This paper considers the view that trade union power played a major role in the deterioration of macroeconomic performance in Australia in the 1970s and that the subsequent decrease in trade union power has improved Australia’s macroeconomic possibilities. Using the model of a range of...

In this paper we investigate the behaviour of net flows of persons between employment, unemployment and not in the labour force in Australia between 1979-2003 and the relationship of these flows to changes in the unemployment rate over that period. We find that: flows from unemployment to...

This paper provides pictures of low pay adult employees in Australia in 2004 drawing on data from the HILDA survey. The low paid are disaggregated into full-time and part-time employees. Estimates from multivariate probit models reveal that low wage employees are more likely to have casual...

We explore a new approach to understanding the evolution of the unemployment rate in Australia. Specifically, we use gross worker flows data to study the consequences of assuming that there is no unique equilibrium rate of unemployment but rather a continuum of stochastic equilibrium rates which...

This paper addresses five related questions. What are the ‘stylised facts’ about the behaviour of flows into and out of unemployment and the Unemployment Rate in Australia, especially in recessions? Why does the number of persons flowing out of Unemployment rise in recessions? How does...

This paper provides an assessment of the nature of attrition in the HILDA Survey sample between wave 1 and wave 2. More specifically, the paper presents summary statistics on the levels of response achieved in wave 2, reports on observable differences between wave 1 respondents who did not...

In 2001 the first wave of the HILDA Survey, Australia’s first ever large-scale household panel survey, was conducted. This article presents an introduction to this survey. It provides a summary of the design and the process by which the sample was selected, the type of information being...