Discussion around total factor productivity gains for the Australian Economy often focuses on infrastructure bottlenecks, technology adoption, competition and labour market flexibility. Although a potential area for gains, management is typically omitted from the public policy debate because it...

There is currently a worldwide shortage of registered nurses, driven by large shifts in both the demand for and supply of nurses. Consequently, various policies to increase the recruitment and retention of nurses are under discussion, in particular, the role that wage increases might have in...

The relative costs of taking employment or receiving welfare are usually understood through comparisons of a person’s social security entitlements and their wage alternative, known as replacement rates. In some situations it appears that the additional income from working is negligible, and...

This study examines changes in earnings inequality for full-time employees in Australia between 1982 and 1994-95 using individual-level data from the ABS Income Distribution Survey. It present measures of changes in earnings inequality for disaggregated workforce groups. It also provides...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relative importance of internal and external factors on the demand for skilled immigration visas to Australia.

Using data from 191 Australian state elections, we test how voters respond to economic conditions. We find that unemployment has a strong impact on election outcomes, with each additional percentage point of unemployment reducing the incumbent’s re-election probability by 3-5 per cent....

With the defeat of the federal Labor Government and the consequent end of the Accord, it has almost become the received wisdom to attribute to the Accord the blame for the decline in union membership and union density during the 1980s and the 1990s. The decline in union density has arisen not...