Public Management Developments In Australia and New Zealand

The article argues that public manage-ment has undergone fundamental change, generated by developments in public choice and principal agency theories. These theoretical frames are being applied to management strategies and practices, where both competition and contracts feature significantly. The role of the state is subject to change as a result of these developments.     

State employees' unions and administrative reforms: comparisons between Sweden,Norway, Australia and New Zealand

This paper discusses how methodological challenges and problems were handled in a study of how state employees' unions responded to, had an impact on and were affected by new public management reforms in Sweden, Norway, Australia and New Zealand. In the study, particular emphasis was put on institutional characteristics of the unions. The paper clarifies the operational measures of this concept (construct validity) and their causal relationship to the actions and outcomes of the reform processes (internal validity). Two other aspects of research design (external validity and reliability) are also discussed. Finally, some more general lessons learned from the study are indicated.     

Human resource strategies,workplace reform and industrial restructuring in Australia and New Zealand

In recent years, Australia and New Zealand have pursued two different routes of labour market reform. New Zealand opted for a radical experiment in the deregulation of industrial relations and other areas. Australia pursued a co-operative and co-ordinated approach to reform within the centralized arbitral system. Both reform initiatives were designed to stimulate improvements in organizational performance and cost competitiveness. In this paper, we argue that there are three main types of strategies that management can use to reduce labour cost and improve performance: productivity-enhancement, costminimization and work-intensification strategies. We argue that the former is a long-term sustainable strategy whereas the latter two are negative short-term strategies that may have deleterious longer-term effects. This paper reports the results of a cross-national survey in New Zealand and Australia into the extent of adoption of these management strategies. The results are presented by industry, employment size, mode of operation and countries as a whole. The research findings indicate that New Zealand's decentralization has encouraged a higher degree of employer experimentation with both positive and negative workplace change strategies, especially in the private sector. Australia's more centralized system limited the use of cost-minimization strategies but not productivity-enhancing strategies in the public and not-for-profit sector. The research found evidence of work intensification in both countries.     

The long-run and short-run effects of exchange-rate volatility on exports: The case of Australia and New Zealand

In this paper we obtain and interpret estimates of the short- and long-run influence of exchange-rate volatility (or risk) on the volume of trade of two Pacific-Basin Countries, Australia and New Zealand, in the generalized floating exchange-rate period. For each country, a unique, theoretically consistent long-run function is estimated, as well as a short-run dynamic demand function that is formally superior to a number of previous estimates.     

Rankings Methodology for International Comparisons of Institutions and Individuals: an Application to Economics in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract.  The objectives of this paper are threefold. First, we critically survey and analyse the different methodologies that have been adopted in the rankings literature. Second, using journal articles included in the ECONLIT database and on the basis of two criteria – one based on citations and the other on perceptions of journal quality, we rank economics teaching departments in Australia and New Zealand for 1988–2002 and 1996–2002 and for individual academic economists for the periods 1988–2002, 1988–1995 and 1996–2002. Furthermore, we identify individual star performers and recognize them in a designated 'Hall of Fame' for 1988–2002. Third, our methodology enables us to make international comparisons on total and per capita bases. Previous multi-country ranking studies in economics do not rank economics departments. They provide rankings based on total publications in economics in universities regardless of whether the economists are in the economics departments or in other departments. Thus, no rankings on per capita bases are provided. We correct this shortcoming by providing total and per capita rankings and analysing the correlations between total and per capita rankings. This is the first study to examine whether the size of the economics department matters with regard to productivity.     

澳大利亚、新西兰、新加坡雇主工作考察报告(下)

二、几点体会 从三个国家雇主组织的考察情况与我国建立的三方机制相比较,可以有以下几点体会: 1、三方机制注重专业委员会的工作。 三个国家的三方机制都根据工作的需要,成立一些高效的专门委员会,由三方人员组成,共同处理有关劳动关系问题,体现了专业化和规范化的特点。 2、国家雇主组织和地方雇主组织分工清晰,职能明确。     

The importance of small differences: the effects of research design on the comparative study of industrial relations reform in Australia and New Zealand

The aim of this paper is to explore the limitations associated with a most similar case research design. It argues that by adopting a most similar case research design, comparative work on industrial relations reform in Australia and New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s has systematically ignored important historical differences between the two countries, underestimated the similarities in recent reforms and privileged organizational and institutional explanations for changes in industrial relations systems, at the expense of those which are based on systemic factors and material interests. More generally, this paper argues that methodological choices have significant consequences for the types of explanations generated by comparative research and that more serious attention needs be given to the epistemological assumptions embedded in research designs that are taken up by industrial relations researchers.     

Urban migration in New Zealand: Dummy variable interpretations

This note provides appropriate interpretations of a dummy variable measuring the impact of South Island residential location on urban migration in New Zealand. Interpretations drawn previously by the authors over-stated this impact.     

Subsidiary initiatives and subsidiary autonomy: Evidence from New Zealand and Brazil

The paper uses evidence from a developed and a developing economy (New Zealand and Brazil) to study the consequence of multinational subsidiary initiative taking for subsidiary autonomy. Initiative taking and autonomy are known to increase the likelihood of a subsidiary continuing to grow and develop. Uncertainty remains as to whether subsidiaries acquire or lose autonomy as they engage in initiatives partly as the willingness to pursue initiatives can be viewed positively or negatively by the parent company. By using cross-country data and distinguishing three types of initiative according to the scope of their potential impact (internal, local and global) the study provides a basis for examining this topic that improves on evidence from a single country or single initiative study. Data from 200 multinational subsidiaries in New Zealand and 172 in Brazil are gathered for analysis. As well as examining the overall relationship between initiative taking and autonomy the study presents the first evidence on this topic for subsidiaries in New Zealand and Brazil. The overall conclusion is that subsidiary initiative taking is likely to increase subsidiary autonomy but the affect over autonomy is dependent upon the type of initiative that the subsidiary undertakes: subsidiary autonomy is more likely to increase as a result of a local market initiative than a global or internal market initiative.     

Do Better Wages Reduce Crime? A Research Note

A bstract . Recent research has called into question theoretical and empirical findings demonstrating a deterrent effect of punishment. Also challenged has been the view that improved employment opportunities help to reduce participation in illegitimate activities. This research note summarizes newly published econometric findings revealing that better wages and employment indeed do appear to reduce individual recidivism rates, at least in the major data set studied. The data are drawn from the Baltimore LIFE experiment. Maximum likelihood methods are used to estimate the probability of recidivism one year after release from prison and the probability of avoiding rearrest or "survival" each month after release from prison. It is found that higher average weekly wages are associated with lower recidivism and higher survival rates. In contrast, no evidence is found to confirm a deterrent effect of punishment. [Complete documentation is published in S. L. Myers, Jr "Estimating the Economic Model of Crime: Employment vs. Punishment Effects,".     

Proposition 4, Tax Reduction Mirage: An Exploratory Note on Its Potential Spending and Tax Impacts

Abstract . What would the true government expenditure and tax-burden impacts of California's Proposition 4 likely be if it (or its equivalent) were enacted in all states? What happened to actual state plus local government expenditures per capita over the period FY 1970 - FY 1976 is examined. Next, we examine what would have happened to such expenditures (per capita) if Proposition 4 had been in effect over the same period. Comparing the results reveals that Proposition 4 would have exercised no significant impact over per capita state plus local spending levels. This implies that such legislation would not have resulted in significant tax reductions.     

Rural-Urban Migration Rates and Development: A Quantitative Note

There have been two earlier efforts to estimate how rural outmigration rates evolve over the development process. In one the sample was too small and possibilities of a non-monotonic pattern were precluded. In the other inverted U-shaped migration rate patterns were estimated on the basis of an urbanization logistic curve. It is argued here that estimates based on such a curve would tend to be biased downward at very high per capita income levels. The reason is the relatively small rural populations of most industrialized countries. In such countries relatively high rates of rural outmigration could still be consistent with relatively slow rates of urbanization. Using more direct estimation techniques inverted U-shaped patterns were confirmed, but the turning points occurred much later in the development process and the migration rate estimates were sharply higher (up to five times at the highest per capita income levels) than those of the logistic estimates or even those estimated here on the basis of an LDC only sample. Finally, when the effects of income growth rates on migration rates were estimated directly, the high sensitivity levels found in the logistic study (where growth rates were treated simply as a shift parameter) could not be replicated.     

The Effect of Sample Size on the Mean Efficiency in DEA with an Application to Electricity Distribution in Australia,Sweden and New Zealand

This study examines the effect of sample size on the mean productive efficiency of firms when the efficiency is evaluated using the non-parametric approach of Data Envelopment Analysis. By employing Monte Carlo simulation, we show how the mean efficiency is related to the sample size. The paper discusses the implications for international comparisons. As an application, we investigate the efficiency of the electricity distribution industries in Australia, Sweden and New Zealand.