This paper examines the different types of ideological positions (welfarist, realist, and socialist) and, by extension, the roles that trade unions may adopt in the future. It suggests that a distinction can be made between what trade unions should be, by definition, and what they can be as we move into the 21st Century. It argues that the optimum role that trade unions can assume is one in which they are autonomous, yet choose to work in close partnership with a state which is dedicated to improving the welfare of the citizenry. The rationale for this argument is that a strong state is in a position to garner support for beneficial development programs, while autonomous trade unions can ensure that the interest of members are factored into state policies, even as they seek to enhance their voice and ownership at workplace level. The Singapore case is used as a template to support the arguments generated in this paper.

This paper argues that the future direction for the development of Korean industrial relations will evolve through direct interaction between employers and trade unions (either conflictual or cooperative). The government is likely to play a less interventionist role in industrial relations, compared with the past, and to adopt the role of mediator between unions and employers. Characteristics of Korean industrial relations during the pre- 1987 period is firstly examined; four major factors are used to explain the industrial relations practice during this time. Changes after 1987 are also considered. Special consideration is given to interaction between the environment and the three major industrial relations participants, and the interactions between them. Both macro and micro aspects of industrial relations are examined. The special Presidential Address (26/04/1996), known as New Conception of Industrial Relations, is also analysed in terms of its implications for future industrial relations issues in Korea.

This paper describes the various stages of industrialisation through which Malaysia has passed, beginning with import substitution in the 1960s, export-oriented industries of the 1970s to heavy industries in the 1980s. The public sector, which used to employ a substantial percentage of the labour force and a high percentage of ethnic Malays, has been reduced as a result of the government’s decision to corporatise and privatise many of its agencies. However, as more Malays have began working in the industrial sector, a new phenomena of an emerging Malay proletariat alongside the non-Malays has become evident. They now form more than half of the union leadership and are strongly represented among skilled workers. Whether the government will become more liberal with its laws and policies towards unions in the future is uncertain, as the democratic process in Malaysia has yet to gain a firm hold.

International mobility of capital and competitive pressures are challenging Australian governments to reduce taxes, especially on capital, while conflicting demands, from deregulation, concerns about national savings, and pressures to reform indirect taxes, heighten the need for higher revenues and more progressive taxes.

We risk becoming a society of ‘rational fools’, where citizens value government services, but governments lack revenue to fund them. Taxpayers see the system as unfair and see others dodge taxes; tax resistance increases, and the revenue base further declines. Rational behaviour from an individual viewpoint is foolish from a communal perspective.

Deficiencies in the tax system must be remedied to break the cycle. The inability to raise adequate revenue is fundamental. Federal/state financial imbalance is intrinsic to the problem and must be addressed. Removing opportunities for ‘tax shirking’, and addressing major inequities and concessions in direct taxes would improve prospects for indirect tax reform. Increasing overall progressivity by asset or inheritance taxes would balance regressive effects of indirect taxes.

The stock of capital goods will always be a mixture of new best-practice techniques and older vintages, associated with lower productivity and higher running costs yet still profitable to keep running if short-term variable costs are covered. A crucial determinant of the proportion of new to old machines in any industry’s stock of capital goods is therefore the level and rate of change of wages. The rate of accumulation not only has these supply-side effects; it is also obviously a major determinant of activity and employment. There is the possibility of a virtuous cumulative process. To achieve this, we need to make sure, that wages in all industries rise by amounts which are determined principally by the growth of overall productivity and the general price level.

The baseline Australian generational accounts for 1994/95 presented in this paper reveal a moderate imbalance in favour of current generations, and thus a reversal of the imbalance evident in the 1990/91 base year accounts (Ablett, 1996a). However, alternative simulations suggest the fiscal constraint implied by recent official government projections should be sufficient to correct the generational imbalance of the baseline accounts. Generational accounting results involving several migration scenarios are also presented. These lend support to the view that migration has an overall net positive effect on government finances.

This paper examines the cyclical properties of gross flows and transition rates between the alternative labour market states of ‘employed’, ‘unemployed’, and ‘not in labour force’ for Australian workers for the period 1980–1992. The study is based on ABS monthly gross flow data, disaggregated by gender, and with the employment status disaggregated into part-time and full-time work. The principal finding is that the somewhat surprising pattern, of counter-cyclical monthly flows from unemployment to employment, is primarily the result of counter-cyclical male transitions to full time employment. The results are compared with those from European empirical studies. The paper also considers the consistency of the results with thé implications of theoretical models which emphasise the counter-cyclical ‘quality’ of the unemployment pool.

In April 1997 the Australian Industrial Relations Commission established a federal minimum award wage of $359.40 per week, and awarded a $10 per week safety net increase for workers who had been unable to obtain wage increases under the regime of enterprise bargaining. The Commission produced a split decision, the first time this has occurred in twenty years. This article provides a commentary on the respective decisions of the majority and minority. It examines the background or context of the case, the claims of the parties, and the reasoning of the majority and minority in their respective decisions. The case reveals a widening gap in the income of workers. Those without bargaining power are falling behind in both real and relative terms, in the regulatory world of enterprise bargaining. The situation has only been partially addressed by the decision in this case.

This paper considers the implications of the decision of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in the April 1997 wage case (the ‘Living Wage Case’) for wages policy. The recent history of wages policy in Australia is analysed in terms of competing goals for wages policy and the changing priorities for these goals. The Living Wage Case decision is a continuation of developments in the Australian labour market that worsen the relative income position of the low paid, tend to create a two-tier wage structure, and worsen the prospects for reductions in unemployment because responsibility for the control of wage based inflation has been given to restrictive monetary policy.

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) brought down the first stage of the ‘Living Wage’ Case decisions on 22 April 1997. For the first time in nearly 30 years the decision was split. This article analyses the economic rationale for both majority and minority decisions and argues that the majority decision was overly cautious and conservative in its assessment of the economic constraints on the Commission’s capacity to award a pay increase to low paid workers.