bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Complements or Substitutes? Taxation, Social Welfare and Labour Market Regulation: An Industrial Relations Perspective on the ‘Five Economists’ Plan
Authors: Barbara Julien , Gahan Peter 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to critically appraise the assumptions and proposals put forward in the Five Economists’ plan to change the balance between social welfare, taxation and labour market regulation. The core theme developed here is that the proposal is based on questionable assumptions about the nature of employment relationships and labour market processes. An alternative framework is advanced. Using the Dutch case, it is argued that a more appropriate balance between these policy instruments, which requires an account of the distribution of risk between workers, firms and the state, provides a better theoretical basis on which linkages between taxation, social welfare and labour market regulation can be recast.‘Let me say, at the outset, that you should be sceptical of anyone who suggests that there are any easy solutions. Solutions which most economists would agree could enable a return to “full employment” or very low unemployment, are either socially or politically unacceptable, or we do not know how to Implement them. The best solution is to achieve a large increase in the rate of economic growth.’(Dawkins 1996: 16)
Mature Age Unemployment: A Long-Term Cost to Society
Authors: Encel S. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe issue of mature-age unemployment has now received comprehensive scrutiny by a parliamentary committee, which confirms in detail that mature-age workers (45 plus) are disproportionately represented among the long-term and very-long-term unemployed. So far, the Commonwealth Government has taken no action to deal specifically with these age groups, but programs now exist in three states, NSW, South Australia and Western Australia. The principal difficulty experienced by older workers is the attitude of employers, who consistently give preference to younger people. Although there is growing awareness of the problem, the situation is unlikely to change significantly until the demographic pressure of an ageing workforce becomes inescapable.
The Third Way, Employment and the Workplace in Australia
Authors: Waring Peter , Ostenfeld Shane , Lewer John , Burgess John 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe Third Way program for work, industrial relations and employment is examined. The discussion considers the publications of major third way proponents in the UK and Australia. It then considers what policies have been instituted under New Labour in the UK. The discussion then moves to the possibilities for Australia. Overall the Third Way program is either underdeveloped in some areas (eg the workplace) or largely following orthodox supply side policies in other areas (eg unemployment). The article concludes with a list of some of the important work and workplace issues that could be addressed by a new policy program.
The Rise and Rise of Market Relations in the British Public Sector: Implications for Industrial Relations
Authors: Carter Bob , Davies Steven , Fairbrother Peter 
Published: March 2013

AbstractHaving outlined a traditional model of British public sector industrial relations, this article focuses on developments from the 1980s to 2001. It argues that there has been a reorganisation of the state through privatisation and an historical shift in employment relations, from the state as a ‘model’, administrative employer to an increasingly managerial employer. In effect, a depoliticisation of employment relations has taken place, with the withdrawal of central government from direct control over operational and organisational activity in the public services. As part of these processes, the public services in Britain have been marketised, with the creation of a public service sector, no longer defined by ownership but by the service provided. These developments are reflected in the changing patterns of industrial relations activity in the public services, with profound implications for trade unionism.
Health and Social Effects of Downsizing: A Review
Authors: Bose Lakshmi , Bohle Philip 
Published: March 2013

AbstractExtensive organisational downsizing and restructuring has occurred in many countries since the 1980s. The negative consequences for workers forced into unemployment are well recognised. However, a growing body of evidence suggests there are also substantial, though less obvious, negative effects on workers who are retained. These effects may include impaired teamwork and productivity, damaged social networks and diminished social support, negative attitudes to work, elevated work-life conflict, a greater prevalence of negative health behaviours and impaired physical and psychological health. A cluster of behavioural and health effects observed amongst retained workers, described as ‘survivor syndrome’, is characterised by demoralisation, risk aversion, diminished organisational commitment and poorer health. These negative effects may be moderated to some extent by factors such as personality, gender, organisational level and age. A focus on more specific research questions and methodological refinements are likely to enhance future research in this area.
The Collapse of the Riskless, Middle-Class Economy
Authors: Freedman Craig 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe very basis of Japan’s post-war economic growth was time and place specific. A fundamental failure to recognise the temporary nature of Japan’s success led the Japanese to make ad hoc changes, which served largely to prop up the prevailing status quo. Inevitably, Japan’s ability to sustain the level of growth required to maintain its economic system periodically faltered, before collapsing in the nineties.Since capitalist enterprise, by its very achievements, tends to automatize progress, we conclude that it tends to make itself superfluous — to break to pieces under the pressure of its own success. The perfectly bureaucratized giant industrial unit not only ousts the small or medium-sized firm and ‘expropriates’ its owners, but in the end it also ousts the entrepreneur and expropriates the bourgeoisie as a class which in the process stands to lose not only its income but also what is infinitely more important, its function (Schumpeter 1950: 134).
The Global Strategies and Employment Relations Practices of the Hyundai Motor Company in Korea and India
Authors: Lansbury Russell D. , Purcell William , Suh Chungsok , Kwon Seung-Ho 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThis paper examines the experience of the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) managing its employees in a new plant established in Chennai, India. The establishment of the Indian plant in 1998 marked an important attempt by HMC to ‘relaunch’ its globalisation strategy after an earlier failure to manufacture in Canada. The ability of HMC to adopt an appropriate employment relations strategy in India will be an important factor determining its success as a global manufacturer. A key issue facing the Hyundai Motor Company of India (HMI) is the role to be accorded to unions and employee representation in the plant.
Union Strategies in the Sri Lankan Tea Plantations: Rediscovering the Movement Dimension
Authors: Biyanwila Janaka 
Published: March 2013

AbstractWith the launch of export-oriented industrialisation policies in 1977, trade unions in Sri Lanka entered a new set of challenges. The state promotion of labour market deregulation and privatisation has directly undermined union strategies based on bureaucratic modes of organising worker solidarity. Nevertheless, among the gamut of union strategies are tendencies characterising what is described as social movement unionism (SMU). The SMU approach focuses on strategies of independent unions combining participatory democracy internally with structured alliances externally. This paper looks at the case of a union in the tea plantations and its potential towards developing a SMU strategic orientation. In particular, the discussion focuses on the deepening of democratic tendencies within the unions which may be capable of reinforcing the movement dimension of unions.
Regulation, Human Capital and Increasing the Level of Transparency in Investment Recommendations
Authors: Royal Carol 
Published: March 2013

AbstractRegulatory agencies, the financial community and the investing public need to be aware that more effective investment recommendations and decisions require human capital analysis. It is important to the work of securities analysts, their clients and their industry. Bassi, Lev, Mcmurrer and Sissfield (2001) suggest that non-financial insights, particularly human capital related insights, make up a large proportion of investment decisions. More rigorous qualitative human capital analysis can illuminate the working of an organisation in a way that primary financial data on its own cannot achieve need. A model for outlining the human resource drivers of sustainable human capital is introduced and discussed in response to this need. In essence, an integrated approach is needed for the purpose of making more transparent investment recommendations. In Australia the Regulatory Agency, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission can assist in the adoption of this integrated investment process through the Training of Financial Product Advisors, Licensing Policy Statement 146.
Rapid Ageing and Old-Age Income Security in Korea
Authors: Yun Sukmyung 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe Korean old-age income support system is at a crossroads. The population is ageing rapidly and the public pension schemes are facing bankruptcy. Proposals to downsize the National Pension Scheme have been held up in the National Assembly by political parties who have argued for multi pillar arrangements as advocated by the OECD and the World Bank. However, with the recent passing of legislation to allow the conversion of retirement allowances to private pensions, many commentators believe that a better approach would be to covert the current National Pension Scheme from a ‘low contribution-high benefit’ scheme to an adequate contribution-adequate benefit scheme. For the future of the nation, reform of the pension system is urgent and inevitable.
Command and Control in the Workplace: Agreement-Making underWork Choices
Authors: Cooney Sean 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThis article provides an overview of the radical changes in workplace agreement-making introduced by the ‘Work Choices’ amendments to the Workplace Relations Act. It outlines the six types of statutory workplace agreement and the procedures, termination rules and content requirements associated with them. While some agreement-making procedures have been simplified, this has come at the cost of independent oversight. Furthermore, the government's overall regulatory approach is shown to be prescriptive, punitive and one-sided. The article contrasts the new workplace agreements with contracts and observes that alternative regulatory frameworks could readily have been created, with greater respect for party autonomy.
Statutory Union Recognition in North America and the UK: Lessons for Australia?
Authors: Briggs Chris 
Published: March 2013

AbstractShould the Australian labour movement pursue a system of statutory union recognition? The experiences of the UK and Canada illustrate that such a system can address some of the worst breaches of freedom of association under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth). However, the influence on union density and collective bargaining coverage is likely to be modest. It may also constitute a structural impediment to multi-employer bargaining, boxing unions into a system of fragmented bargaining, and results are sensitive to institutional design so there could be serious consequences if the system was re-engineered towards the US model in the future.
Minimum Wages, Unions, the Economy and Society
Authors: Nevile John , Kriesler Peter 
Published: March 2013

AbstractOne of the characteristics of the WorkChoices legislation introduced by the Howard government was the anti-union bias that permeated it. Some argue that this is appropriate because unions increase minimum wages, and economic theory shows that this will decrease employment and hence output. The Rudd government has signalled that it intends changing this anti-union bias, while at the same time restoring the role and coverage of minimum wages. This paper examines the arguments around these issues and concludes that neither side of the economic theory debate has delivered a knockout blow. The theoretical analysis is followed by a section looking at empirical evidence on the effects of deregulating labour markets. Again there is not complete consensus among the economics profession. However, both sides of the debate on the effects of labour market deregulation agree that strong minimum wage legislation does significantly reduce earnings inequality by increasing earnings at the bottom end of the distribution. The paper concludes that the increase in inequality consequent on labour market deregulation has adverse effects on the economy in the short run and disturbing longer run effects on society.
Discretionary Fiscal Policy and Budget Deficits: An ‘Orthodox’ Critique of Current Policy Debate
Authors: Hart Neil 
Published: March 2013

AbstractA return to discretionary fiscal policy is required in the current economic crisis. Advocacy of deficit spending is consistent with mainstream economic models, whether those relying on traditional textbook analysis or those aligned with the New Neoclassical Synthesis. The notion that deficit budgets are necessarily profligate rests on an outdated theory of public finance that ignores endogenous money. It is the productive capacity of the economy and not the government's extent of taxing its citizens, or borrowing from them, that provides the limit to the use of fiscal policy levers.
Developing an Analytical Framework for Analysing and Assessing Public-Private Partnerships: A Hospital Case Study
Authors: Chung Demi 
Published: March 2013

AbstractPublic-Private Partnerships have been a popular public procurement policy in a number of countries including Australia, the UK, and New Zealand since the early 1990s. This article examines the experience of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital (PMBH), the first public hospital delivered under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model in the State of New South Wales, Australia. Using a framework adapted from Macário, this study focuses on the political climate in which this PPP mechanism was implemented, identifying the underlying motives driving the use of a PPP to deliver public health services and clarifying the essential conflicts undermining the PPP process. The article covers the entire life cycle of the PPP hospital, from the initial contracting process to its eventual sale. A political desire to reduce public debt, allied with an ideology assuming private sector superiority, made this approach particularly attractive, but failed to deliver the desired outcome. The success of PPPs would appear to depend strongly on goal alignment in a multi-level political system. Auditing processes during the implementation process need to take account of the presence or absence of such alignment.
Off-Shored Services Workers: Labour Law and Practice in India
Authors: Penfold Carolyn 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe growth of information technology has enabled the ‘off-shoring’ of many business processes, and such off-shoring has grown exponentially in the past decade. India has been a major recipient of such off-shored work. To understand the effects of this phenomenon on off-shore workers, it is necessary to understand the legal context within which such work is undertaken.This article thus explains the labour law framework of India, from Constitutional protections down to local laws, policies and rules. It then examines labour practices, and identifies the gaps between formal labour law and actual practice in this sector. The article notes that some of these gaps between law and practice are a result of public matters, such as corruption, legal exemptions, and lack of law enforcement; but others are due to features of the sector itself, such as its newness, the types of work it offers, and the ready availability of alternative jobs.
Devolution, Job Enrichment and Workplace Performance in Sri Lanka's Garment Industry
Authors: Jayawardana Ananda , O’Donnell Michael 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe article examines the impact, in one Sri Lankan garment industry, of a management initiative devolving to line employees the responsibility for decision-making about workplace performance. At the time of the study, garment manufacturers in Sri Lanka faced increased pressure from international buyers to improve product quality and to meet stringent production delivery schedules, along with growing concerns from Western consumers regarding factory conditions and labour standards. One outcome of these pressures was increased experimentation with a range of quality management techniques to elicit workforce commitment to improved efficiency levels and higher quality standards. This study documents one experiment whereby production line operators rotated the role of production supervisor amongst themselves and accepted responsibility for minimising production bottlenecks, and for communicating data on workplace efficiency, product reject rates and absenteeism levels to other line operators. We found that workplace productivity and product quality increased over the 18-month period of the study, while levels of labour turnover and absenteeism declined. Nevertheless, the study also found that the increased role in workplace decision-making provided to employees also came with increased expectations that line employees would achieve higher production targets, improve quality and monitor workplace attendance.
Time Use, Gender and Disadvantage in Australia: Conventional Income and ‘Full Income’ Approaches to Estimation
Authors: Hill Trish 
Published: March 2013

AbstractConventional poverty and inequality measures, based only on comparisons of financial resources, may underestimate gender differences in living standards. The value of time spent in household work by oneself and partner, and the value of leisure are key elements that need to be considered in measures of living standards. This article develops a method for measuring wellbeing at the level of the individual, rather than the household. Following the tradition of Australian models of ‘full income’, the final measure of wellbeing includes the value of time in leisure and unpaid work along with individual income, the benefits accruing from the social wage and the welfare gains from the ownership and use of assets. The article then compares the conventional income distribution and the ‘full income’ distribution to identify population subgroups disadvantaged on each of these measures. The results show that gender inequalities in living standards may be underestimated by conventional income measures, and that inequalities in personal income and time use contribute most substantially to gender inequality in the full income distribution.
Adam Smith and the Labour Contract: Is Labour Exchange Analogous to Commodity Exchange?
Authors: Aspromourgos Tony 
Published: March 2013

AbstractIn his seminal and canonical text for the new science of political economy, theWealth of Nations, Adam Smith seems to proceed as if there are markets for labour, akin to markets for ‘commodities' in the ordinary sense of that term. It might therefore seem as if for Smith, the production, distribution and exchange (or pricing) of commodities finds a more or less strict analogy in the production, distribution and exchange (or pricing) of labour or labour services, in ‘commercial society’ (his term), or in a liberal capitalist social economy. But how close, really, is the analogy between commodities in the ordinary sense and labour, in Smith's understanding?
Pension Adequacy and the Pension Review
Authors: Saunders Peter , Wong Melissa 
Published: March 2013

AbstractIt has long been accepted that the adequacy of payments is a key objective of any social security system, where adequacy is defined as the ability of a payment to support a basic acceptable standard of living that is consistent with prevailing community standards. The 2009 Harmer Pension Review directed attention to the adequacy of the pension, an issue that has not been systematically examined in Australia for several decades. This article reviews alternative definitions of adequacy and shows that its basic features have been consistently recognised in official reports conducted over a long period. The deprivation approach is then described and shown to produce estimates that have a direct bearing on this conception of income adequacy. Using the results from two recent surveys, conducted in 2006 and 2010, the article compares levels of deprivation among groups defined on the basis of their principal source of income, including those dependent on an Age Pension and several other forms of social security payment. The results indicate that the adequacy of the Age Pension in 2006 was above that of payments awarded on the basis of disability, unemployment or sole parenthood, and also that the pension increase awarded following the Pension Review reduced deprivation among those who received it. However, the increase was not well targeted to those groups who required further assistance, as indicated by the levels of deprivation they were facing. Further application of the deprivation approach would provide new insights into the nature and extent of existing income inadequacies.
Dracula in Charge of the Blood Bank
Authors: Kingston Geoffrey 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe Harmer–Henry pension and tax review resulted in an increase in the common value of the single rate of Age Pension and Disability Support Pension from 25 per cent to 28 per cent of male total average weekly earnings. It also recommended a Resource Super Profits Tax that would have initially taxed mining ‘rents' at 36 per cent, on top of the pre-existing 30 per cent federal tax on profits. These recommendations represent two sides of the same coin: higher federal spending alongside higher federal taxes. The pension rise is likely to reduce participation in the labour force. The proposed tax rise would discourage mining activity as miners considered their options to delay or abandon projects. There is a lot to like at the level of detail in the Harmer–Henry package, but future efforts to reform our tax-transfer system should focus on promoting saving and investment, including investment in human capital.
The Debate on Expansionary Fiscal Consolidation: How Robust is the Evidence?
Authors: Chowdhury Anis , Islam Iyanatul 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThis paper critically examines the key empirical evidence used to support the fiscal consolidation argument, complemented by a brief assessment of the limitations of the analytical foundation of the growth promoting benefits of the fiscal consolidation thesis. It also reviews the evidence on the debt-growth relationship at some length. It finds that the negative relationship between debt and GDP growth is influenced by outliers or exceptionally high debt-GDP ratios. It also points out that the composition of public debt matters. Additionally, the debt-GDP relationship appears to be non-linear—positive first and turning to negative, but there is considerable variation in the estimated turning or ‘tipping’ point, which is not helpful as a policy guide. Historical evidence does not lend support to the concerns that the current situation is likely to cause rapid upward spiraling of public indebtedness. Finally, the argument that fiscal consolidation is possible without adversely affecting growth is not based on robust empirical evidence. This conclusion is reinforced by a succinct overview of some country-specific experiences (Denmark, Ireland and United States).