My lecture is about the needs of the low paid as a criterion in wage determination. I am concerned about the meaning given to needs and the manner in which they affect wage outcomes. The central issue is this. Does a regard for the needs of the low paid lead simply to an endeavour to maintain...

Before the 1920s, Australian economics was virtually non-existent; but in the twenty years before World War II there was a conspicuous growth in the body of professional economists, located mainly in the universities. The system of wage fixation caught the attention of some of them. The paper...

The logic of human capital theory implies that the present values of lifetime earnings are computed using the discount rate applied by individuals when making their labor market choices. Further, inequalities will appear when higher or lower discount rates are applied. Our empirical tests...