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Can Income Policies Reduce Real Wages? Micro-Evidence from the 1931 Australian Award Wage Cut

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Author Info
Andrew Seltzer () (Department of Economics, Royal Holloway, University of London)

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Abstract

Wages in Australia have long been set by government tribunals. Although the system may create microeconomic inefficiency, it also may facilitate incomes policies, such as the 10 percent wage cut in 1931. This paper uses records from early to mid-career employees of the Union Bank of Australia to examine the effectiveness of the award wage cut. It is shown that bank responded to the cut in the minimum wage scale by increasing the frequency of payments over the minimum rates, and that between 1924-34 tenure-adjusted real wages were essentially constant. Finally, it is hypothesized that the bank maintained a policy of real wage shielding as part of its internal labour market.

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File URL: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/economics/Research/WorkingPapers/pdf/dpe0105.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, Royal Holloway University of London in its series Royal Holloway, University of London: Discussion Papers in Economics with number 01/5.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2001
Date of revision: Dec 2001
Handle: RePEc:hol:holodi:0105

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
N37 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth - - - Africa; Oceania
E64 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Incomes Policy; Price Policy
J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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  1. Baker, George & Gibbs, Michael & Holmstrom, Bengt, 1994. "The Wage Policy of a Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(4), pages 921-55, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Beaudry, Paul & DiNardo, John, 1991. "The Effect of Implicit Contracts on the Movement of Wages over the Business Cycle: Evidence from Micro Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 665-88, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Barry Eichengreen & Tim Hatton, 1988. "Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series 1040, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
  4. Baker, George & Gibbs, Michael & Holmstrom, Bengt, 1994. "The Internal Economics of the Firm: Evidence from Personnel Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(4), pages 881-919, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Seltzer, Andrew J. & Simons, Kenneth L., 2001. "Salaries and Career Opportunities in the Banking Industry: Evidence from the Personnel Records of the Union Bank of Australia," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 195-224, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Peter Kenyon, 1997. "Infrastructure Spending and Unemployment: Government Responsibility for Growth and Jobs," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 30(4), pages 421-432. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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