SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF ENTERPRISE BARGAINING: DISCUSSANT'S COMMENTS

Abstract

The perennial $64m question of Australian Labour Economics: How to identify the effect of institutions on labour market outcomes? The complexity of the Australian industrial relations system, the lack of data allowing workers to be matched to the institutional arrangements under which they are working, and the difficulty of distinguishing the effects of institutions from other determinants of labour market outcomes - All these factors have contributed to there being a relatively limited empirical literature in Australia compared to other countries on topics such as the effects of labour market institutions on wages, employment or productivity.