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Australian Labour Market Institutions, ‘Deregulation’ and the Open Economy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Peter Gahan  and
Tim Harcourt
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Abstract

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Labour market ‘deregulation’ is a major economic policy issue in Australia. Some of the desire for deregulation has been part of a worldwide trend in OECD countries whilst some comes from more localised disquiet about the alleged effect of Australia’s industrial relations institutions on the economy. This article looks at the evidence em Australian labour market regulation and its relation to economic performance. The article finds that Australian labour market institutions have had little effect on efficiency but have provided important distributional outcomes. Furthermore it is argued that with ‘globalisation’ there is more reason to continue labour market protection not less to enhance Australia’s capacity to trade and invest in the global economy.

Type
Symposium on Globalisation
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , December 1999 , pp. 296 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1999

Footnotes

*

The authors would like to thank Jeff Borland, Braham Dabscheck, Joe Isaac, Peter Kriesler, Russell Lansbury, John Nevile, David Peetz and an anonymous referee for their helpful comments and Jane Howard for her assistance with the paper. Tim Harcourt also benefited from discussions with Elaine Bernard, Richard Freeman, Dani Rodrik, Robert Solow and David Weil on this issue whilst attending the Harvard Trade Union Program at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The usual disclaimer applies. The paper does not represent the official views of the ACTU.

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