Reshaping the Labour Market: Regulation, Efficiency and Equality in Australia

The outcomes of the labour market were the major economic and social problems of OECD countries. Inflation virtually disappeared, material standards of living on average were high, but 35 million people remained unemployed, inequality of earnings was rising and the establishment of regular employment was increasingly difficult for young people. In this 2000 book, a team of leading economists take Australia as a case study in which to examine whether regulation of the labour market assists or detracts from the achievement of desirable labour market outcomes. Attention is focused especially on the provision of adequate incomes and jobs for low-skilled workers, because this is the area in which labour markets around the world, including Australia, have failed most seriously in the past.