bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Role of Government Assistance in Structural Change in Manufacturing: Australian Evidence
Authors: Harris A. H. , Wood G. A. , Armstrong T. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractBy the 1970s the Australian manufacturing sector was, by OECD standards, small, fragmented and inward looking. Successive Australian Federal Governments have since responded by progressively reducing levels of assistance to manufacturing in an effort to promote structural change. In this article we investigate whether these lower levels of assistance have accelerated the pace of structural change by estimating an empirical model using a pooled cross‐section time‐series data set. Our results suggest that reduced levels of assistance to manufacturing have had a positive impact on the pace of structural change in the Australian manufacturing sector. In addition, we find that taxes on factor inputs can be expected to impede structural change, and it would appear that structural change proceeds at a faster pace in more specialised manufacturing sectors.
Immigrants and the Use of Government Transfer Payments
Authors: Maani S. A. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article examines the use of government benefits and allowances by Australian immigrants relative to their native‐born counterparts. The study extends the Australian literature by employing micro‐level (Australian Longitudinal Survey) data, controlling for a number of relevant variables including first or second generation immigrant status and the nature of transfer payments received. The data on young adults employed in the study provide a comparable population for examining the relative use of benefits among those of similar age, allowing comparisons based on only the relevant types of benefits. The results consistently reject the hypothesis that immigrants are disproportionately using benefit payments and thereby imposing a burden on public funds. These results are of interest, especially since Australia is already a major immigrant‐receiving country, and since the Australian welfare system is more extensive in its coverage than most other immigrant‐receiving countries.
Professorial Rankings of Australian Accounting Departments
Authors: Brownell Peter , Godfrey Jayne 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article presents the results of a survey of professors in accounting departments in Australia. Professors ranked Australian accounting departments on a variety of research, teaching and staffing attributes, on contributions to the accounting profession and provided an overall ranking of the departments. Overall rankings placed the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales a close first and second, followed by the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the University of Western Australia, and Monash University. Analysis of the separate sub‐dimensions of performance shows that it is variations in respondents' perceptions of research‐related performance of departments which accounts for variation in the overall ranking.We also asked the professors for their views on several issues facing accounting educators and those who recruit accounting graduates. Most believed that there should be more breadth in undergraduate accounting courses than is currently the case. However, most felt that recruiters would prefer degree structures to remain as they are. There was overwhelming consensus that it was reasonable to expect ethics to be taught in accounting programs; that the Australian Securities Commission should not replace corporate management in the appointment of auditors; and that accounting standards should not be written to force very conservative depictions of profitability and financial position. There was disparity of opinions on whether auditors ought to be expected to foreshadow financial distress; whether the audit role should be expanded to explicitly embrace fraud detection; and whether financial reports should be understandable to the lay person.
Credit Supply and Demand and Business Investment
Authors: Blundell‐Wignall Adrian , Gizycki Marianne 
Published: January 2008

Abstract The article explores the lending behaviour of financial intermediaries over the business cycle in the light of theories emphasising agency costs. During a credit crunch loans from financial intermediaries are unobtainable at any price, and so credit may have a causal influence over economic activity. Tests of this do not find evidence of credit constraints following financial deregulation. However, since both loan supply and demand are driven by forward‐looking variables, business credit is a useful leading indicator of nominal investment.
Privatisation in Russia Has Led to Criminalisation
Authors: Intriligator Michael D. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractRussia has recently embarked on a dramatic program of privatisation as part of the process of shock therapy which aims to convert the command economy to a market economy. This program has been undertaken in the absence of a well‐developed set of institutions needed for the proper functioning of a market economy. These institutions include a legal system, a related system of property rights, a credit system, a system of commercial banks, classified advertising, an accounting system and others including a sound currency and a social safety net. In the absence of these institutions the incentives facing agents in economic transactions have been perverted. This has led to criminalisation of the economy, dramatic falls in production, loss of confidence in all aspects of commerce, and political instability. The recent Russian experience of privatisation has important lessons for other economies in transition, for developing economies and for economic theory.
The Relationship between Sole Parents and Income Support
Authors: Lambert S. F. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractAside from growth in the aged population, the rapid growth in numbers of sole parents is the most marked demographic change to have occurred, not only in Australia, but right across the western developed world. The high prevalence of sole parent welfare dependence marks this change as a major social policy issue, at the centre of which is the role played by sole parent income support programs. This article discusses this issue and makes the argument that the growth in numbers of sole parents and the rate of sole parent welfare dependence has not been significantly affected by the size and structure of government provided income support.
Managing the Transition to Competition: The International Air Services Commission
Authors: Findlay Christopher , Round David K. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe aim of the International Air Services Commission (IASC) Act is to promote competition in Australia's international air transport markets. Its role is to allocate new capacity, made available by negotiation of bilateral air services agreements, between incumbent airlines and entrant applicants. The IASC faces a number of dilemmas. It has to operate on the basis of country pairs whereas airlines operate, and competitive outcomes are determined, in country groups or networks. The IASC is also required to apply criteria which confuse means and ends. Most importantly, its objective is pro‐competitive but it has at its disposal only one instrument for that purpose, the allocation of capacity, which may not be the most appropriate instrument for achieving that goal. In the longer run, these dilemmas will be resolved by a movement to a more competitive market and deregulation of air transport capacity. In the meantime, suggestions are made about the weight which the IASC should put on the competition criterion; a simplification of the assessment of applications for capacity; and the IASC's relationship with the Trade Practices Commission.
The Impact of Industry Restructuring from 1971 to 1991 on the Employment Experience of Demographic Groups
Authors: Ackland Robert 
Published: January 2008

AbstractIn this article, an empirical measure devised by Bonnell and Dixon (1983) is used to calculate the impact of structural change on the employment opportunities of males and females of different birthplace groups over the period 1971 to 1991. The measure calculates the percentage change in the employment of a particular demographic group1 which would have occurred over the period 1971 to 1991, allowing for changes in the industry composition of employment, but holding constant both total employment growth and the group shares of employment in each industry. It is found that structural change had a greater negative impact on the employment opportunities of immigrants from non‐English‐speaking backgrounds (NESBs), compared with its impact on the employment experience of other birthplace groups.However, further analysis which allows for the group shares of employment in each industry to vary suggests that the direction and degree of inter‐industry mobility have an important influence on the effect of structural change on the employment opportunities of different groups. It is found that the apparent labour‐market disadvantage experienced by people from NESBs in response to structural change is in fact offset by their revealed capacity for inter‐industry mobility from declining to growing industries.
Mark‐up Pricing and the Forward Shifting of the Corporate Income Tax
Authors: Daly Kevin , Hart Neil 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe framework used to test the hypothesis of forward income tax shifting is based on a simple mark‐up pricing model and follows the methodology of Beath (1979). In this framework indications of forward tax shifting are inferred if the gross mark‐up varies in order to achieve a targeted net of tax mark‐up. Empirical results derived support the hypothesis and suggest significant forward corporate income tax shifting in Australian manufacturing companies over the data period 1968 to 1990.
Measuring Saving Intentions
Authors: McDonnell John , Williams Ross 
Published: January 2008

AbstractA need has long been expressed for up‐to‐date information on householder plans for saving, both quantity and type. This article surveys the international work done on ascertaining householder intentions and then proposes a group of nine specific questions to be put to Australian households with the aim of developing a useful Index of Saving Intentions along with information on household asset allocation. Full development can only be accomplished ex post when results can be correlated over time with various savings measures. It is intended that the Index assist in forecasting household behaviour, the allocation of savings across assets and that it will permit more rapid evaluation of the effects of government policy changes in areas such as taxation and superannuation. Results from initial surveys are presented.
Explaining the Timing of Australia's Manufactured Export Boom
Authors: Menzies Gordon 
Published: January 2008

Abstract This article seeks to explain some of the recent growth in Australia's manufactured exports using a sunk cost model. It is shown that a shock to the economy can cause a sudden and permanent increase in exports. Results from a sample survey suggest that the increased export orientation of Australia's manufacturing sector may persist, even if the recent economic shocks faced by exporters are reversed.
Does Privatisation Pay?
Authors: Quiggin John 
Published: January 2008

Abstract Privatisation has become a popular policy since 1980, particularly for governments facing difficulty in raising revenue. However, there has been no consistent attempt to estimate the impact of privatisation on the net fiscal position of the public sector, or even to consider how such an estimate might be made. The object of this article is to consider the implications of privatisation from a fiscal perspective. Privatisation automatically reduces budget deficits in the short and medium term. However, this apparent benefit reflects the generally defective nature of the budget deficit as a measure of public saving. In this article, case studies of a number of actual and proposed privatisations are presented. In each case it is shown that the savings in public debt interest associated with privatisation are insufficient to offset the loss to the public sector of the earnings of the enterprise concerned. In many cases, the sale price is around 50 per cent of the present value of the stream of earnings foregone. This suggests that the loss in public sector net worth is as large as, or larger than, the sale price.
The Role of the Media in the Formulation of Economic Policy
Authors: Gittins Ross 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article examines and comments on the reporting of economic news in the Australian media, the influence on that reporting of media judgments about newsworthiness, the relationship between economic reporting and the financial markets, and governments' use of the media in the economic policy process. Finally, it focuses on the role of economic commentators in the quality press, their relations with the bureaucracy, their part in the rise of economic rationalism and the nature of their influence on the formulation of economic policy. It concludes that when the commentators as a group take up causes and pursue them over sustained periods, they help to create a climate of elite option which emboldens governments to undertake politically difficult policy reforms.
The Determination of Common Law Awards to Injured Workers
Authors: Wooe G. A. , Morrison D. L. , Harrison J. , Macdonald S. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractPrior to changes in the Western Australian legislation in 1993 an injured worker could sue his or her employer for damages at common law irrespective of the seriousness of injury or size of damages. A common law action is conditional on the personal injury being sustained during the course of employment, and caused by the negligence or breach of statutory duty of the employer. In recent years there has been concern expressed about the efficacy of the common law process in providing injured workers with awards that match their pecuniary and non‐pecuniary losses. We address this issue by developing a model of the determination of common law awards in which we assume pre‐trial settlement. We find that the economic mechanisms which bring plaintiff and defendant to a pre‐trial settlement will not necessarily produce an award settlement consistent with the size of pecuniary and non‐pecuniary losses. The model is subjected to an empirical examination using a sample of 384 plaintiffs whose cases were closed in Western Australia in 1990. Our results indicate that in practice the common law process fails to determine an individual assessment of injured workers' losses. In particular, awards represent an inadequate compensation for the losses suffered by severely incapacitated plaintiffs.
Competition Policy: Some Neglected Issues in the Hilmer Report
Authors: Freebairn John 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe Hilmer Report focuses primarily on the very important issues of legislative and regulatory measures to directly reduce monopolistic structures and conduct. This article argues that competition policy also should embrace measures to reduce transaction costs. Lower transaction costs increase the substitutability of different options and help to extend the competitive market, and particularly to reduce entry barriers for new entrants and for innovations. Contrary to Hilmer, the article argues that economic theory, and particularly the marginal cost concept, can and should have a central role in the assessment of monopolistic behaviour and in the determination of access prices to ‘essential services’ provided by natural monopolies.
The Impact of Health, Education and Housing Outlays upon Income Distribution in Australia in the 1990s
Authors: Harding Ann 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe distributional impact of public expenditure on such programs as health, education and housing is frequently ignored in studies of income distribution. This may bias assessment of both the relative living standards of different types of families at any particular point in time and of trends in income inequality over time.This article provides estimates for the 1990s of the combined distributional impact of public outlays on health, education and housing. The analysis indicates that the major beneficiaries of public outlays on these services are families with children and the aged. The pattern of receipt shows a strong life‐cycle effect, with the value of non‐cash benefits peaking in the 30s and 40s and rising again in retirement. Non‐cash benefits are also shown to have an equalising effect upon income distribution.
Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Australia: A Minimum Disruption Approach
Authors: Cornwell Antonia 
Published: January 2008

Abstract While at the Toronto Conference in 1988, Australia adopted a target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent of 1988 levels by the year 2005, however action to reduce emissions has been negligible. Unilateral action is deemed too costly in terms of the negative effects it could have on employment, GDP growth, exports and international competitiveness. Most Australian studies have evaluated the effect on such variables of employing a specified policy instrument, such as a carbon tax, to reduce emissions. This study instead uses an input‐output method developed by Proops, Faber and Wagenhals (1993) to ascertain the minimum set of changes necessary in different sectors of the economy required to achieve the Toronto Target, where constraints on key macroeconomic variables, such as GDP growth and the level of employment, are met. The cost of reducing emissions is defined here in terms of the required structural changes, when factors like GDP growth are held positive. The results suggest that the necessary changes in various sectors under each of the scenarios are not far removed from the observed rates of change for Australia. The results are also consistent with those obtained for both Germany and the United Kingdom.
The Effect of Immigration on Residents' Incomes in Australia: Some Issues Reconsidered
Authors: Peter Matthew W. , Verikios George 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article outlines the standard neoclassical model (SNM) of the impact of immigration on the incomes of the resident (pre‐immigration) population. We augment the SNM to allow for foreign ownership of and government equity in the capital stock. Using the expanded model, the sensitivity of residents' incomes to immigration is tested in four scenarios. Our calculations reveal that the size of the Berry‐Soligo welfare triangle is small and is dominated by the effects of foreign ownership of capital and government equity in capital. In our preferred long‐run scenario, the 1991–92 Australian immigrant intake reduced residents' incomes. We believe the results based on the expanded SNM justify a more comprehensive study incorporating a range of other influential factors determining the impact of immigration on residents' incomes. We suggest a list of such factors and report on work done in these specific areas. Essential to a comprehensive study are the integration of results from studies in specific areas, and the devotion of resources to the tasks of further data collection and model development
Contemporary Issues in the Ongoing Reform of the Australian Retirement Income System
Authors: Knox David M. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe development of a sound and sustainable retirement income system is currently an important social, political and economic issue around the world as many countries face a range of pressures including an ageing population, low national saving levels, maturing Social Security programs and changing employment patterns. As a result of these pressures, the World Bank has advocated a three‐pillar system which is broadly reflected in the current Australian arrangements. However, further reform is planned in Australia. The 1995–96 Federal Budget announced a proposal to introduce compulsory minimum employee contributions of 3 per cent of earnings, together with a matching income‐tested government contribution. The proposal for government contributions is analysed in this article and an alternative approach is proposed. The important related issues of the taxation of superannuation and the integration between superannuation and the government‐funded age pension are also reviewed. As a result, recommendations for change are made to encourage a stable long‐term structure that provides retirement incomes in a simple, affordable and fair manner.
Grey Horizons: Who Pays for Old Age in the 21st Century?
Authors: Johnson Paul 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis article challenges pessimistic interpretations of the economic impact of population ageing that have been advanced by the World Bank and others. Common perceptions of an ‘old age crisis’ are shown to result from a narrow reading of demographic data. Future changes in the age structure of the population will be no greater than those already experienced and accommodated in the last fifty years, and estimates of demographic dependency ratios provide an unreliable basis for future economic projections. Although population ageing will require a larger proportion of income to be transferred from years of work to years of retirement, this cost cannot be significantly reduced by shifting from public to private pension systems. Moreover, the cost is one that we should welcome; it is the price we have to pay for longer life.
The Real Structural Imbalance and Fiscal Stance in Australia during the Postwar Era
Authors: Abbott Malcolm J. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract By using the concept of the constant employment budget balance and changes in real public debt it is possible to determine the size of Australian Government's real structural budget imbalances during the postwar era. In doing so it is possible to partially explain the short run fluctuations in economic activity and comment on the ability of the Federal Government to influence the level of economic activity.
METHODS FOR THE PHOTO‐ELECTRIC AND PHOTO‐CHEMICAL MEASUREMENT OF DAYLIGHT1
Authors: ATKINS W. R. G. , POOLE H. H. 
Published: January 2008

Summary.The optical conditions relating to plane, cylindrical, and spherical photometers are discussed.A brief account is given of some galvanometers found to be suitable for the measurement of the photo‐electric current in the field, of the potentiometer method for use at sea, and of the use of a recording galvanometer for continuous measurement of the variations of daylight. The current may be integrated over a short period by timing the flashes of a neon lamp shunted by a condenser, or, over longer periods, by the electrolytic deposition of copper.Types of photo‐electric cells are discussed in relation to their spectral sensitivity, constancy and standardisation.Examples are given of photo‐electric measurements of daylight in the open, in buildings, in woods, and down to 70 metres depth in the open sea.A brief description is given of photo‐chemical photometry by means of uranyl oxalate solutions and its standardisation against photo‐electric measurements. The methylene blue method of ultra‐violet photometry is also mentioned.
Virus Diseases In Plants:I. TRANSLOCATION WITHIN THE PLANT. II. THE AMOEBOID INTRACELLULAR INCLUSIONS.
Authors: SMITH J. HENDERSON 
Published: January 2008

Summary.In virus disease in plants, abnormal inclusions, found only in such disease, are frequently found inside the cells. Of these inclusions one type has characters which have led to the belief that it may be a living amoeba‐like organism, a phase in the life‐history of the virus parasite. This type, the “X‐body,” is fully described and the evidence for its parasitic nature set out. The alternative view is that these bodies are not living organisms but are a reaction‐product of the cell to the virus irritant. This seems, on the whole, more probable, and is supported by some recent work in which formation of the bodies has been watched in the individual cell from their beginning to their completion, the method of formation accounting for the appearances which have suggested that the bodies are independent organisms.