Charles Mulvey

An Analysis of the Origins of Sex Differences in Australian Wages

Different levels of measured skills, geographic location and demographicfactors (such as marital status and country of birth) explain almost none of the hourly wage differences of Australian women and men in full-time employment. The major contribution to wage differences is apparently in the different returns paid by employers to men and women for observable characteristics. Usually this is considered as evidence for the existence of direct wage discrimination by employers but—at least for the data of this study—some questions remain as to the extent of this influence. Measurement issues related to both schooling and general labour market experience tend to exaggerate the role of direct employer discrimination, but even extreme assumptions as to the extent of mismeasurement of these variables do not eliminate such discrimination (although it is reduced from 13 to 3.5 per cent). Some part of the overall difference is likely to be a consequertce of (unmeasured) occupation factors and, of much greater contplexity, the possible influence of role-stereotyping and its interaction with family arrangements.

Genetic and environmental contributions to educational attainment in Australia

The genetic and environmental contributions to educational attainment in Australia are examined using a multiple regression model drawn from the medical research literature. Data from a large sample of Australian twins are analysed. The findings indicate that at least as much as 50 percent and perhaps as much as 65 percent of the variance in educational attainments can be attributed to genetic endowments. It is suggested that only around 25 percent of the variance in educational attainments may be due to environmental factors, though this contribution is shown to be around 40 percent when adjustments for measurement error and assortative mating are made. The high fraction of the observed variation in educational attainments due to genetic differences is consistent with results reported by Heath et al. (Heath, A.C., Berg, K., Eaves, L.J., Solaas, M.H., Corey, L.A., Sundet, J., Magnus, P., Nance, W.E., 1985. Education policy and the heritability of educational attainment. Nature 314(6013), 734-736.), Tambs et al. (Tambs, K., Sundet, J.M., Magnus, P., Berg, K., 1989. Genetic and environmental contributions to the covariance between occupational status, educational attainment and IQ: a study of twins. Behavior Genetics 19(2), 209-222.), Vogler and Fulker (Vogler, G.P., Fulker, D.W., 1983. Familial resemblance for educational attainment. Behavior Generics 13(4), 341-354.) and Behrman and Taubman (Behrman, J., Taubman, P., 1989. Is schooling mostly in the genes? Nature-nurture decomposition using data on relatives. Journal of Political Economy 97(6), 1425-1446.), suggesting that the finding is robust

Family Characteristics and the Returns to Schooling: Evidence on Gender Differences from a Sample of Australian Twins

Data from the Australian Twins Survey are analysed in order to compare the relative importance of the role of family background as a mediating influence on the relationship between schooling and income for males and females. The analysis reveals that family background is a considerably greater influence on males than on females. This finding is consistent with a greater screening role for education in the case of females and with a process of intergenerational transmission of inequality for males but not for females.

Computer Skills and Wages

Data from the 1993 Survey of Training and Education show that 52 percent of males and 60 percent of females had at some time used a computer. An analysis using earnings functions reveals that computer usage is associated with a wage premium of between 12 and 16 percent. Experiments show that omission of a variable recording computer usage from a wage equation will result in a bias of between 10 and 15 percent in the estimated return to a year of schooling and similar distortion to the estimated return to experience.

Women's Time Allocation to Child Care: Determinants and Consequences

The time women allocate to child care varies appreciably according to personal and labour market characteristics. Of particular note is the finding that better educated women spend more time in most forms of child care activities than their less well educated counterparts. This link between educational attainment and time devoted to child care is advanced as a possible justification for subsidising the education of women to a greater extent than the subsidy to mens education. It is also suggested that the stereotypes that appear to govern the household allocation of time will be difficult to break down, so that any changes in such time allocations will be slow and uncertain.

Trade Unions and the Distribution of Paid Overtime

The suggestion has been made by Mulvey (1986) that trade unions may be able to influence the allocation of work paid at premium rates in favour of their members and that this may partially explain the existence of a union/non-union differential in average hourly earnings in Australia. This paper investigates both the general proposition and its particular application to the union/non-union wage differential. with respect to the distribution of paid overtime. Analysis of the Australian Longi tudinal Survey reveals that, while unions do appear to influence the distribution of overtime in favour of their members, the effect is small and would account for only about one percentage point of the union/non-union wage differential.

The Hancock Report and Workplace Industrial Relations

Workplace industrial relations are growing in importance. The extent of plant bargaining and the scope of the industrial relations agenda at that level have developed markedly over the recent past. Such a development risks the growth of an unregulated informal system of industrial relations. While the Hancock Report recognizes the need for more formal dispute and grievance procedures, it does not adequately deal with the problems arising at workplace level. This paper argues for a broad policy of formalized relationships at workplace level by various means but not through legislation.

Wage Policy and Wage Determination in 1982

* Professor of Industrial Relations, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6000. I am indebted to Nick Blain, Bill Brown, Joe Isaac, Barry Hughes, David Plowman, Lawson Savory and Michael Wright for comments on a previous draft of this article. I am solely responsible for any remaining blemishes. The unease felt by all parties as a result of the withdrawal of the Commission from a leading role in the wage-fixing process has been evident throughout 1982 and has spawned a lively debate on the future form of the wage determination system. Nevertheless, events on the field were fast and furious with activity falling into two broad phases. The first phase covers the period until September and was dominated by the seemingly inexorable flow-on of the Metal Industry Agreement which had been ratified in December 1981. The flow-on was achieved through industry-by-industry bargaining, indicating the resilience of comparative wage justice as a principle of wage determination, with an unsuccessful attempt to speed its course in February when the unions made application for a National Wage Case. The second phase covers the period from September to the end of the year. In this latter phase the ACTU asserted itself in a more explicit coordinating role by seeking a key settlement from which to launch a wage round based on real wage maintenance. However, this initiative was stalled by the wage ’freeze’ (or ’pause’ if you prefer it) in December. The only major agreement falling within the second phase which bore any fruit at all during the year was the Oil Industry Agreement. Although the terms of this agreement had been settled by the parties in August, they were not brought before the Commission for ratification until November. The Commission

The Impact of Unions: On Economic Welfare: A Short Survey

This paper examines a number of aspects of the economic impact of unions with particular emphasis on the exit/voice model proposed by Freeman and Medoff. It examines the reported effects of unions in quit rates and job tenure; productivity; wage dispersion and merit pay; employment; fringe benefits; technological change and profits.

Unions, Training, Job Dissatisfaction and Quits

This paper explores the relationship between unionism and quits. Three channels of influence are investigated: unions-collective voice-quits; unions-training-quits; unions-job dissatisfaction-quits. Estimates of each model, using data from the Australian Longitudinal Survey, indicate that unions reduce the probability of quitting via the training effect by 0.5 percentage points, they reduce the probability of quitting via the collective voice effect by 4 percentage points and they increase the probability of quitting via the job dissatisfaction effect by 1.2 percentage points. The net effect of unions is, therefore, to reduce the probability of quitting by around 3 percentage points.