In this special issue of the AJLE, we bring together eight papers based for the most part on the first wave of HILDA Survey. While longitudinal surveys are like good wines-growing in value (generally) with age-the richness of the HILDA wave 1 data means that we can gain significant new insights...

This article introduces the papers presented at the conference ‘Creating Jobs – the Role of Government’ held at the Australian National University, 6-7 September 2001, and offers some critical comments on what was learned at the Conference and on where further research is still required.

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...

Since 1971 Australian governments have varied expenditure on labour market programs and education. This article attempts to explain these changes in the context of several straightforward hypotheses concerned with political processes. In both policy areas the evidence is generally consistent...

It is generally agreed that the funding base for German universities is inadequate and perhaps the time has come for serious consideration of the imposition of non-trivial tuition charges. Against this background, this paper compares conventional and income contingent loans for financing tuition...