Do Unions Affect Employer Compliance with the Law? New Zealand Evidence for Age Discrimination

Over the last thirty years, collective rights to organize into unions, bargain collectively and strike have been weakened in both New Zealand and the UK. At the same time, individual rights to due process and to protection from discriminatory or unjust management decisions have been strengthened, leading some to conclude that collective and individual rights are unrelated, incompatible or mutually exclusive. On the contrary, we use evidence of employer compliance with anti‐age provisions in the New Zealand Human Rights Act to show that the two sets of rights can be highly complementary: the presence of unions strengthens individual protection from discriminatory treatment.     

A Note on a Conversation with Geoff Harcourt

In this note Geoff Harcourt offers his views, via a face to face interview, on a wide range of issues relating to the discipline of economics. He recalls his time as a student at University of Melbourne, his choice of doctoral study and experiences at University of Cambridge, his original intellectual influences and affiliation, and his contributions to economics. He also discusses how economics have evolved over the years, comments on the current status of economic teaching, research and policy advice in Australia, and makes some recommendations to early career researchers. The note also includes a brief bio sketch of Professor Harcourt.     

Freedom of Association, Freedom of Contract, and the Right-to-Work Debate

The debate over union security arrangements is often presented as involving irreconcilable goals and values. Supporters of union security typically stress their importance to the union’s organizational strength and workers’ welfare. Right-to-work supporters, who favor banning such arrangements, typically emphasize employee freedom and choice. Our approach involves a unique comparison of both perspectives, which shows that neither perspective is completely compatible with safeguarding freedom. We therefore advocate reconciliation based on compulsory worker representation, which preserves the best freedom-enhancing properties of each perspective.     

Life and Work of John Richard Nicholas Stone 1913–1991

Sir Richard Stone, knighted 1978 and 1984 Nobel Laureate in Economics, was one of the pioneers of national income and social accounts, and one of the few economists of his generation to have faced the challenge of economics as a science by combining theory and measurement within a cohesive framework. Awarded the Nobel Prize for his 'fundamental contributions to the development of national accounts', he made equally significant contributions to the empirical analysis of consumer behaviour. His work on the 'Growth Project' was instrumental in the development of econometric methodology for the construction and analysis of large disaggregated macroeconometric models.     

David Gawen Champernowne, 1912-2000: in appreciation

David Champernowne, who died in August 2000 aged 88, was notdirectly associated with the Cambridge Journal of Economics,but his major contributions belong to and serve to extend theapproach to economics which the journal wishes to preserve andadvance. This short obituary article records the journal's appreciationof his life and work.     

The effects of age discrimination legislation on workplace practice: a New Zealand case study

This article explores the effects of the legal prohibition of age discrimination in New Zealand, based on a survey of the recruiting practices of individual organisations. Its findings indicate that many firms continue to breach the law through a continued emphasis on age during the recruitment process. Age‐related information is directly or indirectly requested from a sizeable percentage of job applicants. The findings highlight the importance of the socio‐economic context in which legislation is enacted. As with unwritten rules, the impact of law in a specific context is inevitably circumscribed by the deeply embedded nature of practice, especially if enforcement is lax.