This report examines selected work arrangements and assesses their implications for the performance of meat processing enterprises. The effects on employees are also considered, and the scope to achieve further necessary change is analysed. The study has drawn on information obtained from...

Australian manufacturing is a picture of diversity and contrasts. This is the main finding of this paper which examines trends in the Australian manufacturing sector over the last two decades. Manufacturing output has quadrupled since the mid-1950s. The fastest growing activities have been those...

This study examines selected work arrangements and assesses their implications for the performance of container stevedoring workplaces. The effects on employees and users of stevedoring services are also considered, and impediments to achieving improved work arrangements are analysed. This is...

This paper presents an analysis of self-employed contracting in Australia. The analysis covers all self-employed contractors, including dependent and independent contractors. The paper finds that self- employed contractors have become more common in Australia over the past 20 years. In August...

The commissioned study into the ageing of Australia’s population was released April 2005. The Commission found that one quarter of Australians will be aged 65 years or more by 2044-45, roughly double the present proportion. This gives rise to significant policy challenges. The Commission...

This paper argues that a significant part of measured TFP differences across countries is attributable not to technological factors that affect the entire economy neutrally, but rather, to variations in the structural composition of economies. In particular, the allocation of scarce inputs...

A reduction of trade barriers will influence the overall scale of agricultural activities, the structure of agricultural production in different countries, the mix of inputs and outputs, the production technology, and the regulatory framework. These adjustments, in turn, will impact on the...

The interest rate and the rate of economic growth are often regarded as roughly constant as economies grow. Moreover, the agricultural sector and rural population typically shrink. We show that an otherwise standard growth model that includes a backward and an advanced sector can account for...