Examining Perceptions of and Preferences for Different Wage Systems: A Joint Space Approach

Wage systems have an significant impact on the community and, over the years, a variety of wage policies have been used in Australia. The basic attitudes of political parties, the union movement and employer organisations are well known but public opinion has not been extensively probed. A sample of adults in Perth, Western Australia was asked a series of questions about five wage policies. Joint mapping procedures were used to explore the cognitive dimensions by which people evaluated such policies and the preferences they had towards them. The results obtained are outlined and discussed.