Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe Economic and Social Outlook Conference that was held in 2011 carried a separate session on the role of women in the Australian labour market for the first time. Women now make up some 45 per cent of the workforce—in the late 1970s, the proportion stood at one‐third. While women play an increasingly more important role in the labour market, the gap between male and female earnings has shown stubborn persistence, at around 15 per cent. Various explanations include productivity‐related characteristics and the changing age profile of the female workforce. For low‐paid workers, these explanations are convincing; for high‐paid workers, both in the public and private sector, the pay gap remains unexplained.

While it is widely acknowledged that labour market reform is a necessary ingredient of the strategy to make the Australian economy world‐competitive, there are divergent views on what the nature of the reform process should be. The changes being currently implemented and mooted may not provide the basis for strong productivity growth; holistic enterprise bargaining and voluntarist labour market arrangements are required.

AbstractThis paper deals with a recent development in labour economics ‐ that of implicit contract theory. A major impetus to its development has been the existence of involuntary unemployment and wage rigidity. In reality, there have been two streams of development ‐ one associated with the name of Okun which focusses on the fixed costs of employing labour and the importance of reputation for reliability on the part of employers. The other emphasises differences in risk‐aversion between employers and workers, viewing the implicit contract as a form of risk shifting. Both theories provide insights into the workings of labour markets, in particular, the pervasiveness of long‐term employment relations. although difficulties arise in terms of the enforceability of contracts. The broader literature on internal labour markets in useful in this context.