Keith Norris

Job Durations in Australia

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.

Wages policy and wage determination in 1989

* School of Economics, Commerce and Law, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150. There was one National Wage Case in 1989, the decision being handed down in August. This decision was ’the latest in a series in which the [Industrial Relations] Commission has sought to provide a framework to encourage the parties, through a combination of restraint and sustained effort, to improve efficiency and productivity (National Wage Case, August 1989). This series started in March 1987 with the two-tiered system of award increases. It will be recalled that the Industrial Relations Commission introduced a ’restructuring and efficiency principle’ under which the parties could negotiate for a second-tier increase in exchange for measures that improved efficiency. Examples of such measures, identified by the Commission, were the elimination of restrictive work and management practices and the introduction or extension of multiskilling. &dquo;

Wages Policy and Wage Determination in 1988

* Professor of Economics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150. The emphasis in wage determination in 1988 was on productivity, flexibility and, latterly, on award restructuring. This was a continuation of a trend started by the national wage decision in March 1987 and was given a significant boost by the August 1988 decision, which was hailed by some commentators as one of the most important for decades. The decision effectively put an end to wage indexation and introduced a ’structural efficiency principle which will be the key element in a new system of wage fixation’ (National Wage Case 1988). The Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission provided an incentive for wage negotiators to restructure industrial awards to provide career paths, to allow multiskilling and to enhance flexibility. The early signs are that significant changes are being negotiated in some awards, with a leading role being taken by employers and unions in the metal trades. These changes took place against a background of a continuing decline in real earnings. In financial year 1987-88, real weekly award rates of pay fell for the fifth successive year (Budget Statements 1988-89). Earnings drift moderated the effect of declining real rates of pay on real earnings, but nonetheless real earnings declined for the third year in succession. Over the whole period of the Accord, average income tax rates for virtually all workers increased and this, together with the decline in real earnings, led to a fall in real disposable incomes for most wage earners. In the original Accord, emphasis was placed on the contribution that increases in the social wage could make to the growth in living standards. In the event, however, only very modest increases in social expenditure per capita occurred. The Accord has thus failed to deliver any increase in living standards, which have in fact declined for most Australian families. The Accord has, of course, brought about a decline in real unit labour costs. In the private non-farm corporate sector, real unit labour costs fell by about 3 per cent during the Accord and are now below their average level of 1966-67 to 1972-73. The arithmetic corollary is, of course, that the share of the gross operating surplus of the private sector in private non-farm gross domestic product has risen significantly since 1983-84. The effect of the decline in real unit labour costs on international

Demand, Supply and Adjustment in the Teachers Labour Market

There have been important changes in the labour market for teachers in Australia over recent years which have not received much attention from economists. This paper analyses the way in which a particular state, namely Western Australia, has adjusted to these changes. The analysis of how the teachers labour market works is of interest both in Australia and overseas.

Unemployment and the structure of unemployment benefits

Analysis suggests that the higher the replacement ratio, that is the level of unemployment benefit relative to average earnings, the higher the level of unemployment is likely to be. This effect comes about in two main ways. The replacement ratio will influence both the rate of inflow into unemployment and the period for which people remain unemployed. The empirical evidence supports these propositions although the sensitivity of unemployment to changes in the replacement ratio is fairly weak. In the light of equity considerations reducing unemployment benefits as a policy weapon to counteract unemployment is thus not a viable option. Changing the rules relating to part-time earnings and unemployment benefit however could reduce long-term unemployment.

Book Reviews : Japanese and Australian Labour Markets: a Comparative Study

pp., no price stated (paperback) This hefty volume is the outcome of a conference held in 1982 to report and discuss the results of a two year comparative research program. There are eight pairs of papers, one of each pair being devoted to the Japanese labour market and one to the Australian. The eight topics covered are labour supply trends and structures, the arbitration and wage settlement process, industrial relations, market forces in the determination of’earnings, international trade and labour market adjustment, relative wage shares, women in the workforce and, finally, unemployment, employment, and the dynamics of the labour market. What is the aim of such a study? (As John Nevile commented ’if I heard