Changes in IR Programs Since the Mid-Sixties

An up-date of a 1967 study of industrial relations programs reveals that they are increasingly being integrated into traditional academic units. Both undergraduate and graduate degree programs have increased and most are housed in an academic department. The content of degree programs is shifting from collective bargaining to human resources management.     

Tenancy Databases,Professional Practices and Housing Access among Low‐Income Tenants in the Private Rental Sector in Australia

This essay addresses the impacts of electronic tenancy databases upon social relations in the field of private rental tenancy in Australia. Insights arise from research carried out, in 2002–3, in the eastern, mainland states of Australia that included interviews with tenants and property managers in the private rental sector. Property managers viewed tenancy databases as a tool for efficient, effective and professional risk management, and ‘professional’ practice was held to render misconduct or improper listings extremely unlikely. In this context, tenants were individualized and expected to actively work to construct, maintain and document their reputation as a ‘good tenant’. For tenants, tenancy databases could have a particular, definitive effect. ‘Not being listed’ (along with getting a full rental bond refund, references from previous landlords, and so on) is an indicator that helps build a satisfactory, personal rental history. On the other hand, being ‘listed’ is read as a prime indicator of risk and effectively overriding other aspects of a tenant’s application for tenancy. ‘Listed’ tenants find themselves being forced to shift further and further away from the formal rental market and ultimately into insecure and inappropriate housing arrangements at the periphery.     

ALTERNATIVE BID VARIABLES AS INSTRUMENTS OF OCS LEASING POLICY

Prior to 1979, a cash bonus was used almost exclusively as the bid variable at outer continental shelf (OCS) lease auctions. Criticisms of the cash bonus as a bid variable led to the OCS Lands Act Amendments of 1978 which stipulated that alternative bid variables be employed on a portion of the leases issued over a five-year trial period. The alternative bid variables include net profit share, royalty rate, and work commitment
Each of these bid variables is analyzed to determine the extent to which it (a) promotes economic efficiency, (b) returns fair market value to the government, (c) identifies and selects the most efficient firm to operate the lease, (d) promotes optimal risk sharing between the lessee and the government, and (e) minimizes administrative costs
This analysis has led the authors to conclude that while no bid variable is perfect, the traditional cash bonus is preferred