The Chinese state enterprise sector: labour market reform and the impact on male-female wage structure

The paper examines the wage structure in the Chinese state enterprise sector between 1981 and 1987. This period is of particular interest given the introduction of major labour market reforms in China during the early 1980s. In essence the reforms represented a movement away from administratively determined prices towards a market–oriented system combined with a relatively flexible system of labour allocation. The Juhn, Murphy and Pierce (1991) decomposition is employed to shed light on the role of changing labour market institutions over the period.

Labour market institutions and the gender wage gap in Britain and Australia, 1973-90

The importance of wage structure is frequently interpreted as indirect evidence of the role played by labour market institutions. The current paper follows in this tradition, examining the role of wage structure in explaining the trend in the gender wage gap over the period 1973–91 for both Australia and the UK. The focus is upon whether changes in wage structure (and associated gender wage gap) both across country and over time are compatible with institutional explanations. Combining comparisons both cross‐country and over time yields a more stringent, albeit indirect, test of the role of institutions.

Effect of labour market reform on women in the Australian banking industry

[No Abstract]

Higher education and the labour market in Oman

This study aimed to investigate whether there is a mismatch between higher education and the labour market in Oman, the types of this mismatch that exist, and the reasons for this mismatch as they appeared from statistics and interviewees' responses ( the higher education providers, principals from the public sector, and employers from the private sector)

Utilising self-report data to measure racial discrimination in the labour market

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 experience of discrimination at different stages in the labour market, among three racial groups utilising U.S. data from the 2001-2003 National Survey of American Life. Our findings indicate that African Americans and Caribbean blacks consistently report more experience of discrimination in the labour market than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. At different stages of the labour market, including hiring, termination and promotion, these groups are more likely to report discrimination than non-Hispanic whites. After controlling for social desirability bias and several human capital and socio-demographic covariates, the results remain robust for African Americans. However, the findings for Caribbean blacks were no longer significant after adjusting for social desirability bias. Although self-report data is rarely utilised to assess racial discrimination in labour economics, our study confirms the utility of this approach as demonstrated in similar research from other disciplines. Our results indicate that after adjusting for relevant confounders self-report survey data is a viable approach to estimating racial discrimination in the labour market. Implications of the study and directions for future research are provided.

Labour market and other discrimination facing Indigenous Australian

This paper uses self-reported data to illustrate how Indigenous Australians experience discrimination and how it is potentially associated with poor labour market outcomes. After giving consideration to what factors may lead people to report being discriminated against, an empirical analysis of self-reported discrimination is presented, utilising data from the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). Correlations between discrimination experienced in different settings are identified, and the association of discrimination with human capital and other characteristics is presented. The results suggest that the main process driving the reporting of discrimination is the extent to which an individual is exposed to situations in which they interact with potential discriminators. This could mean that some Indigenous Australians decrease their labour supply in order to avoid potentially adverse (discriminatory) situations. Implications for understanding Indigenous disadvantage are discussed along with recommendations for both addressing discrimination and enhancing the resilience of individuals facing discrimination.

The relationship between labour market conditions and welfare receipt in Australia: A stock-flow analysis

Understanding the determinants of changes in welfare caseloads is an important, but little studied, topic in Australia. This paper evaluates the role of labour market conditions in explaining the changes in the Australian welfare caseload since the late 1990s. The paper employs a stock-flow approach to better control for persistence in welfare receipt and includes different specifications to deal with measurement error in labour market data. The results suggest that the labour market is an important determinant of movements on and off welfare, accounting for the majority of the caseload decline during 1997-2005. The results also highlight the importance of robustness checks when data are measured with error.