Although economists have developed a series of approaches to modelling the existence of labour market discrimination, rarely is this topic examined by analysing self-report survey data. After reviewing theories and empirical models of labour market discrimination, we examine self-reported...

The efficiency wage hypothesis is a popular explanation of observed labour market realities, however empirical testing has been very inadequate. Measuring effort and calculating productivity has been almost impossible in modern team oriented production processes. Because this study obtains a...

Despite considerable research on differences in labour market outcomes between native born New Zealanders and immigrants, the extent of discrimination experienced by the foreign born in the workplace remains relatively unexplored. We use micro data from the Confidentialised Unit Record File of...

It is well established that Indigenous Australians are heavily over-represented among Australia’s most disadvantaged citizens. An important component of this disadvantage is the limited and often unsuccessful engagement of Indigenous people with the labour market. To better understand this...

Research and official inquires in Australia have identified young people with caring responsibilities as a potentially vulnerable population group with respect to education and employment participation but locational differences in the ‘young carer disadvantage’ are yet to be fully explored....

This paper investigates a tentative finding in recent literature that the age dispersion of workers matters for average firm productivity. The reason is not related to differences in the workers’ age specific productivity levels. Rather it is that workers of different ages are complementary in...

This paper examines the extent to which Indigenous Australians have shared in the large expansion of the Australian workforce as revealed by a comparison of 2001 and 2006 census results and whether there have been any associated general patterns. As such, it provides the first comprehensive...

From 2006 to 2009, Federal minimum wages in Australia were set by the Australian Fair Pay Commission. This paper uses data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia panel survey to investigate the circumstances of persons who are paid at or near the minimum wage, and thus...

Over the last two decades there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of lone mothers employed part-time, while the proportion employed full-time was much the same in 2005 as it was in the early 1980s. The experience of couple mothers is quite different, with both full-time and...

Little is known in Australia as to whether the types of jobs that disadvantaged jobseekers are encouraged to enter do actually provide the basis for a ‘successful’ transition into the labour market. At the very least, this ‘successful’ transition would consist of being able to retain...