bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Australian System of Industrial Relations: An Analytical Model
Authors: Dabscheck Braham
Published: March 2007

This article develops a model of the Australian system of industrial relations. Dunlop's systems approach is initially examined, and both theoretical and struc tural changes are introduced. To breathe life into Dunlop's model it is postulated that the actors are involved in an on-going authority struggle. This struggle is the engine driver of change within the system. Structural alterations are introduced to take account of relevant Australian institutions. These involve recognition of the division of powers between State and Federal Governments, the use of industrial tribunals, and the role of the High Court. The Australian system is seen to consist of many actors. The article then develops moti vational/behavioural assumptions to explain the role of the major actors within the system.
Compulsory Arbitration and the Wage Structure in Australia
Authors: Norris Keith
Published: March 2007

Despite the growth of collective bargaining the Australian system of wage determination remains significantly different from that practised elsewhere. The purpose of the paper is to test the claim that compulsory arbitration brings about a more egalitarian wage structure than would obtain under free collective bargaining. The method used is to compare wage relativities in Australia and Britain on a number of different bases, and where possible at different times. The main conclusion is that wage structures are very similar in the two countries. Four main differences are identified; in Australia skill differentials widened to a much lesser extent in the inter-war years, the move towards equal pay for women was more rapid, there are one or two low paying in dustries where pay is closer to the average than in Britain, and the relative pay of managers and professional workers is lower. The latter effect cannot be attributed to arbitration but the other cases may be. In general, given the over all similarity of wages relativities in the two countries, the author concludes that the evidence does not support the claim of egalitarianism made for com pulsory arbitration.
Structural Correlates of Organisational Size: Some Australian Evidence
Authors: Blunt Peter , Jones Michael
Published: March 2007

Considerable empirical research evidence exists which indicates a strong positive correlation between organisational size and various dimensions of organisational structure. The present study provides a cross-cultural constructive test of some of these relationships. Data on organisational size and three dimensions of organisation structure were collected from 134 South Australian organisations. The results were in general agreement with those reported else where, although a linear rather than nonlinear relationship was indicated. The findings also revealed that in Australia organisational size appears to be more strongly related to the number of authority levels in an organisation than to the perceived degree of work control or the amount of formal communication. It is possible that in the Australian context the latter dimensions of organisa tional structure are affected more by other variables such as technology, and the organisation's operating environment.
The Mass Media and Industrial Relations News: A Case Study
Authors: Mccoll Margaret
Published: March 2007

Strikes or direct industrial action of various kinds have become one of the most contentious issues of contemporary public debate. If the attitudes of the general public are indeed influenced by the media's interpretation of the industrial relations situation, as many critics of the media would contend, then it is crucial to the understanding of the broader concept of political socialisation to determine first what kind of industrial news is made available. Is there, in fact, a consistent bias to be found in the reporting of industrial events? If so, what are the specific dimensions of this bias and why does it occur? In this article the author seeks to confront these questions by providing a summary of a particular industrial dispute and its coverage by two Australian newspapers. Preceding this case study, brief consideration is also given to some recent developments in the field of communications research.
Union Growth and Concentration Revisited
Authors: Howells John M. , Cathro Susan H.
Published: March 2007

The first study of trade union growth and the concentration of union membership in New Zealand covered the period from 1900 to 1966. In the last decade or so, certain changes have taken place that should have had a direct impact on the trends observed in the previous study. The present review, therefore, has a number of objectives. The first and obvious one is to provide statistical information on growth and concentration up to 1979; the review can simply be seen as an excuse to update existing information. Secondly, and more importantly, it is necessary to examine in detail the impact on growth and concentration trends of legislative changes and a more positive attitude inside the labour movement to union amalgamation since 1966.
Long-Run Structural Change in Australian Trade Unionism
Authors: Rimmer Afalcolm
Published: March 2007

Although the leading features of Australian trade union structure have been subject to widespread criticism, few attempts have been made to explain how they came into existence and how they are sustained. In this article existing theories of Australian union structure are reviewed, and it is concluded that these theories are most suitable to an explanation of the stable features of unionism. The article proceeds to examine those factors which initially estab lished the key features of the union structural pattern, emphasising occu pational and regional differentiation in particular. Data on New South Wales- registered trade unions is then examined to establish the character and scale of structural change in the period from 1920 to 1970. Evidence that the growing complexity of white-collar unionism balances increasing concentration among blue-collar unions suggests that changes in workforce composition have a substantial influence upon union structure in the long run. It is concluded that explanations of Australian union structure should be addressed to the areas of change that may be detected rather than towards assumptions of stability. In addition, it is suggested that explanations that rely on legal factors should be balanced by a consideration of economic and political trends.
Employment Criteria
Authors: Hermann Graham D. , Davis Denis J.
Published: March 2007

This article reports on three small-scale studies into criteria used by employers in the selection of labour in western Sydney. Study 1 was a questionnaire study into the criteria used to select staff by, inter alios, employers of motor mechanics, metal tradesmen, unskilled factory workers, and clerical workers and typists. Study 2 was a sintulated questionnaire case study in which a number of factors possibly related to the selection of a female junior clerk were systematically varied. Study 3 was a 'role play' study involving an inter view for the selection of a female junior clerk. Criteria found important include age, previous work history, personality and appearance, and attitude to work. It is believed that the consistency of the findings across the studies suggest certain strong hypotheses. The primary hypothesis is that whether or not an employer is consciously discriminating on a social basis, his or her use of an 'efficiency' rationale will lead to a bias towards the selection of persons brought up in families with a so-called 'middle-class' background. This hypothesis, if it were true, has discriminatory implications where labour from areas of different social mix, such as the western Sydney local government areas of Blacktown and Baulkham Hills, meets in competition in a common employment region, such as Parramatta. The difficulties of finding work for Blacktown youth of substantially non-middle-class background, already severe because of a shortage of demand relative to supply of labour, could be accentuated by the possible operation of a social factor through an 'efficiency' rationale.
Rival Unions and Registration: The Australian Federation of Air Pilots and the Air Pilots Guild of Australia, 1969 to 1979
Authors: Brooks Raymond
Published: March 2007

In 1959, the Australian Federation of A ir Pilots effectively withdrew from the system of compulsory arbitration. From that point until towards the end of 1979, the Federation was content to remain outside the system. However, this allowed the development of something else rare in Australian industrial relations—the emergence of a rival union, the Air Pilots Guild of Australia. This paper seeks to examine the relationship that existed between the two unions in the period 1969 to 1979, and its influence in leading the Federation, for so long set against the idea of compulsory arbitration, to seek registration under the Act. The conclusion of the paper is that the emergence of the Guild had a most important, if unintended, bear ing on the decision by the Federation to seek registration.
Perceptions of Worker Participation: The Influence of Job Status and Political Affiliation
Authors: Spillane Robert , Findlay A.W. , Borthwick Kerry
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study was to ascertain the relationship between political affiliation, job status and perceptions of worker participation. The survey sought to establish the level of support for immediate and distant forms of participation and the con sequences which might be expected to result from increased participation. Percep tions followed predictable political and ideological themes. Employee support for immediate participation was stronger than for distant participation, a finding which supports established trends in the Australian literature. Difficulties of achieving desired changes in the area of worker participation are discussed in relation to the essentially conservative patterns of responses revealed in the survey.
Employer Associations in New South Wales
Authors: Plowman David H.
Published: March 2007

Though employer associations perform important functions in the highly institu tionalised systems of industrial relations in Australia, very little is known about them. Our ignorance of these associations may be expected to reduce our knowledge and understanding of industrial relations. This paper presents some of the results of a 1980 survey of metropolitan employer associations in New South Wales. The survey attempted to identify several salient features of these associations including their number and range of occupational/industrial coverage, their organisational structures and inter-organisational links, their policy and decision-making apparatus, their membership rates, their perceptions of their functions and significance relating to dispute settlement procedures. The first part of the paper is concerned with formulating a functional definition of employer associations. Following the survey findings the concluding section highlights further areas of potentially fruitful research.
The Measurement of the Occupational and Industrial Segregation of Women
Authors: Lewis Donald E.
Published: March 2007

The mathematical relationship between alternative measures of occupational and industrial segregation is explored. Several theorems are proven which expose some fallacies regarding the two most common measures and establish a link between them. A new index is introduced which measures the extent of the compound effect of segregation by occupation and industry. Indices of segregation are calculated from Commonwealth Census data from 1891 to 1976. Estimation of log-linear equations indicate that segregation by sex is declining; the rate of decrease, however, is slowing down and substantial changes in segregation before the year 2001 are unlikely if past trends continue.
Job Durations in Australia
Authors: Norris Keith
Published: March 2007

Jobs that started in 1976 lasted on average for two to three years, but the jobs of people who were employed in 1976 had average durations of over fifteen years. This paper demonstrates how different concepts of the duration of jobs result in widely different estimates and shows that, although job durations differ considerably between industries and occupations, fairly long job tenures for those currently employed are typical. These results are consistent with the widespread existence of internal labour markets and have some implications for macroeconomic policy.
Perceptions of Conciliation in Singapore: A Tripartite Survey
Authors: Krislov Joseph , Leggett Chris
Published: March 2007

A survey conducted in Singapore considered tripartite perceptions of and attitudes towards conciliation. The authors hypothesize that, consistent with the prevailing ideology, the parties should indicate considerable acceptance of conciliation, share similar attitudes towards it, and that labour and management should have confidence in the official conciliators. These hypotheses are substantially confirmed by the results of the survey, and the authors conclude that such reservations as were held by labour and management are essentially technical and, therefore, remediable.
The Industrial Attitudes of Australian Private Bank Employees
Authors: Hill John D. , Birrell Robert J. , Cook Johanna P.
Published: March 2007

Recent years have brought considerable refinement to the analysis of white-collar unionism; the implications of the changing industrial attitudes of these employees have been particularly emphasized. This analysis has, to some degree, been con strained by a lack of empirical data. This article, in drawing on the results of a survey of Australian private bank workers, seeks to shed further light on white-collar employee attitudes. The survey revealed a number of variables relevant to the measurement of changing attitudes and also indicated the probable implications of workforce structural changes for union effectiveness. The most important variables in the measurement of industrial attitudes included position in and years ofservice to bank and 'market position' (i.e. the employee's view of his or her salary adequacy, the possibilities of retrenchment, of promotion, and of moving on to more satisfying bank work). Female bank employees were as dissatisfied as male employees with aspects of their work and were just as prepared to take industrial action. The survey data also allow for some discussion of the question of white-collar worker apathy and of the need for white-collar unions to adopt new industrial tactics in the light of rapid structural and technological changes.
From Higgins to Hancock: The Boundaries of a New Province for Law and Order
Authors: Brooks Brian
Published: March 2007

Two important decisions were taken in the last decade of the nineteenth century: to federate the six colonies and to follow a policy of state intervention in industrial relations. Through the machinery of conciliation and arbitration, the role of law was to reach out into a new province and replace barbarous practices with orderly procedures. The wisdom of both decisions has been debated ever since. The debate has been conducted within the concept of federalism and has focused on two central issues: first, where to draw the limits to the jurisdiction of the federal industrial tribunals and, second, what role to assign to the law. Responses were given to these questions in the second decade of this century and both the topography and the boundaries of the new province for law and order were explored. Today the landscape is familiar to many and landmarks are well recognized. Where the boundaries are to be drawn continues to excite speculation and arouse debate. The argument divides those who assert a role for state systems and those who point to the need for a unitary, federal- based system.
The Genesis of Arbitration in Western Australia
Authors: Duffy Norman F.
Published: March 2007

The use of compulsory arbitration for the determination of the conditions of employment has a long history in Australia. This paper covers the events leading up to the introduction of legislation for conciliation and for the compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes in Western Australia. After two bruising strikes and the experience of successful voluntary arbitration, the union movement came to the view that compulsory arbitration would be to their advantage. The development of political links between the unions and some members of the Legislative Assembly, coupled with certain fortuitous circumstances in the Parliament, resulted in arbitration legislation being passed in 1900—despite the dominance of the political scene by conservative forces and the opposition of the employers. Early experiences with the legislation showed that conciliation was not successful when arbitration was readily available and that the Act was not the answer to all the problems of the trade union movement.
Models of National Employer Co-ordination, 1890-1980
Authors: Plowman David H.
Published: March 2007

National employer co-ordination has been prompted by three major factors: the need to counteract unions, compulsory arbitration legislation, and national arbitration test cases. The last has necessitated machinery to ensure that employer submissions are not at cross-purposes with each other. This paper reviews the development of transient co-ordinating machinery for dealing with unions in the 1890s, the federation of trade associations to counteract compulsory arbitration, and the test case machinery that has evolved since the early 1920s.
Psychological Aspects of Redundancy: An Australian Case Study
Authors: Dowling Peter J. , De Cieri Helen , Griffin Gerard , Brown Michelle
Published: March 2007

This study provides empirical evidence in support of the literature that contends that, following redundancy, unemployment has a deleterious psychological impact. First, the present study found that, following redundancy, those who remained unemployed were negatively affected with respect to mental health, while those who gained new employment reported improved mental health. Second, and associated with the first finding, those who remained unemployed reported less life satisfaction following redundancy, while those who gained new employment experienced improvement in life satisfaction. This negative impact of redundancy and ensuing unemployment was consistent over time but was apparently ameliorated by obtaining new employment.
Union Diversification and the Battle for Recognition in the Travel Agency Industry
Authors: Palmer Ian , McGraw Peter
Published: March 2007

As a strategy to halt the decline in union membership, the ACTU has targeted service industries and those dominated by women as areas of potential membership growth. The attempts by the Australian Shipping and Travel Officers' Association (ASTOA) and the Federated Clerks' Union (FCU) to organize the travel agency industry demonstrate the problems faced by unions in moving into such traditionally neglected areas. Despite low membership in the industry, and opposition from both the peak employer organization, the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA), and the FCU, ASTOA has recently been successful in obtaining a consent award covering a small number of companies. This paper employs a dialectical approach to analyze the unions' campaign to organize the industry; the recruitment problems they faced; inter-union rivalries and AFTA strategies to retain control of the industry.
Union-Employer Bargaining and Product Market Developments: The Black Coal Industry
Authors: Smith Greg
Published: March 2007

The main focus of this article is on the debate over changes to work rules that has emerged as the central feature of the industrial relations agenda in the Australian black coal industry, and which was the subject of an important determination by the Coal Industry Tribunal in September 1988. An attempt is made to show how changes in emphasis in the coal industry bargaining agenda were linked to developments in the product market. The nature and significance of these developments were subject to varying interpretation by coal industry employers and unions. The paper seeks to trace the path of negotiation and arbitration which was followed, culminating in the September 1988 decision, and to make some assessment of the conditions likely to favour the durability of coal industry settlements.
The Impact of Incomes Policy on the Male Inter-Industry Wage Structure
Authors: Watts Martin J. , Mitchell William J.
Published: March 2007

With few exceptions, the wage guidelines between 1975 and March 1987 in Australia imposed uniform percentage wage adjustments. From 1975 to 1983, however, the inter- industry Average Weekly and Ordinary Time Earnings distributions exhibited increased dispersion, which reflected less stringent compliance requirements than the later period, when intra-industry wage dispersion appeared to rise. During the period 1983-87, incremental creep and job promotions for incumbent workers appear to explain part of the increased dispersion. Over the period 1966-88, both inter-industry wage distributions exhibited significant rank order correlations, except for the period 1980-81 during the breakdown of the centralized system. This suggests that there is a relatively stable ordering of inter-industry wages, irrespective of the presence or absence of incomes policy.
Towards the Wagner Framework: Change in New Zealand Industrial Relations
Authors: Boxall Peter
Published: March 2007

New Zealand and Australia share a common heritage of compulsory arbitration. This article explores the way in which New Zealand has departed from this tradition. Three phases in the deconstruction of compulsory arbitration and reregulation of industrial relations are identified. The first is associated with the events that led up to the Industrial Relations Act 1973. That statute formally endorsed the growth of free collective bargaining and introduced the North American distinction between disputes of interest and disputes of rights. The second is identified with the fourth Labour government (1984-1990), which made arbitration voluntary in a climate of extensive economic liberalization and encouraged a shift from occupational awards to a mixture of industry and enterprise bargaining. The third is presently unfolding as the new National government begins work on its election pledge to shift the basis of union legitimacy from historical registration to employee choice. If completed, the third phase will ensure the substitution of centralization and compulsion with decentralization and voluntarism in the framework of collective labour law in New Zealand. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for the parties of the emerging system of industrial relations, called here New Zealand Wagner'.
Principles and Values in Australian Wage Fixing
Authors: Provis Chris
Published: March 2007

What role can appropriately be played by Australian wage tribunals may depend on the extent to which their decisions reflect consistent, acceptable values. Various questions can be asked about principles and values that figure in decisions, including consistency, objectivity and so on. Three notable strains of principle can be identified, to do with justice, markets and enterprise productivity. Principles coming under the first two headings have figured often. They include the idea of work value and the principle of equal pay for equal work, and the idea of capacity to pay. It is arguable that while some ideas under these two headings may pull in opposed directions on occasion, nevertheless they can all be analyzed in a consistent framework and ultimately harmonized, provided that relevant empirical questions can be answered. However, there are difficulties in establishing enterprise productivity as a distinct and separate principle.
A Half-hearted Courtship: Unions, Female Members and Discrimination Complaints
Authors: Thornthwaite Louise
Published: March 2007

Research suggests that since the 1970s, while union membership has been declining in Australia, trade unions have become more supportive of women workers and their specific concerns. This change of heart has been assessed largely in terms of union policy positions and union representation of particular issues. Anti-discrimination and equal opportunity laws have emerged during the same period as this observed change of heart has taken place. It may be hypothesized that, if unions have indeed altered their approach towards gender-based concerns in recent years, women workers will be seeking union assistance with gender-specific grievances such as discrimination complaints. This paper examines why women workers who belong to male-dominated unions are not seeking their union's support with discrimination grievances, suggesting that the extent of change in women's relationships with unions may have been limited.
The Depletion and Restoration of Migrants' Human Capital
Authors: Wood Gavin A.
Published: March 2007

Studies of the assimilation of migrants into the Australian labour market suggest that migrants receive lower returns from schooling, experience and qualifications. However, as period of residence lengthens there is evidence that migrant wages catch up with those of Australian-born residents. This convergence can be attributed to the 'repair' of human capital eroded due to the non-transferability of country- and firm-specific skills and knowledge. Combining data on migrant arrivals with census data on overseas- born residents, the present paper estimates the changing occupational mix among a cohort of migrants. The occupational mix is used to construct a proxy measure for the stock of human capital. We find that migrants experience an initial loss of human capital, although the restoration phase is a short one of no more than three or four years. However, beyond this restoration phase migrants from non-English-speaking countries do not match the rate of human capital accumulation achieved by Australian- born residents.
Trade Union Organization and Workplace Industrial Relations in the Vehicle Industry 1963 to 1991
Authors: Bramble Thomas
Published: March 2007

An underlying theme in the development of industrial relations in the car industry in the last three decades has been the replacement of an old by a new mode of accommodation, a network of management and union strategies which provides the basic infrastructure necessary for profit-making and the stabilization of class relations inside factories. The post-war mode of accommodation in the vehicle industry, which survived until the early 1970s, was destroyed and replaced by a new mode in the 1980s. Struggles within the major industry union, as well as between the workforce and management, played an important part in this process. This article examines the role of full-time officials in the Vehicle Builders Employees Federation and their changing relations with workplace stewards and rank-and-file union members in the key period of transition, from 1963 to 1991. By studying the evolution of the political and economic challenges faced by the leadership of this union in this period, and its responses, we may gain some insights into the behaviour of full-time officials. It will be argued that the changing internal politics of this union validate what Jonathan Zeitlin has called the 'rank and filist perspective' on union government, and cast doubt on the arguments of its recent critics.
Arbitration and Union Growth: Building and Construction Unions in NSW, 1901-1912
Authors: Sheldon Peter
Published: March 2007

The introduction of compulsory arbitration in New South Wales in 1901 did not lead to increased union membership levels among building and construction industry workers. The administration of the Act proved largely unworkable and delivered positive results to building employers rather than unionists. Instead, the recovery of unionism in this sector after the 1890s depression was due to a range of economic and other institutional factors, including the positive stimulus provided by the Public Works administration of E. W. O'Sullivan. The introduction of a revamped arbitration framework in 1908 probably did contribute to the strong growth in union membership in succeeding years, given the greater accessibility to awards it provided. Still, much of this encouragement was at best indirect. Here again, though, other factors— economic, industrial relations and political—were probably at least as important. Among these were a sustained building boom, the changed structure of the industry's workforce, the increasing scale of projects and a growing worker dissatisfaction with arbitration's meagre fruits.
Human Resource Managers and the Closed Shop: Individuals and Organizations in NSW
Authors: McGraw Peter , Palmer Ian
Published: March 2007

The closed shop is once again a focus of attention as the result of several states introdctcing legislation that seeks to outlaw the practice. This is despite a number of academic studies that have suggested that managers have much to gain from the closed shop and are often active supporters of it. In this study the impact of the anti-closed shop provisions of the Industrial Relations Act, 1991 (NSW) are assessed by way of a survey that asked seventy human resource managers to indicate how the legislation had affected their organizations. The same managers were also asked about their personal views on the closed shop and any advantages and disadvantages they associated with the practice. The study concludes that, at the time of the survey, the impact of the legislation was limited and that 60 per cent of the surveyed organizations continued to operate closed shops as they did before the Act came into effect. This is despite the fact that the majority of managers had a strong personal antipathy to the closed shop and claimed to see few advantages in the practice. A number of possible explanations are put forward to explain the dissonance between individual views and organizational practices.
The Decline of Australian Union Density—A Survey of the Literature
Authors: Griffin Gerard , Svensen Stuart
Published: March 2007

This paper reviews the literature on the decline in Australian union density within the context of similar research overseas. Five broad approaches are analyzed to study changes in unionization—structural shifts, macroeconomic factors, institu tional and organizational influences, the individual decision, and comparative material. Relevant Australian studies are critically reviewed and compared with studies performed in other countries. The review highlights the complexity of the problem, the need to avoid simplistic responses, and makes suggestions as to which areas of research appear most likely to increase our understanding of the recent sharp decline in unionization.
Did Arbitration Make for Dependent Unionism? Evidence from Historical Case Studies
Authors: Gahan Peter
Published: March 2007

The analysis of Australian union behaviour, growth and structure has centred on the relationship between unions and arbitration. To varying degrees it has been assumed that Australian unions are dependent on arbitration for the supply of resources critical to their functions. The nature and extent of this dependency have, however, remained empirically unexplored. Yet it is clear that if this depend ency relationship were a valid description of the relationship between unions and arbitration, its implications for the survial of unions under a different labour law regime would be profound.

This paper, through the investigation of four historical case studies. questions the validity of the dependency hypothesis as a useful explanation of Australian union behaviour. A number of concerns emerge from the case analysis. To begin with, the general interpretation of key historical moments that the dependency hypothesis relies on does not capture the diversity of experience evident in these four cases. While arbitration played an important role in influencing union behav iour by altering the costs and incentives of pursuing particular strategies, the evidence suggests that a range of other factors account for this diversity. Moreo ver, arbitration was not only an institutional structure that unions faced. Rather, part of their strategic interplay with it was concerned with shaping the system to further their own goals through the use of different 'bundles' of political and industrial resources at the disposal of individual unions. Most importantly, to the extent that these unions were dependent organizations, they were dependent on a range of institutional and organizational mechanisms for the supply of critical resources. Arguably, this study also has profound implications for how more generalized accounts of union development are constructed and theorized. A localized analysis, which focuses on individual unions and their own micro- contexts, is advanced as a more appropriate starting point for union theory.
Union Strategy and Labour- Community Alliances: the Telephonists' Exchange Closure Campaign, Queensland, 1978
Authors: Thornthwaite Louise
Published: March 2007

Some unions in the United States have found labour-comomunity alliances an effective tactic for countering management's increasingly sophisticated anti-union strategies and declining union density. This article contributes to the literature on the use of such alliances in Australia by examining the exchange closure campaign of Telecom telephonists in Queensland in 1978. The telephonists had a strategic advan tage in using alliances with rural communities in their struggle against Telecom because it was a large public monopoly employer and because alternative courses of action to immediate exchange closure were available to it. This article suggests that the telephonists' tactic may have a wider applicability in an era of increasingly anti-union rhetoric and legislation, declining union density, and labour movement concerns over the public image of trade unions.
Labour Markets, Firms and Institutions: Labour Economics and Industrial Relations
Authors: Gahan Peter , Harcourt Tim
Published: March 2007

The study of tbe employment relation has always held a somewhat ambiguous position within the field of economics. The nature of labour market adjustment processes and unique aspects of the employment relation have posed problems for standard economic theories and have limited the use of formal modelling. Moreover, institutionalist approaches have been a greater challenge to labour economists than in any other area of enquiry within the discipline (Jacoby, 1990). Traditionally, this difference has been manifest in a clear distinction between labour economics and industrial relations as separate fields of study. The artificiality of such a distinction, we argue, poses problems for understanding the phenomena of concern to both disciplines. In this paper we argue that notwithstanding the important insights gained from standard neoclassical models of the labour market, they do not provide an adequate basis for understanding the employment relationship and institutional features of labour markets. Instead, we begin with the assumption adopted by industrial relations scholars that the labour market is different from other economic exchange relationships and use this as a basis for developing a more realistic framework to understand both the social and economic dimensions of the employment relation.
The Economic Effects of Deregulation and Decentralisation of Wage Determination
Authors: Dawkins Peter
Published: March 2007

The arguments for and against deregulation and decentralisation of wage determti nation are discussed and the experiences of New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States are reviewed. International comparative research, especially by Calmfors and Driffill (1987) and Dowrick (1993) is discussed. It is concluded that it is very bard to determine the effects of deregulation or decentralisation, because of the problem of establishing the counterfactual. Nonetheless, there is theory and evidence to support the idea that more decentralised and deregulated wage determination can promote efficiency, but will often lead to a wideuing distribution of earnings. It is noted that to a large extent such changes to wage determination are probably endogenous, being determined by such factors as technological change and international competition, and are thus perhaps as much an outcome as a cause. It is argued that despite much criticism of tbe Calmfors and Driffill bypothesis, there is still much merit in it. To tbe extent that it can provide a useful guide to policy in Australia, decentralisation of wage determination appears to be a more viable optioil than centralisation. If adopted, changes to the tax/transfer system sbould also be contemplated to belp promote both efficient and equitable outcomes.
Australian Labour Market Issues: an Historical Perspective
Authors: Isaac Joe
Published: March 2007

This paper provides an historical perspective on topics related to recent developments in the Australian industrial relations system discussed in this issue of the Journal— the 'living wage' concept and the safety net, 'fairness' in relative wages, women's wages, the Accord, labour market decentralisation and the role of trade unions. It concludes that recent legislation was not necessary to facilitate increased productivity because the prevailing system had shown sufficient responsiveness to the needs of the economy, both macro and micro. By limiting the jurisdiction of the AIRC and reducing the power of the weaker unions, recent legislation bas created a dual system with a less equitable pay structure and an institutional arrangement less able to deal with wage inflation under more buoyant economic conditions.
The Development of the Concept of War
Authors: Cooper Peter
Published: March 2007

'War', said the seven-year-old, 'is to do with "Goodies" and "Baddies", and it's all right to make War so long as you don't start it first. A "Goodie" is someone who does not start a War, he just joins in — if he didn't, he would be nothing.' To which his mate adds, 'Come on lazy-bones, it's only a fight — not the end of the world'.
Arms Debates - a 'Positional' Interpretation
Authors: Hoffmann Fredrik
Published: March 2007

This article is based on debates on security problems in four different parliamentary as semblies. (La Chambre des Députés, 1903, the German Reichstag, 1911, the British Parliament, 1927, and the US Senate 1963)

The original aim of the project was to register what changes occur in the structures of argumentation in these debates. The main finding, however, is that the principal arguments are the same in all four debates in spite of great differences in the outside objective situation. The 'radicals' and the 'conservatives' each use one and the same set of arguments in all four debates. This leads to the conclusion that the debaters' views on security policy are not decided by objective factors. Because of the ambiguity of this kind of problem, basic political attitudes structure the debaters' perceptions of 'reality'.

Finally, the structures of argumentation in the debates are explained by concepts developed in an article by Samuel Huntington.
Dependency Structures as the Dominant Pattern in World Society
Authors: Gantzel Klaus Jürgen
Published: March 2007

In their work on a series of monographs, the themes of which follow, a group from the Section for International Politics of the German Political Science Association posits the following assump tions : (a) that international relations and the foreign policies of individual states can be suffi ciently explained only when considered within the hierarchical structure of world society; and (b) that this structure, carried by the interests and mechanism of capitalism, represents a system of dominance ('Herrschaft').

1) Empirical analysis of penetration processes and dependency structures in various strata of world society. This includes the global as well as respective national historical conditions, and also the socio-economic changes in and between the center nations which generated waves of penetra tion.

2) Analysis of the core area of the more or less integrated international center, including multi national corporations and bank systems; of the effects of the international division of labor with regard to desintegration and retardation of devel opment in the international and intranational peripheries of world society.

3) Analysis of the role of the state apparatuses as agents of the national centers as well as of transnational actors.

4) Analysis of the nature of the competition between the capitalist and the socialist systems and its function in stabilizing or destabilizing the international system of dominance.

5) Examination of the relations between socialist societies as to the extent to which they represent reactions to the capitalist environment or autonomous transition forms, and as to the con clusion to be drawn for emancipating non- socialist peripheries.

6) Estimation of the possibilities for emancipa tory strategies of dissociation in the peripheries aiming at nonviolent capital accumulation, divi sion of labor, and cultural development, all these free of dominance.
Accurate Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles and Nuclear Strategy
Authors: Langer Albert
Published: March 2007

Certain 'arms controllers' defend SLBMs as 'ideally suited' to deterrence. But superpower nuclear strategy has nothing to do with deterrence. It concerns warfighting through counter force attacks on military targets. Soviet strategy especially emphasises the 'first strike', yet arms controllers have minimized Soviet capabilities and advocated appeasement.

Examination of technical weapons systems characteristics and their impact on nuclear war fighting tactics shows that accurate SLBMs are especially useful to whoever strikes first and of little use to whoever is struck first. Their short range, speed, accuracy, flexibility and con cealment are ideally suited to surprise attack. In a first strike, they uniquely complement bombers, ICBMs and reconnaissance systems to advantage the attacker, where otherwise ad vantage might lie with the defence. SLBMs are officially 'quick reaction' and 'priority strike' forces for tactical and theatre targets, and will probably be the first 'strategic' forces used. But SLBM efficiency against hardened targets depends on completely vulnerable pre cision navigation systems like Omega, Loran C and satellites. Future developments like ma neuverable warheads will make accurate SLBMs even more useful in striking first, without diminishing their extreme vulnerability when struck first. Even as 'reserve deterrents', inac curate SLBMs are unlikely to survive longer than certain other forces. Thus arms controllers have defended a classical 'destabilizing' weapons system — the principal first strike forces on each side.

The arms race is a 'rational' outcome of superpower contention for world domination and preparations for world war. Opposition cannot centre on international arms control agree ments, but must mobilize people against the superpowers, and especially against the super power that talks peace while preparing for war. Ultimately man, not weapons, is decisive. Western Europeans should get prepared to defend themselves.
Unequal Development and Dependency Structures in Comecon
Authors: Stehr Uwe
Published: March 2007

This article deals with the problems of the international division of labor within the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON). The processes which determine the exchange and dependency relations between socialist nation-states are analyzed. The meaning of uneven national development of labor productivity is explained and attention is directed to the functions which the patterns of commodity production have either for an increase or for a decrease of the development unevenness within the Comecon-system. For this pur pose, the role of capitalist forms of value and price creation for the interaction structures of the socialist states is especially taken into consideration. The study comes to the conclusion that the exchange relations are still oriented toward criteria of the capitalist world market and that specifically socialist alternatives are not developed. Nevertheless, these structures, although taken over from the world market, operate in a different way within Comecon. The socialist states succeeded in organizing protective forms against ne gative consequences of these structural principles. These productive form prevented a fixation or furtherance of inequality within the Comecon-system. This was possible because the relations of productions directed by social economic planning in the socialist countries allow for a considerable latitude of political, use-value-oriented decisions.
'Facts' about the Military
Authors: Mundy Clare , Smith Dan
Published: March 2007

Detailed examination of armed forces and military industry must rely for its empirical basis on various publically available reference books, of which the most prestigious and author itative are The Military Balance and the series of Jane's annuals. Although there are large areas of consensus between the various sources, close study reveals numerous discrepancies between them and within them. Some of these discrepancies can be reconciled by painstaking work, but others cannot, and some element of the haphazard is probably unavoidable in deciding which of competing sets of data to rely on. Conclusions drawn from this kind of detailed research must therefore be formed within relatively broad margins of error to avoid being susceptible to these data problems. At the same time, the holy aura surrounding the most prestigious of the sources must be dispelled. While valuable as research resources, they are also flawed, producing for researchers problems of dimensions which will vary according to the precise nature of the work.
Old Nails in New Coffins: The Para Bellum Hypothesis Revisited
Authors: Wallace Michael D.
Published: March 2007

Earlier studies of the relationship between arms race and the escalation of conflict into war have shown strong correlations. However, it could be argued that the arms race is necessary to prevent one party gaining preponderance, and preponderance would in itself be more dangerous: the para bellum hypothesis. With the use of indices of superiority as well as of differential growth, this hypothesis can be tested, using the Correlates of War data on military expenditure and military confrontations and applying LOGIT analysis. When comparing these results to the ones achieved by an arms race index, it is clear that the latter has a far greater explanatory power.