In orthodox economic theory, despite this negligible impact on profits, any method of pricing carbon causes a reduction in emissions because firms seek to adjust technology and factor inputs at the margin and abate until marginal abatement costs equal the carbon price. However, from a post Keynesian perspective, the government’s prediction of a transformed economy and clean energy future will not occur unless the carbon pricing policy reduces the corporate profits of emitting firms. Thus, complementary policies are required to take the burden of reducing emissions off the more symbolic carbon market established. I further argue that a carbon tax without any industry assistance is a preferred approach and that where plant shutdown does occur, carbon emissions around the world will fall and workers could be compensated at a far smaller cost than the adjustment assistance given to industries in the policy’s current form.
Australia’s Carbon Tax: A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing?
Authors: Spash Clive L. , Lo Alex Y.
Published: March 2013

The Australian Government has produced a CO2-equivalent tax proposal with a difference: it is a short prelude to an emission trading scheme that will allow the increasing rate of emissions to continue, while being a net cost to the Treasury. That cost extends to allowing major emitters to make guaranteed windfall profits from pollution permits. The emission trading scheme suffers numerous problems, but the issues raised in this article show that taxes can also be watered down and made ineffectual through concessions. Taxpayers will get no assets from the billions of dollars to be spent buying-off the coal generators or other polluters. The scheme seeks to stimulate private investors to create an additional 12 per cent in renewable electricity generation by 2020. A really serious emissions reducing alternative would need to create a nationalised electricity sector with 100 per cent renewable energy within a decade. We explore the limitations of Australia’s carbon tax plan which has now passed into law.
Who Cleans up? The Declining Earnings Position of Cleaners in Australia
Authors: Holley Sasha , Rainnie Al
Published: March 2013

Neoliberal policies of industrial relations decentralisation and privatisation have transformed the economic landscape of Australia in the last 20 years. The primary objective of these policies has been to enhance wealth and prosperity by improving productivity and flexibility of the workforce and competition and accountability in the market. Yet the evidence suggests that precarious workers are not benefiting from this increased prosperity, indeed they suffer by comparison with all other workers. Cleaners are a subset of precarious workers who have been hard hit by the dual impacts of labour market decentralisation and privatisation. This study finds quantitative evidence of an increasing gap in earnings between cleaners and other workers in Australia since the onset of workplace relations decentralisation and the proliferation of privatisation in the mid 1990s. We locate our argument in recent debates about the nature of variegated neoliberalism, the emergence of the networked economy, and the implications of these developments for the nature of work and employment.
From the Tyranny of Distance to the Power of Proximity: Can Australian Workers Trade up in the Lucky Country?: The 2011 Stan Kelly Lecture, 10 November 2011
Authors: Harcourt Tim
Published: March 2013

Imagine a country that is inward looking and rarely notices the world beyond its own borders. Imagine a country with double-digit inflation and unemployment and a poor record of economic growth. Workers and their bosses are at each other’s throats, the country leads the world for working days lost due to industrial disputes and productivity (and how to improve it) is rarely talked about. Industry shelters behind prohibitive tariff walls (thinking only of the domestic market), the exchange rate is fixed every morning by officials of the central bank and the Treasury and international trade is an afterthought. Shop hours are regulated, domestic monopolies run most industries, and foreign entrants (in areas such as banking) are prohibited. Tax is high (and therefore evaded and avoided); expenditure untargeted and budgets in deficit. There are few foreign tourists, or many foreign students on university campuses. There are few restaurants around and licensing laws are restrictive. This country is at the bottom of the global premiership table in terms of economic performance despite its bountiful wealth.
Medium-term Mortality of Dutch Professional Soccer Players
Authors: Koning Ruud H. , Amelink Remko
Published: March 2013

Professional athletes such as soccer players are expected to be in better health than the average member of their age cohort, if only because of the very demands imposed on them by their profession. Moreover, during their active career, their health is monitored on a regular basis. However, whenever a (former) well-known athlete dies, such an event is publicised widely. Perceived mortality among athletes may be distorted. In this article, we examine medium-term mortality of professional soccer players in The Netherlands. More specifically, we answer two questions. First, we examine if the mortality of soccer players is significantly different from mortality in the general population. Second, we assess whether mortality varies by team. We find that mortality among soccer players is significantly lower than in the general population, with no significant between teams variation. The methodology used in this article is easily extended to examine atypical mortality among other groups of athletes.
Governance in Sport: Outside the Box?
Authors: Healey Deborah
Published: March 2013

‘Governance’ in its simplest form is the way that an organisation is directed and controlled, but the concept of governance also incorporates systems of rules, relationships, and processes to achieve that end. This article focuses on governance of sporting organisations in Australia. Sport in Australia is organised in a singular fashion when compared to other organisations and to sport in other countries. This has significant implications for assumptions about corporate structure, law and governance. The article examines governance of sporting organisations from a number of perspectives and draws distinctions between standard assumptions about governance and the realities of sports governance in Australia. It concludes that a number of assumptions made about organisations in law and governance theory do not apply to Australian sporting organisations. It asks how these anomalies in assumption and execution affect ultimate good governance in sport and impact on the way directors approach their duties.
The Labour Supply Curve: A Pluralist Approach to Investigate its Measurements
Authors: Cavagnoli Donatella
Published: March 2013

The neoclassical theory of labour supply cannot unambiguously explain the decision of highly-skilled high-wage male workers to work longer and harder than their counterparts in the 1980s. We investigate the labour supply elasticities of these workers, over time, and across countries, within a ceteris paribus condition. The estimates reveal a shift rather than a movement along the supply curve. We find that ambiguities are due to the absence, in the theory, of a clear distinction between a change in consumption that is partly due to changes in the wage rate and partly due to changes in purchasing power. We apply a new pluralist approach to the standard income-leisure choice framework and provide for a more systematic and consistent method of measuring variations in labour supply, with policy implications.
Malaysian Firms’ Role in Retaining Engineers
Authors: Rahman Rabeatul Husna Abdull
Published: March 2013

An impediment to Malaysia’s drive for knowledge economy status is thought to be a very high rate of labour mobility — overseas, to Singapore, and inter-firm — by knowledge workers, particularly engineers. While a strong external labour market may be a sign of economic dynamism, very high turnover rates may indicate a failure of the sort of organisational attachment among professionals that is needed to foster organisational learning. Moreover a ‘brain drain’ from the country of Malaysian-educated engineers remains an ongoing concern. Although this phenomenon is popularly attributed to the ‘job-hopping’ propensities of young Malaysians, it is argued here that firms, through their human resource management (HRM) practices, have an important role to play in encouraging stronger rates of knowledge worker retention. The article reports on research findings indicating varying levels of organisational commitment by a sample of Malaysian engineers. It examines possible links between high turnover and HRM approaches that afford employees few other forms of voice than exiting the firm. Evidence is provided that employee participation in decision-making, particularly relating to training and development, and the perceived fairness of performance appraisal practices, contribute to feelings of perceived organisational support (POS), and that this sense of support influences engineers’ commitment and thus turnover intentions.
The Effects of District-Level Union Status on the Job Satisfaction of Teachers
Authors: Gius Mark
Published: March 2013

It is the purpose of this study to examine the effects of the unionisation status of US school districts on teacher job satisfaction. Using an ordered probit analysis and a sample of public school teachers, results of the present study suggest that teachers working in unionised districts are, overall, less satisfied with their jobs than are teachers in non-unionised districts. However, teachers in unionised districts were less likely to leave for better pay and were more enthusiastic about teaching than teachers in non-unionised districts. Hence, even though teachers in unionised districts were generally less satisfied with their jobs, they were more satisfied with regards to certain specific aspects of their positions.
Public housing in Australia: A case of advanced urban marginality?
Authors: Morris Alan
Published: March 2013

The decision in the early 1990s to cut back on the building of public housing intensified the already dire shortage of affordable housing and increased the marginalisation of the sector. To be eligible for public housing, new entrants usually have to be in ‘greatest need’. This study argues that the shift in the eligibility criteria for accessing public housing means that public housing estates increasingly reflect what Loïc Wacquant calls ‘advanced urban marginality’. The article assesses whether the features of advanced urban marginality that are identified by Wacquant capture and can be usefully used to analyse the shifts and contemporary characteristics of public housing. The article draws on existing data and in-depth interviews with 33 older (aged more than 65 years) public housing tenants in Sydney, Australia, to analyse the residualisation of public housing using the features of advanced marginality identified by Wacquant – ‘wage labour as a vector of social instability and life insecurity’, ‘functional disconnection from macroeconomic trends’, ‘territorial fixation and stigmatisation’, ‘spatial alienation and the dissolution of place’, ‘loss of hinterland’ and ‘social fragmentation and symbolic splintering’. The study concludes that although Wacquant’s analysis is useful and captures much of what has occurred in public housing estates in Sydney, in many instances, public housing remains a source of pride for its tenants and provides them with the basis for a good life.
Wages Policy and the 1991 National Wage Case: An Economic Perspective
Authors: Stegman Trevor
Published: March 2013

The National Wage Case decision of April 1991 has provided a crisis for the implementation of wages policy in Australia. Since 1983 wages policy has been implemented under a process which requires consistency between the principles under which the Industrial Relations Commission determines National Wage Case adjustments, and the elements of successive Commonwealth Government/ACTU Accords. The 1991 decision represents a rejection by the IRC of the thrust of the Government’s wages policy as presented in Accord V1. It is argued here that it is the shift in the primary goal of wages policy, from control of inflation to the promotion of allocative and operational efficiency, which has provoked the crisis. Unlike the Government, the IRC was not prepared to abandon control over the aggregate wage outcome in the pursuit of the uncertain productivity benefits of enterprise bargaining.
The 1991 National Wage Case: An Industrial Relations Perspective
Authors: Plowman D. H.
Published: March 2013

The recent National Wage Decision has the capacity to continue the structural efficiency thrust of recent National Wage Cases. It also has the potential to mark a major discontinuity in wage determination. The paper examines the major post-war discontinuities, the substance of the Accord Mark VI, the National Wage submissions, and the Commission’s attempts to harmonise macro-economic outcomes with enterprise bargaining.
Myths and Realities: A Review of the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey
Authors: Angwin Michael
Published: March 2013

There has been little empirical research into enterprise and workplace industrial relations. The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey fills a major void. This paper examines the results of this Survey. It challenges the ‘industrial relations’ perspective adopted as well as some of the major conclusions, particularly those relating to industrial relations constraints upon flexibility. The paper also compares the findings with those of the Business Council’s Industrial Relations Study Commission.
The Appropriate Role of Property Rights in Environmental Protection
Authors: Niland John
Published: March 2013

A number of regulatory controls, aimed at reducing water and air pollution, have been implemented in New South Wales. These controls are examined in the paper. The paper also explores the evolution to market based controls, in particular those linked to the notion of property rights.
State of the Union: An Assessment of Union Strategies
Authors: Lambert R.
Published: March 2013

Accelerating global economic change reflected in the high degree of capital mobility and integrated global markets has intensified investment competition between states. The union movement reacted through a commitment to strategic unionism and award restructuring. However, the impact of the latter has been limited by the occupationally divided structure of Australian unions. The paper analyses attempts to change this structure through union amalgamations and considers the impact inter-union power struggles, shaped by factional alignments, have had on the process. The paper assesses the organizational problems of conglomerate unionism and evaluates possible counters to likely tendencies.
Unions and Sport: Australian Professional Players’ Associations
Authors: Dabscheck Braham
Published: March 2013

Sport has ceased to be an amateur pursuit: it has become a form of employment and subject to many of the legalities and insititutions encompassing employment relations — including unions. This ipaper traces the development of sporting associations, identifies the range of such associations, examines problems which are peculiar to employment in the ‘sports industry’ and future prospects for unions in that industry.
An Ever-Rising Tide? Poverty in Australia in the Eighties
Authors: Saunders Peter , Matheson George
Published: March 2013

As in many other countries, the eighties have seen the re-emergence of poverty as a political issue in Australia. Rising unemployment and the increased incidence of sole parenthood have put more children at risk of poverty, a development which has prompted increased policy concern. This paper presents estimates of the incidence and structure of poverty in Australia in 1981–82, 1985–86 and 1989–90, using the poverty standard developed by the Poverty Commission in the seventies. The estimates for 1989–90 are based on data generated from the 1986 Income Distribution Survey by a microsimulation model that allows for trends in demographic change, labour market participation and income during the second half of the eighties. The results indicate that the overall poverty rate has increased from 9.2 per cent in 1981–82 to 12.8 per cent in 1989–90. This is despite the fact that the incomes of many low income groups have increased in real terms, in many cases substantially. The reason for this apparent paradox is that the poverty standard is a relative one, and has thus itself been increased in line with average community incomes. One of the conclusions of the paper is that it may be necessary to reconsider the use of a relative poverty standard when assessing short-run trends in the extent of poverty.
Collective Bargaining and the Labour Market Flexibility Debate in New Zealand: A Review
Authors: Harbridge Raymond , Rea David
Published: March 2013

This paper reviews the empirical evidence of rigidity in the New Zealand labour market over the period 1984–1990, with particular reference to collective bargaining. It demonstrates that labour market institutions displayed an important degree of flexibility over this period. Despite this, labour markets were stigmatized as ‘inflexible’ in public debate and labour market policy has been driven by the assumption that more flexibility was required.
The Political Economy of Privatisation
Authors: Rowthorn Bob , Chang Ha-Joon
Published: March 2013

This paper examines some of the main arguments relating to the effect of privatisation on efficiency. It is concerned with both narrow economic issues and wider political issues. After a critical examination of some theories, which assert that private ownership is intrinsically more efficient than public ownership, it is argued that for large scale enterprise there are no strong economic reasons for believing in the superiority of private enterprise. As long as the government in question has the will and the power to make a public enterprise function in a socially efficient fashion, the public enterprise may be just as efficient as private enterprise whilst offering additional economic and social advantages.
Evaluating the Privatisation of the English and Welsh Water Industry
Authors: Johnson Michael
Published: March 2013

The privatisation of the ten large water authorities in England and Wales is assessed in terms of some of its costs and benefits. Particular attention is paid to claims that privatisation would lead to less regulation, more competition and improved water services for consumers. The conclusions are that privatisation of water services was costly to taxpayers, led to more economic regulation and inadequate environmental regulation and did not significantly increase competition in the provision of water services.
Young People and Trade Union Membership: An International Comparative Study
Authors: Cregan Christina , Rudd Chris , Johnston Stewart
Published: March 2013

This paper attempts to test the recent British Industrial Relations model of trade union membership by an examination of a survey of early school-leavers in Dunedin, New Zealand which was carried out in October 1989. The findings offer strong support for the model because the same distinct strands of core motivation and remainder attitudes were evident. This demonstrates that the model could be successfully applied in a different institutional, cultural and economic context. The major cross-national differences to emerge were that most Dunedin youngsters intended to join a union; for them, collective instrumental reasons were very important and values of little significance. Furthermore, there was little evidence of disinterest or ignorance amongst the minority which was negative towards trade union membership.

A recent article on trade union membership (Cregan and Johnston, 1990) suggested that conventional neoclassical theories are flawed by the free rider paradox, whereby a rational individual will not bear the costs of joining a union to gain rewards that are available to all the workforce as public goods. It proposed that the dilemma could only be solved by a membership theory which takes into account several different sources of individual motivation drawn from several disciplines. These were identified in a longitudinal survey of London early school-leavers, 1979–1981, in reasons given by young people for their membership decision, positive or negative, from which employees could be categorised in social movement parlance as core and remainder. However, the authors proposed that further direct investigations should be made in different contexts. For example, it may be that some responses were culturally or institutionally specific, or were based on economic context. Accordingly, a similar survey of a single cohort of early school-leavers was carried out ten years later in Dunedin, New Zealand. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to test the validity of the framework of the model within a different national context.

The article will be organised in the following way. First, a brief summary of the Industrial Relations model of trade union membership will be presented and two hypotheses will be drawn from it. Second, the latter will be tested by a discussion of the results of the Dunedin survey and a comparison with those of the London survey. Third, implications of the findings for the consequences of the 1991 Employment Contracts Act will be briefly examined.
The Economic Implications of Enterprise Bargaining
Authors: Sloan Judith
Published: March 2013

The economic implications of enterprise bargaining depend critically on the precise version of enterprise bargaining being contemplated. One version sees enterprise bargaining as an add-on process, with the existing bank of awards retained, and trade unions playing a central and protected role. Another version sees enterprise bargaining as an holistic process, wherein all terms and conditions of employment can be negotiated subject to some minimum conditions. Trade unions may play some role, but not to the exclusion of other bargaining agents. Add-on enterprise bargaining may have only a small impact on productivity; there is a danger that wage (and price) inflation could increase; and the impact on employment is uncertain. Holistic enterprise bargaining is likely to have a more substantial impact on productivity; is unlikely to lead to inflation; and employment growth should be boosted. However, power-reducing policies and the abolition of awards are necessary correlates of holistic enterprise bargaining.
Enterprise Bargaining: An Overview
Authors: Blain Nicholas
Published: March 2013

The primary aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the merits of enterprise bargaining by providing a wideranging overview. It provides a comprehensive definition of enterprise bargaining which enables a broad range of perspectives to be encompassed and helps to structure the discussion of the immediate context and the wider policy settings of the debate. The paper demonstrates that enterprise bargaining is not new. It identifies a number of current or proposed systems of enterprise bargaining the present federal system, the New South Wales model the BCA proposal the Federal Liberal/National Party approach, and the New Zealand model. These are then evaluated, making use of a simple conceptual framework. The analysis indicates that each system has its advantages and disadvantages, its supporters and critics. Its findings suggest that positive and negative features of all models should be taken into account, not only in the continuing debate on enterprise bargaining, but also in the improvement of existing enterprise bargaining systems and in the design of new models.
Wage Subsidies
Authors: Miller Paul W.
Published: March 2013

The Committee on Employment Opportunities viewed temporary wage subsidies as a means through which the current long-term unemployed could be brought back into the effective labour supply. Experience with wage subsidies suggests that they will lead to minimal job creation and a churning of the pool of unemployment.
Centralised vs. Decentralised Wage-Setting Systems and Capital Accumulation — Evidence from OECD Countries, 1960–1990
Authors: Chowdhury Anis
Published: March 2013

There has recently been intense debate about the relative merits of a centralised wage-setting system vis-a-vis a decentralised system. Most of the theoretical and empirical works on this issue focus on the static or current macroeconomic performance in terms of employment and inflation and microeconomic efficiency resulting from enhanced labour market flexibility. Following Lancaster’s work and subsequent extensions by Schott and Vartiainen, this paper regards wage bargaining as a dynamic game involving conflict over the distribution of current and future income. It is argued that the intertemporal decision makings of both workers and employers are influenced by so-called prisoners’ dilemma. In such situations, it is claimed that centralised or corporatist wage negotiations system leads to higher investment rates. This claim is corroborated with evidence from selected OECD countries.
Public Capital and Private Sector Productivity: A Review of the Empirical Evidence
Authors: Otto Glenn , Voss Graham
Published: March 2013

This paper contains a survey of recent empirical research on the relationship between public capital and private sector production. The implications of these empirical studies for policy debates over the appropriate level of public capital are also examined.
Changing Employment Structures and their Effects on Industrial Relations in Malaysia
Authors: Ariffin Rohanna
Published: March 2013

This paper describes the various stages of industrialisation through which Malaysia has passed, beginning with import substitution in the 1960s, export-oriented industries of the 1970s to heavy industries in the 1980s. The public sector, which used to employ a substantial percentage of the labour force and a high percentage of ethnic Malays, has been reduced as a result of the government’s decision to corporatise and privatise many of its agencies. However, as more Malays have began working in the industrial sector, a new phenomena of an emerging Malay proletariat alongside the non-Malays has become evident. They now form more than half of the union leadership and are strongly represented among skilled workers. Whether the government will become more liberal with its laws and policies towards unions in the future is uncertain, as the democratic process in Malaysia has yet to gain a firm hold.
Pay Policy, Accumulation and Productivity
Authors: Harcourt G.C.
Published: March 2013

The stock of capital goods will always be a mixture of new best-practice techniques and older vintages, associated with lower productivity and higher running costs yet still profitable to keep running if short-term variable costs are covered. A crucial determinant of the proportion of new to old machines in any industry’s stock of capital goods is therefore the level and rate of change of wages. The rate of accumulation not only has these supply-side effects; it is also obviously a major determinant of activity and employment. There is the possibility of a virtuous cumulative process. To achieve this, we need to make sure, that wages in all industries rise by amounts which are determined principally by the growth of overall productivity and the general price level.
Labour Market Restructuring in Industrialised Societies: An Overview
Authors: Quinlan Michael
Published: March 2013

over the past 20 years the labour markets of most industrialised countries have undergone a series of profound changes. These changes have been associated with significant changes in work processes, employment conditions, union density and industrial relations. This paper provides an overview of the labour market restructuring occurring in most industrialised societies. In addition to the growth in temporary, part-time work and self-employment, changes in the extent of agency labour, homework, telework, outsourcing, franchising and the timing of work are also considered. A series of complex interconnections are identified. It is argued that in many cases, the socio-economic consequences of these changes have been compounded by alterations to policies and laws dealing with industrial relations, labour markets, competitive tendering, privatisation and social security.
Workers’ Compensation, Employment Security and the Return to Work Process
Authors: Purse Kevin
Published: March 2013

Vocational rehabilitation of injured workers to facilitate their early return to work is now an established feature of workers’ compensation arrangements in Australia. Critical to the return to work process is the provision by employers of suitable employment for workers following work related injury wherever this is reasonably practicable. This article emphasises the importance of employment security measures within the workers’ compensation arena for both injured workers and the control of scheme costs. It highlights the precarious nature of employment security measures in Australian workers’ compensation schemes due largely to the lack of enforcement, and the concomitant need for legislative and administrative reform. In doing so a number of specific reform proposals are put forward for discussion. In addition the nexus between employment security measures and the operation of the labour market is briefly considered.
Maternity Rights in the UK: Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Authors: Earnshaw Jill
Published: March 2013

Maternity rights in the UK have from the outset aroused controversy on account of their intricacy and failure to apply to all working women. This article charts the historical development of such rights and highlights in particular the influence of European Union law in widening their ambit. It also sets out the current statutory provisions and describes how case law has at the same time compounded the problems of complexity and attempted to construe the legislation in a purposive manner. The article concludes by noting recent legislative changes and assessing their potential to resolve the existing problems as well as their effect on bringing the UK into line with its European Union partners.
New Zealand Initiatives to Pay Parents: Possibilities for the Antipodes?
Authors: Curtin Jennifer
Published: March 2013

In 1998, a private member’s Bill, the Paid Parental Leave Bill, was introduced into the New Zealand Parliament. Although it was subsequently defeated, the Bill stimulated debate over paid parental leave in both New Zealand and Australia - two countries conspicuous in international terms for their lack of such provisions. It showed that a progressive approach could be devised to fit the New Zealand context, and raised hopes that increasing political pressure would stimulate a move towards extension of parental rights in the Antipodes. Ultimately, the Bill proved too much of a challenge within the present New Zealand system, and the potential for change was confounded by lack of political support. However, future political compromises around the issue of paid parental leave remain a possibility in the volatile New Zealand political system.
‘Family Friendly’ Policies: Distribution and Implementation in Australian Workplaces
Authors: Whitehouse Gillian , Zetlin Di
Published: March 2013

‘Family-friendly’ policies have recently gained a high profile in Australia, featuring increasingly in political rhetoric, company policies, industrial provisions and human resource management discourse. While initiatives to enhance the combination of work and family responsibilities may make relatively minor contributions to equal employment opportunity efforts, they do bring into consideration some of the broader social impediments to gender equity in paid employment. Some assessment of their accessibility and impact is therefore warranted. In this paper we examine the distribution of work and family provisions in the Australian labour market, and provide an assessment of their implementation in selected organisations. Our findings indicate that access to work and family provisions is uneven across the Australian labour market, particularly in the private sector; and suggest that even where provision is exemplary, the impact is at best moderate.
Mental Model Updating and Team Adaptation
Authors: Uitdewilligen Sjir , Waller Mary J. , Pitariu Adrian H.
Published: March 2013

In this article, we build on theories of team adaptation by exploring the role of team members’ cognitive knowledge structures in team adaptation to a changing task context. We introduce the notion of mental model updating as the extent to which team members update their mental models in reaction to a change in the task situation. In a laboratory study we investigate the relations between initial mental model similarity and accuracy, team mental model updating, the development of novel interaction patterns, and postchange team performance. The results indicate that mental model updating is positively related to postchange team performance. Also, team adaptation patterns accounted for the effect of mental model updating on postchange team performance. We did not find evidence for a positive relation between initial mental model similarity and accuracy and mental model updating.
Understanding Public Relations in China
Authors: Hou Zhengye , Zhu Yunxia , Bromley Michael
Published: March 2013

To contribute to critical public relations (PR) and communication research, the authors employ an institutional perspective in examining how actors conceptualize PR and make sense of PR practice in relation to their shared and competing logics. Specifically, they highlight the primacy of logics and identities in the social construction of PR by exploring how a wide range of actors interpret and understand PR in Chinese cultural contexts. In conducting 40 semistructured interviews with PR agency consultants, in-house PR practitioners, media journalists, and industry association officers, the authors have found multiple and competing logics within the field that, in turn, confer reconciled identities on Chinese PR. The Chinese cultural contexts serve as a repertoire for stakeholders to draw institutional logics and legitimize their interpretations of PR practice in China.
Ethics and the Neuroscientific Study of Leadership
Authors: Lindebaum Dirk
Published: March 2013

This article represents a synthesis and rejoinder to the response articles by Ashkanasy, Cropanzano and Becker, and McLagan (this issue). First, I remind the readers of the key points I raised in the originating article (this issue), followed by clarifications on where respondents misunderstood my intentions and arguments. Third, I will synthesize the respondents’ main arguments by way of highlighting both converging and diverging perspectives on my critique. Finally, I conclude the article with some thoughts and suggestions for the future development of the debate.
The Effect of Ossicle Resection in the Lateral Ligament Repair for Treatment of Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability
Authors: Chun Tae-Hwan , Park Yong-Serk , Sung Ki-Sun
Published: March 2013

Background:

The management of an ossicle or avulsion fragment of the fibular tip in chronic lateral ankle instability is an open question. Some authors maintain the necessity of osteosynthesis for reconstruction of the lateral ligamentous structure if the fragment is large. We hypothesized that the modified Broström procedure with resection of the ossicle would result in good outcomes compared to that of the same procedure for chronic lateral instability patients without ossicle.

Methods:

Between December 2004 and December 2010, 102 patients underwent the modified Broström procedure for chronic lateral instability. Of these, 82 patients (86 ankles) were available for this study. Forty ankles had ossicles at the fibular tip (group O), 46 had no ossicle (group N). The average follow-up period was 33 months in group O and 37 months in group N. Irrespective of size, if there were ossicles we resected all fragments and performed the modified Broström procedure. To analyze the surgical outcome, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot pain and function scales and Karlsson scores were compared between the 2 groups preoperatively and postoperatively.

Results:

Preoperative scores in the 2 groups showed no significant difference, except for AOFAS pain score. There was no significant difference in postoperative AOFAS pain and function score between the groups. Postoperative Karlsson score was significantly higher in group O than in group N ( P = .001). Group O was divided into 2 subgroups by the largest diameter of the ossicle (< 10 mm and ≥ 10 mm); there was no significant difference in surgical outcomes.

Conclusions:

In the treatment of chronic lateral instability of ankle, if there are ossicles on the fibular tip, osteosynthesis of the ossicles may not be necessary, even if the size is considerable. Modified Broström procedure after resection of the ossicle was successful.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, retrospective case series.
Explaining temporal trends in annualised relapse rates in placebo groups of randomised controlled trials in relapsing multiple sclerosis: systematic review and meta-regression
Authors: Steinvorth Simon M , Röver Christian , Schneider Simon , Nicholas Richard , Straube Sebastian , Friede Tim
Published: March 2013

Background:

Recent studies have shown a decrease in annualised relapse rates (ARRs) in placebo groups of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS).

Methods:

We conducted a systematic literature search of RCTs in RMS. Data on eligibility criteria and baseline characteristics were extracted and tested for significant trends over time. A meta-regression was conducted to estimate their contribution to the decrease of trial ARRs over time.

Results:

We identified 56 studies. Patient age at baseline ( p < 0.001), mean duration of multiple sclerosis (MS) at baseline ( p = 0.048), size of treatment groups ( p = 0.003), Oxford Quality Scale scores ( p = 0.021), and the number of eligibility criteria ( p<0.001) increased significantly, whereas pre-trial ARR ( p = 0.001), the time span over which pre-trial ARR was calculated ( p < 0.001), and the duration of placebo-controlled follow-up ( p = 0.006) decreased significantly over time. In meta-regression of trial placebo ARR, the temporal trend was found to be insignificant, with major factors explaining the variation: pre-trial ARR, the number of years used to calculate pre-trial ARR and study duration.

Conclusion:

The observed decline in trial ARRs may result from decreasing pre-trial ARRs and a shorter time period over which pre-trial ARRs were calculated. Increasing patient age and duration of illness may also contribute.
Sex tourist risk behaviour – An on-site survey among Swedish men buying sex in Thailand
Authors: Manieri Marco , Svensson Hampus , Stafström Martin
Published: March 2013

Background: Thailand is not only a popular destination for Swedish tourists, it is also the foreign country where the largest numbers of Swedish males contract HIV. This study investigated sexual risk-behaviour of Swedish men who have sex with commercial sex workers (CSW) in Thailand. Method: Eligible men were approached on location in red-light districts of Pattaya and Bangkok with a self-administered multiple-choice questionnaire in December 2010. The data collected was analysed using SPSS version 18 generating cross-tabs, independent sample t-test, univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: In total, 158 questionnaires were included in the analyses. The results indicated that 63% of the study sample had lifetime experience of sexual intercourse with CSWs, while 48% of the respondents indicated that they were likely to pay for sex during their present trip. 71% of the lifetime sex-buyers reported consistent use of condoms in the past. Out of the men that were planning to have sex with a CSW in the near future, 80% reported that they would use condoms consistently. While most of these men always use, and plan on always using a condom when having sex with a CSW, some do so inconsistently or not at all. The study found that those reporting inconsistent condom use when engaging in sexual intercourse with Thai CSWs assessed the risk of becoming infected with HIV to be significantly lower than those who used condoms consistently ( p < 0.005). Conclusions: Inconsistent condom use by Swedish male tourists to Thailand when having sex with CSWs puts them at risk of contracting HIV and other STIs, and seems to be associated with a lower assessment of the risk of becoming infected with HIV.