Individual contracting, collective bargaining and wages in Australia
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Author(s)
Peetz, David
Preston, Alison
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2009
Metadata
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We examine wages in Australia under federally registered individual contracts and collective agreements (CAs) using unpublished data from a national earnings survey. The distribution of earnings under registered individual contracts was more unequal than under CAs. Average and median earnings under registered individual contracts were lower than under CAs. There was little evidence that individual contracting raised wages through raising productivity. The link between contracting and pay appears contingent, varying between occupations, industries, and firm size bands and dependent upon employees' position in the labour market ...
View more >We examine wages in Australia under federally registered individual contracts and collective agreements (CAs) using unpublished data from a national earnings survey. The distribution of earnings under registered individual contracts was more unequal than under CAs. Average and median earnings under registered individual contracts were lower than under CAs. There was little evidence that individual contracting raised wages through raising productivity. The link between contracting and pay appears contingent, varying between occupations, industries, and firm size bands and dependent upon employees' position in the labour market and employers' use of union avoidance strategies. This has implications for the interpretation of studies of union wage effects.
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View more >We examine wages in Australia under federally registered individual contracts and collective agreements (CAs) using unpublished data from a national earnings survey. The distribution of earnings under registered individual contracts was more unequal than under CAs. Average and median earnings under registered individual contracts were lower than under CAs. There was little evidence that individual contracting raised wages through raising productivity. The link between contracting and pay appears contingent, varying between occupations, industries, and firm size bands and dependent upon employees' position in the labour market and employers' use of union avoidance strategies. This has implications for the interpretation of studies of union wage effects.
View less >
Journal Title
Industrial Relations Journal
Volume
40
Issue
5
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
Author Posting. Copyright 2009 Australian Dental Association. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Australian Dental Association for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Australian Dental Journal, Volume 40, Issue 5, pages 444–461, September 2009.
Subject
Economics
Commerce, management, tourism and services
Industrial and employee relations