More than jobs, inflation, security or disputation, the Coalition’s just-released policy on industrial relations claims to be about productivity.
The policy is replete with over 30 references to “productivity…
We agree Australia’s productivity has to improve: plotting the trajectory from the macro to the micro will be big future themes of debate in the coming year.
AAP
Amid the emerging decline in Australia’s terms of trade and drop in commodity prices, there is general consensus among most commentators that improving Australia’s productivity is critical.
Looking back…
Three recent reports into productivity highlight differing issues but agree that targeting industrial reform is not the key to lifting outputs.
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The Australian Government’s recently released white paper on Australia in the Asian Century identified productivity as one of five key areas for action, at a time when we are engaged in a major national…
There is little evidence to support the belief that Australia’s productivity declines are linked to the need for labour market reform.
AAP
It is not easy to devise a solution to Australia’s productivity slowdown when a shared understanding of the problem is so elusive.
While there is recognition among policy-makers that productivity is a…
The Asian Century will present Australia with economic opportunities, as well as significant challenges.
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By 2025, Asia will account for nearly half of world output. Even under conservative growth scenarios, three out of the world’s five largest economies will be in Asia.
By the same year, income per person…
Industry partnerships can be critical to research outcomes and a country’s productivity.
Flickr/RMTip21
Uncertainty over research funding will cost jobs, hurt productivity and threaten the government’s plans to promote better linkages between industry and research, say sector leaders.
The Australian Research…
There are vast opportunities for firms to improve productivity at the enterprise level.
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Commentators are urging government and others to do whatever they can to improve productivity in Australia because it is a key driver of prosperity, living standards and national wealth. While recent reports…
Confronted with poor productivity growth and middling economic performance, it’s time for Australia’s managers to step up their game and skill up.
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As Australian economists and thought leaders continue to ponder what will happen when the resources boom ends, declining productivity levels are causing alarm.
According to the global survey by the Economist…
A poor report card on Australia’s productivity carried some obvious flaws.
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This week’s global report ranking Australia’s productivity growth performance second-last on a list of 51 countries raised eyebrows and prompted calls for urgent action.
The Australian Human Resources…
If the government is serious about maintaining its economic prosperity into the future, it needs to address Australia’s historically poor productivity growth.
Ann Douglas
The majority of Australians would prefer higher living standards. This can take the form of better access to better healthcare services and education, better environmental outcomes, more time for friends…
There is no feasible set of adjustments around labour reform or productivity enhancements that will offset the loss of international competitiveness being experienced by the non-resources sector.
A new approach to tackling the structural effects of Australia’s record terms of trade on non-mining industries is needed from both business and government, argues one of Australia’s most eminent economists…
Robert F Kennedy thought it a mistake to equate success with what we produce.
RFK Wharehouse
Economists are regularly criticised for worrying about gross domestic product (GDP) and similar measures. The classic statement of the case was by Robert F Kennedy:
“Too much and too long, we seem to…
Investing in research and innovation could pay handsome dividends for a cashed-up superannuation industry.
Flickr/Truthout
Superannuation funds typically invest in the market – ASX 200 companies, property, cash and bonds. These are attractive for several reasons. Management costs are relatively low, the assets are objectively…
Increasing workforce participation of women and older people could increase Australia’s GDP by $50 billion.
AAP
If Australian governments are serious about raising rates of economic growth, they must reform the tax mix and increase the workforce participation rates of women and older people. Each of these reforms…
Australia’s global competitiveness has slipped, according to a global study: but it is worth exploring some of its assumptions.
AAP
The IMD World Competitiveness Rankings released this week are worth reflecting on, not so much because of the relative positioning of various countries – including Australia – but rather because of the…
Young men with mental health problems take an average of 9.5 extra days off work each year.
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Mental illness in young men costs the Australian economy $3.27bn a year in lost productivity, according to a report released today by the Inspire Foundation and Ernst & Young.
The report, titled Counting…
Coming to grips with the causes of dropping productivity isn’t helped by misleading reporting.
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“A third of workers waste quarter of their day” – Herald Sun. “Wasted work time costs billions a year” – The Age.
Judging from these headlines, you would think Australian workers are chronic time wasters…
Are we agile and resilient enough to deal with a “hard landing” in China and a double dip global recession?
AAP
In Perth last October, New York University’s Professor Nouriel Roubini issued a dire warning to the business forum of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting that Australia faced the threat of a…
Improving the transparency and evaluation of major infrastructure projects is one way to increase productivity.
AAP
Productivity growth results in more valued output per unit of production input, or the same output for fewer inputs. Growth of productivity requires changes involving the adoption of new technology, better…
Graeme Samuel and Stephen King: two of Australia’s most senior regulators sit down together for The Conversation.
What happens when two of Australia’s best known former competition regulators sit down together and talk about the world?
A wide-ranging discussion on the state of Australia’s political debate, xenophobia…
Strong past productivity performance is not the best indicator of current performance.
AAP
As the Commissioners of the Fair Work Act Review work their way through the mountain of submissions, one of the most critical aspects they will be called on to consider is the relationship between labour…
The future of Australia’s manufacturing sector will be the focus of today’s Jobs Summit.
AAP
Hot on the heels of the Tax Forum in Canberra is today’s Jobs Summit, which is expected to concentrate on the pressing issues facing manufacturing.
Dean of UTS Business School Professor Roy Green, who…
Tony Abbott has tough decisions to make on workplace reform before the next election.
AAP
In one of the most significant moments of the 2010 federal election campaign, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott declared the Coalition’s unpopular WorkChoices policy “dead, buried, cremated.”
In an interview…
Record terms of trade have masked dropping productivity growth – until now.
AAP
What is to be done about Australia’s deteriorating productivity performance?
It’s by no means inconceivable that the answer to this question could be “nothing”.
Historical precedent strongly suggests…
Cutting penalty rates and reviving individual workplace agreements will have no impact on productivity.
AAP
Business leaders are insisting changes be made to the Fair Work Act to boost productivity.
Retailers apparently face a crisis because of penalty rates, and an MP agrees that penalty rates stymie productivity…
Expansion is behind a transitory decline in the mining sector productivity growth: but what’s the picture for other sectors?
AAP
Official explanations of the deterioration in Australia’s productivity growth have tended to emphasise the especially sharp declines in three sectors – agriculture, mining, and utilities (such as electricity…
Don Argus’s focus on industrial relations overlooks the real issues behind slowing productivity growth.
AAP
Former BHP Billiton Chairman Don Argus has blamed inflexible industrial relations laws for Australia’s lagging productivity, describing the Gillard Government’s economic reform agenda as “lazy”.
Argus…
Investment in Australia’s ports is one obvious priority to enhance growth – but let’s broaden our outlook.
There has been much debate in the popular and political discourse on the state of our national infrastructure.
The general consensus, despite Victoria’s Baillieu government’s failure to put forth any…
Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson has said boosting Australia’s productivity is essential.
AAP
In his address to the Economic and Social Outlook Conference last week, Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson called for a renewed focus on boosting Australia’s falling productivity to ensure living standards…
Fixing Australia’s infrastructure policy regime will be a long, bumpy road.
AAP
Australia’s ability to provide appropriate infrastructure for the future remains under question, despite changes to Infrastructure Australia’s role announced in the 2011 Federal Budget.
The budget has…
Turning off the taps means we spend less, but is that bad?
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The Productivity Commission’s recent report on Australia’s urban water sector sets out the economic case for reform. One reform they suggest: remove water conservation measures.
In Melbourne, most people…
Significant: Ken Henry’s tax review deserves to be on the national agenda.
AAP
The Henry Review released in May last year provided the Commonwealth and state governments with a wealth of good ideas for reform, yet so far the political processes have failed to deliver reforms.
Why…
Recent reports that the Queensland government may build its $2B Sunshine Coast hospital by using a public-private partnership appear to indicate a continuing love affair with this form of funding.
State…
In recent years productivity growth in Australia has been in alarming decline.
A series of government reports have identified some of the causes: infrastructure and skills inadequacies, bottlenecks and…
