This paper takes issue with the proposition that low productivity growth in the non-market sector is dragging down Australia's living standards. To do that, we revisit an old debate that showed that wages should be adjusted for productivity in the market sector alone. That was the argument put by John Nevile and used by the ACTU in the 1975 national wage argument that resulted in quarterly wage indexation. Discounting wages for the lower productivity in the non-market sector causes macroeconomic stress as it prevents wage-earners from purchasing as much of the market sector's output.
All governments 'do' industry policy, in the sense that they engage with business activity within their borders in order to create jobs, to further trade, or simply to keep up with technologies considered necessary for future growth. As a subject of scholarly and policy-related inquiry, however, industry policy was, for much of the period from the 1990s onward, overshadowed by what was widely perceived to be the triumphant march of freer trade and globalisation. Now that, for political, economic, and also environmental reasons, globalisation is viewed more critically, interest in industry policy has returned. But the subject remains controversial, not least because national conditions vary so markedly that mainstream economists remain hesitant to endorse more than minimal interventions. Nowhere have these misgivings been more marked than in Australia, which prides itself on its free trade credentials. But the world is changing unpredictably, and for Australia, as for many other trading nations, a new approach is needed to harness, intelligently, the power of the state in these circumstances.
In developing economies, where fiscal space is often constrained, the minimum wage is often seen as a potentially important tool for improving living standards and reducing inequality. Yet, rigorous evidence on its effects at the household level - where well-being is ultimately realised - remains scarce. This article provides the first region-wide analysis of the relationship between minimum wages and household income inequality in Latin America, distinguishing between market (pre-tax and public transfer) and disposable (post-tax and public transfer) income to assess whether the observed pattern is consistent with a predistributive interpretation. Using two-way fixed-effects models on a panel of 15 countries from 2003 to 2020, and triangulating results across SWIID, SEDLAC, and LIS, I find that a higher minimum wage is robustly associated with lower household inequality. The association is strongest when the wage floor is measured relative to average pay, and it appears for both market and disposable income. This parallel compression is consistent with a predistributive interpretation, and the findings are robust to controls for partisanship, alternative specifications, and small-cluster inference. Overall, the results suggest that minimum-wage policy can plausibly form part of a broader inequality-reducing policy mix in contexts of high informality and limited fiscal capacity.
Fear of contracting or transmitting COVID-19 had a profound impact on workers' mental health. Although workplaces implemented COVID-19 protective measures, their effectiveness has been underexplored, particularly regarding the involvement of worker representatives. This research examines whether the presence and active participation of worker representatives in negotiating and implementing COVID-19 protective measures relates to reduced concerns about contracting or transmitting the disease. A cross-sectional study using logistic regression models was conducted on microdata from a Spanish survey conducted in April-May 2021 (n = 19,452). Concerns about contracting or transmitting COVID-19 were studied as dependent variables, whereas the independent variables were integrated into an indicator of participatory implementation of thirteen COVID-19 protective measures. Results show that active involvement of worker representatives in negotiating protective measures is significantly associated with reduced concerns about COVID-19 infection and, to a lesser extent, transmission. Moreover, the presence of worker representatives in workplaces is linked to a greater use of protective measures. Even unnegotiated measures have a positive, albeit smaller, effect. Organisational measures, such as shortening working hours, proved more effective in alleviating infection concerns than personal hygiene measures. In conclusion, active worker participation may serve as a protective factor for workers' mental health during pandemics.
This study explores the relational conditions that influence contractors' safety management on multi-employer worksites, with a focus on the Swedish mining industry. Using interviews, observations, and informal conversations, the study examines how the blurred boundaries between client companies and contractors shape safety practices. The findings show that safety management is influenced not only by formal contractual relationships but also by the relational dynamics between social actors, where power asymmetries and informal networks play a significant role. The research highlights how these relational conditions - defined by the positions and symbolic authority of the actors involved - impact coordination, communication, and accountability regarding safety. Contractors, often struggling to assert their expertise and legitimacy within the relational field, face challenges in aligning safety practices with client companies' priorities. The study concludes that to improve safety management on multi-employer worksites, it is essential to address the relational dynamics between contractors and client companies, moving beyond formal agreements to consider the underlying power relations and position-takings that shape safety practices.
This special collection entitled 'Green Transition or Social Transformation? Socio-economic Costs and Challenges of Energy Transition for Working People' is an invitation to further study the role of labour in the energy transition and the impact of the current form of transition on workers' lives. Above all, however, it raises fundamental questions about the future trajectory, aims, and scope of the transition. It also suggests that it is worth speaking openly not only about technological change but also about systemic change - one that incorporates economic and political dimensions and must accompany the energy revolution. A transition that leaves hierarchical social structures intact, that fails to critique the economic mechanisms exploiting both people and the environment, or that does not challenge existing relations of power which colonise nature and the working classes, is not a transition at all. It is merely 'old wine in new bottles,' designed to ensure the further reproduction of the prevailing system and to create new forms of capital accumulation. This collection presents reflections, analyses, and proposals addressing issues often overlooked in the green transition: the concerns of working people, their anxieties over employment and economic security, and a new form of colonisation under the guise of technological changes in the energy sector. The authors suggest, however, progressive solutions that go beyond the status quo, such as a 'transformative just transition', labour environmentalism based on the inseparable relationship between labour and nature, and social-ecological development.
Income inequality is a structural feature in Argentina. This paper advances a relatively underexplored analytical framework that links sectoral disparities in profit rates to differences in union organisation and state intervention. We identify three interrelated dimensions: (a) uneven capital accumulation across sectors, captured by profit rates as an upper bound on wage growth; (b) workers' collective organisation and bargaining capacity, which shape the extent to which this potential is realised; and (c) the role of the state as a contested arena in which distributive conflicts are mediated. Using panel data econometric models (2006-2019), we examine average wages across private economic sectors, accounting for sectoral profit rates, union strength, and minimum wage policies. Our findings reveal that wage inequality emerges from the interaction between capital's drive for profit maximisation and workers' responses through organisation, bargaining, and conflict.
The Social Security Pension System of Northern Cyprus faces a significant deficit, with structural imbalances needing urgent policy interventions. The annual deficit is approximately equal to 50% of current pension payments, or 3.2% of GDP. Without a reform, this deficit is expected to continue and may pose a critical obstacle to Cyprus's EU integration aspirations. The objective of this article is to design a reform to finance this component of the pension system that will address both current and longer-term sustainability. The paper employs a methodology of public sector budgetary accounting and actuarial estimation of the pension deficit under various scenarios. The findings show that the employees' Provident Fund assets' vulnerability to the rate of inflation provides an opportunity to combine the contributions of both components of the public-administered pension systems. Such a measure, along with some parametric reforms like increasing the retirement age, would address the current crisis and ensure the future sustainability of the Social Security Pension System.
While unions' impacts on workers' overtime have been primarily studied in Western contexts, research on China remains limited. This paper addresses this gap by examining how Chinese unions affect workers' overtime and compensation, using data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey. It also explores heterogeneous protection effects for privileged and unprivileged workers. Probit regression, IV, and PSM methods are adopted to address endogeneity and self-selection biases. Results show that Chinese unions and their perceived efficacy significantly reduce workers' overtime - particularly illegal (exceeding legal limits) and uncompensated overtime. The protective effect is stronger for unprivileged workers with short-term contracts or easily replaceable tasks. This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness and heterogeneity of Chinese unions' role in regulating overtime, rooted in their 'party-state face'. It offers new insights into unions' contribution to safeguarding workers' welfare and labour rights in China.
Understanding the barriers to women's employment and implementing inclusive initiatives in STEM workplaces is a critical global challenge. This systematic literature review applied a PRISMA-guided protocol to screen and critically appraise 44 empirical publications across four multidisciplinary databases. This review produced a structured analysis of the nature of barriers, their outcomes, and inclusive organisational initiatives for women in STEM workplaces. The study identifies intersecting barriers - bias-related, stereotype threat, culture, and structural - that hinder women's representation and career progression. Inclusive initiatives, such as mentorship, stereotype reduction, equitable policies, and transparent promotion pathways, are explored as solutions; however, there are gaps in measuring their long-term efficacy and incorporating cross-cultural and intersectional perspectives. The findings underscore the need for robust theoretical frameworks and empirical research to promote equity and inclusion, thereby unlocking the full potential of women in STEM.
How have hopes raised by the UN1995 Beijing plan for global gender equality and empowerment been addressed in policy frameworks, academic theorising, grassroots mobilisation, and women's everyday experience? To answer this question, the article starts with contextual snapshots, focusing on Australian, Indian, and Latin American/Caribbean examples, to draw out issues of occupational segregation, formal and informal economy work, paid and unpaid work, and migration. Two international approaches to addressing these issues were the UN's Sustainable Development Goal and its International Labour Organisation (ILO) Decent Work agenda. While intersectional and decolonial theories critique the UN's weak and depoliticised human rights framework, there seem to be limited alternatives right now to the work being done within this frame and to extend it. Sources of hope lie in recent Latin American and Caribbean gender mobilisations, and an emerging Care Society agenda addressing gender inequities of value, time, and voice in unpaid work. Reviewing the seven new research articles on gender and work in ELRR 36(3), this article shifts from structure to agency, identifying how constraints are reproduced and navigated. In Australia, men's interventions in apprenticeship training structures helped perpetuate occupational segregation. Three articles document daily experiences of restricted agency or outright oppression in work/family relationships in India, where tradition and neoliberalism intersect. Argentinian communal kitchens have reduced domestic labour time and increased voice, though in Mexico, expanded community childcare provision may not shift the gender division of care.
This article proposes the examination of the climate politics of labour unions, particularly the strategy of just transition, through the prism of environmental labour studies, an ecosocial approach to labour environmentalism. In the first part, it presents a historical overview in order to highlight how the just energy transition became a central element of labour environmentalism. The paper then examines the double impact of climate politics and just transition on labour environmentalism - narrowing its substantive focus while deepening the intersection of nature and labour within and beyond the workplace. The second part draws on the environmental labour studies approach to propose that labour environmentalism should take into account the inseparable relationship between labour and nature, expand the scope of work and workers, and account for global divisions of labour. In our view, such a programmatic shift will ensure that work and workers are placed centrally within ecosocial politics.
The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected labour markets, among other aspects of life. This study examines the impact of the discouraged worker effect during the pandemic, focusing on the Turkish labour market from 2018 to 2021. Although few studies exist on this topic, they rely on labour force participation rates, whereas our dataset includes direct questions and data specifically related to the discouraged worker effect, allowing for a microeconomic analysis. Probit regression results show that the discouraged worker effect was stronger during the pandemic, with job seekers being 1.6% more likely to become discouraged than before. Higher education levels generally reduce this likelihood, both before and during the pandemic. While age negatively correlates with discouragement, this effect diminishes with increasing age. Single women were more adversely affected than single men and married women than married men. Higher unemployment rates increase discouragement, as expected, while an increase in the unemployment rate has a greater effect on individuals during the pandemic period. Findings suggest that the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on certain individuals, particularly with respect to education level and gender, while T & uuml;rkiye's societal structure may help explain the observed gender-based differences.
This study examines the direct and indirect effects of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) on profitability, with a focus on the role of company size as a mediator. The impact of CSRD and company size on profitability and CSRD on company size was examined using panel data regression for 48 companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2023. In addition, Baron and Kenny's method was used to evaluate the mediation effect. The analysis was repeated using the one-step generalised method of moments to address potential endogeneity issues. The results reveal a significant positive relationship between CSRD, company size, and their impact on profitability, as well as a significant positive correlation between CSRD and company size. Furthermore, the findings show that the relationship between CSRD and profitability in Palestinian companies is partially mediated by company size. The research outcomes are significant for experts and policymakers on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure policies and profitability. The positive results may lead to enhancing CSR disclosure policies within Palestinian companies and adopting sustainable practices that benefit society and the environment. This, in turn, may increase the chances of Palestinian companies of attracting investments.
