RECOVERY FROM DEPRESSION: AUSTRALIA IN AN ARGENTINE MIRROR 1895–1913

The recovery from the 1890s depression in Australia was prolonged, and economic growth from 1895 to 1913 was below that in the comparable settler economies of Argentina and Canada. Why? Australia’s hesitant initial recovery is typically attributed to the imbalances in the economy resulting from the preceding boom, and its further delay to severe drought. Drawing on Argentine experience, it is suggested that additional factors need to be considered. Unlike Argentina, the unwillingness or inability of Australian governments to reschedule foreign debt or devalue the exchange rate exacerbated the slump. And the era of low‐cost pioneer farming ended earlier than in Argentina (or Canada).     

RAINFALL, THE MÉLINE TARIFF, AND WHEAT PRODUCTION IN MEDITERRANEAN FRANCE, 1885–1914

Wheat production stagnated in France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, while cultivated acreage and wheat output declined sharply around the Mediterranean from the 1870s. Wheat output never recovered in this region despite the introduction in 1885 of tariff measures, such as the 1892 Méline Tariff. This paper analyses the response of Mediterranean wheat growers to changes in local rainfall and to variations of the duty on imported grains. It uses regional level data for nine administrative divisions located on or near the Mediterranean and assesses the impact of rainfall on yields. It argues that an interplay of protectionist policies and environmental conditions explain the decline of wheat production.     

THE ECONOMICS AND ORGANISATION OF CHINESE MINING IN COLONIAL AUSTRALIA

This article describes Chinese mining in colonial Australia using the examples of gold mining in southern New South Wales (NSW) and the Northern Territory as well as tin mining in northern NSW. Chinese miners were often more successful than their European counterparts. One reason for this success was the effective use that the Chinese made of large cooperative groups, a particularly efficient way to work a mining claim. Earlier studies of Chinese mining in Australia chiefly chronicled the racism and violence experienced by the Chinese and underestimated their significant economic contribution. Reasserting their economic importance challenges an exclusive focus on race.     

THE NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE GENERAL INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA TO 1973

The development of the insurance industry in Australia in the twentieth century was fundamentally shaped by a collusive code of conduct called the tariff. This arrangement, established to overcome problems of uncertainty, initially benefited both tariff and non-tariff firms by enhancing market stability. It also reduced competition. The collusive agreements gradually broke down, however, as new entrants and products entered the market in the 1950s. Self-regulation gradually gave way as the 'rules of the game' changed. The result was a period of instability before new competitive practices, and more direct and specific regulatory requirements emerged in the 1970s.     

A LONG‐RUN VIEW OF THE UNIVERSITY GENDER GAP IN AUSTRALIA*

Australian universities were first established in the 1850s, well before the introduction of compulsory schooling. From the middle of the twentieth century, the introduction of mass secondary school education and the expansion of the number of universities widened student access to universities. Subjects offered in higher education increased in scope and labour market discrimination diminished. These factors, together with supply‐side changes, meant that women were more easily able to shift into investing in skills. By 1987, Australian women were more likely than men to be enrolled at a university. These aggregate figures, however, disguise considerable heterogeneity across fields of study.     

THE INTRODUCTION OF COMPETITION POLICY IN AUSTRALIA: THE ROLE OF RON BANNERMAN

The 1965 legislation to curb restrictive trade practices has been widely regarded as weak. By contrast, the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) has been considered as providing the platform for a more comprehensive competition policy. This paper argues that the 1965–67 and 1971 Acts were more effective than has been commonly recognised in raising awareness about the extent of restrictive trade practices, discrediting price agreements and laying the foundations for the 1974 Act. The role of Ron Bannerman, the sole Commissioner of Trade Practices, was critical to their success. This paper uses parliamentary debates, Bannerman's published works and an interview with him undertaken in early 2005.     

HECKSHER-OHLIN IN CANADA: NEW ESTIMATES OF REGIONAL WAGES AND LAND PRICES

Many immigrant-receiving and land-abundant countries experienced a diminishing ratio of wages to land prices during the globalisation era from 1870 to 1910. Factor price evidence suggests that Canada does not fit the pattern. We present the first Canadian estimates of region-specific wages and land prices that span the period from 1871 to 1925. Our evidence indicates that while Canada as a nation looks like an anomaly in the era of convergence, this is largely an artefact of aggregating the experience of the labour-abundant eastern provinces with the late-settling and land-abundant western provinces.     

BASKET PEGS AND EXCHANGE RATE REGIME CHANGE: AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND IN THE MID‐SEVENTIES*

The adoption of a basket peg by China in July 2005 raised interest in this form of exchange rate regime. This paper explores the emergence of the basket peg in the early 1970s, using New Zealand and Australia as case studies to examine why it was adopted, how it operated, and their policy‐makers' use of it to influence various goals. We highlight the complexity of regime choice following the collapse of Bretton Woods. For Australia and New Zealand, the basket peg was a plausible (although interim) solution when they were reluctant either to peg to a single currency or float.     

青岛的10年“读书”

人们从不否认“书中自有黄金屋”的巧妙比喻是真实可信的。阅读,是良好的习惯,通过阅读人们往往能够从书中收获知识与真理、品味与文明。文化是一座城市的灵魂,是城市发展的原动力。一座城市的阅读史,更是折射着城市精神发育、心灵成长的历史。正因如此,10年来,青岛积极推动全民阅读,通过举办丰富多彩的活动,倡导市民爱书、读书,让人们在阅读中领悟,在探讨中思考,通过读书追求内心的宁静和谐,从而让城市文化更加斑斓多彩。     

NEW ESTIMATES OF AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC BORROWING AND CAPITAL RAISED IN LONDON, 1849–1914

Current statistics of Australian public borrowing to 1914 suffer from several limits. On the basis of a comprehensive revision, an upward bias is shown in all the alternative time series of London borrowing, while statistics of local bond issues are derived for the first time. The new time series show the importance of the initial borrowing cycle during the 1850s and 1860s; the scale of debt repatriation from the mid-1890s; the interaction between domestic and overseas borrowing before the 1880s; and the potential significance of remittance as an 'invisible stabiliser' of the exchanges and alternative indirect source of capital imports.     

FOREIGN TRADE, COMMERCIAL POLICIES AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE SONG AND MING DYNASTIES OF CHINA

The paper presents a framework to explore the trade-off between pro-authority and pro-efficiency foreign trade policy. The former is exemplified by the tributary foreign trade system in Imperial China, while the latter by the government-supervised private foreign trade. In the Song Dynasty (960–1276), a strong external enemy compelled the monarchy to choose a pro-efficiency trade policy to finance the army, whereas during the early Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) when China was strong a pro-authority trade policy was favoured. During the late Ming, as the dynasty weakened, accompanied by external threats and internal mismanagement, the imperial government once again chose a pro-efficiency trade policy.     

Labour-market effects of intra-industry trade: Evidence for the United Kingdom

Labor-Market Effects of Intra-Industry Trade: Evidence for the United Kingdom. — According to the “smooth adjustment hypothesis”, the labor-market adjustment costs entailed by trade liberalization are lower if trade expansion is intra-industry rather than inter-industry in nature. In this paper, we study the link between trade and labor market changes in UK manufacturing industries during the 1980s. We use industry-level measures of unemployment duration and wage variability as proxies for adjustment costs, and we relate them to various measures of intra-industry trade. Our evidence offers some support for the smooth adjustment hypothesis.     

TARIFFS,SUBSIDIES, AND PROFITS: A RE‐ASSESSMENT OF STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN AUSTRALIA 1901–39

We re‐interpret the drivers of structural change in Australia from Federation to World War II. Manufacturing increased its relative share of output and employment, the farm sector and mining contracted. Conventional wisdom contends these shifts largely resulted from government policy, particularly increases in trade barriers. We contend that the connection between tariffs and increased profitability is conceptually weak and not supported by extant evidence. We argue that exogenous shifts in consumer preferences, the adoption of new technologies, changing factor proportions, and greater specialisation in manufacturing and services were responsible for manufacturing increasing its share of the economy's resources and output.     

THE SPEED OF STRUCTURAL CONVERGENCE IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES OF NEWLY INDUSTRIALISING ECONOMIES

We seek to identify the determinants of the speed of convergence in the structures of manufacturing to their steady-state levels as developing economies become fully industrialised. Applying a two-stage sequential estimation procedure to data on three-digit manufacturing industries for 45 mostly middle-income countries, we find empirical support for the hypothesis that production efficiency is a major determinant of inter-branch output share adjustment. This finding applies to many but not all industries. One implication for latecomers is that industrial policy must aim at rapid diffusion of core technologies to facilitate the acquisition of industrial capabilities in a diversified basket of exportables.     

STATE-LEVEL BASIC WAGES IN AUSTRALIA DURING THE DEPRESSION, 1929–35: INSTITUTIONS AND POLITICS OVER MARKETS

State wage-fixation tribunals developed quite particular patterns of basic wage fixation during the Depression. They declined to follow the Commonwealth Court's 10 per cent wage cut, thereby confining its effect to about half the workforce and creating distinctly different State and Commonwealth basic wage patterns in each capital city. Further, tribunals' uneven patterns of basic wage adjustment to deflation meant that in some states, the real State basic wage increased. Patterns of state institutional behaviour and state politics therefore help explain the stickiness of real average wage levels during the Depression.     

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON INDIGENOUS SOCIOECONOMIC OUTCOMES IN AUSTRALIA, 1971–2001

Current debate in Indigenous affairs in Australia often involves the assertion that the last 30 years has been a period of policy failure. This article examines trends across a number of socioeconomic outcomes for Indigenous Australians from the 1967 referendum to the present, using census data. Overall, there has been steady, although not spectacular improvement in outcomes over time. These improvements are especially marked for education, which was coming from an exceptionally low base. This finding is somewhat at odds with the common perception of the 'failure' of Indigenous policy.     

30年,山东外资转向

从1981年第一家中外合资企业落户青岛,山东外资已走过30个年头。伴随着中国的开放,我们举双手欢迎外资的到来。事实上,正是在外资的援手下,我们才有了扩大生产的大量资本,无数的工