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Exploring Skill Ecosystems in the Australian Meat Processing Industry: Unions, Employers and Institutional Change

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Listed:
  • Richard Cooney
  • Marjorie Jerrard
  • Ross Donohue
  • Nell Kimberley

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of the skill ecosystem in the context of the network oriented literature on learning and skill acquisition. Three critical features of skill ecosystems are identified and then applied to an analysis of the abattoir sector of the Australian meat processing industry. The analysis highlights the important role of the employee union in the skill ecosystem, including maintaining a flow of new entrants into the sector. The article then examines the impact of major institutional change, through the deregulation of industrial relations, on the ecosystem. It concludes by discussing the applicability of the skill ecosystem concept to a mature, low-skill industry such as meat processing and then draws some conclusions about the limitations of the skill ecosystem concept itself.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Cooney & Marjorie Jerrard & Ross Donohue & Nell Kimberley, 2010. "Exploring Skill Ecosystems in the Australian Meat Processing Industry: Unions, Employers and Institutional Change," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 21(2), pages 121-138, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:21:y:2010:i:2:p:121-138
    DOI: 10.1177/103530461002100208
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Finegold, David, 1999. "Creating Self-Sustaining, High-Skill Ecosystems," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 15(1), pages 60-81, Spring.
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