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Was there a Skills Shortage in Australia?

Author

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  • Junankar, Pramod N. (Raja)

    (University of New South Wales)

Abstract

The paper analyses the problem of a "skills shortage" in Australia. It begins with an analysis of the operation of a labour market in terms of stocks and flows of labour services and human capital acquisition. It discusses the definition of a skills shortage, why it persists, and then looks at evidence from Australia, in particular, the resource rich states of Queensland and Western Australia over the past decade. It discusses possible employer responses to a skills shortage. Finally, it discusses whether the government should intervene, and if so what policies may help to relieve a skills shortage.

Suggested Citation

  • Junankar, Pramod N. (Raja), 2009. "Was there a Skills Shortage in Australia?," IZA Discussion Papers 4651, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4651
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp4651.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Derby Voon & Paul W. Miller, 2005. "Undereducation and Overeducation in the Australian Labour Market," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(s1), pages 22-33, August.
    2. Francis Green & Stephen Machin & David Wilkinson, 1998. "The Meaning and Determinants of Skills Shortages," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(2), pages 165-187, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kishor Sharma & Edward Oczkowski & John Hicks, 2017. "Skill Shortages in Regional New South Wales: The Case of the Riverina," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 36(1), pages 3-16, March.
    2. Horbach, Jens, 2014. "Determinants of labor shortage - with particular focus on the German environmental sector," IAB-Discussion Paper 201422, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    3. Nik Dawson & Marian-Andrei Rizoiu & Benjamin Johnston & Mary-Anne Williams, 2020. "Predicting Skill Shortages in Labor Markets: A Machine Learning Approach," Papers 2004.01311, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2020.
    4. Sharma, Kishor & Oczkowski, Edward & Hicks, John, 2016. "Skill shortages in regional Australia: A local perspective from the Riverina," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 34-44.
    5. Horbach, Jens & Rammer, Christian, 2020. "Labor shortage and innovation," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-009, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    skill shortages; wage adjustments; migrants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy

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