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Discrimination, Peformance and Career Progression in Australian Public Sector Labor Markets

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Author Info
Chris Doucouliagos () (Deakin University)
Phillip Hone
Mehmet Ulubasoglu () (Deakin University)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

While promotion is an important mechanism for allocating labor within organizations, relatively little is known about the determinants of promotion in the highly diverse and traditionally heavily regulated Australian labor markets. This study uses unique data from the Victorian Public Sector Census 2004 to identify the extent and nature of bias in the promotion process. Specifically, we use the promotion histories of 16,675 public sector employees to investigate the existence of discrimination in promotion on the basis of gender, disability and cultural diversity. We find that some differences exist in the rate of promotion on the basis of gender, and to a lesser extent, of birthplace, but, importantly, most of these are due to differences in endowments. There are effectively no differences in promotion on the basis of disability. We find that the main driver of promotion in Victorian public sector labor markets is worker effort and performance. Compared to labor markets elsewhere, the Australian public sector is relatively free of discrimination in promotions.

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File URL: http://www.deakin.edu.au/buslaw/aef/workingpapers/papers/2006-07eco.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Deakin University, Faculty of Business and Law, School of Accounting, Economics and Finance in its series Economics Series with number 2006_07.

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Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: 23 Oct 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:dkn:econwp:eco_2006_07

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Related research
Keywords: labor markets; discrimination; public sector; promotion; career progression;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

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