Australia has experienced a varied track record on unemployment. For the third quarter of the 20th century unemployment averaged 2.0 per cent. This is bracketed by average unemployment rates of 8.6 and 7.4 per cent in the second and fourth quarter centuries. Explanations of this phenomenon vary....

This paper examines the prospects for Australia meeting the Governments target to bring unemployment down to 5 per cent by the year 2000. Particular attention is paid to the effect of the business cycle on unemployment.

Evidence from a survey of 1800 small and medium sized businesses is assembled to provide estimates of the effect on employment of unfair dismissal laws. The report also provides a discussion of the evidence on the welfare effects of unfair dismissal laws.

Theory cannot provide an unambiguous prediction regarding the economic effects of employment protection laws. Such laws confer benefits on employees and shift the labour supply curve to the right. But they also impose costs on business and therefore shift the labour demand curve to the left. The...