In this paper we examine the nature of disparities in regional (state) unemployment rates in Australia over the period 1978-99 and their relationship to the national unemployment rate. Using co-integration analysis, we find that there is a negative relationship between the two implying that, as...

This paper draws attention to the innovative but neglected work of Hans Singer on the dynamics of unemployment. Influenced by Keynes, in the late 1930s Singer enquired into the relationship between the inflow into unemployment--resulting primarily from (involuntary) separations from...

Students are interested in lecture examples and class exercises involving data connected to the maiden voyage and the sinking of the liner Titanic. Information on the passengers and their fate can be used to explore relationships between various tests for differences in survival rates between...

An important issue in the analysis of regional unemployment is whether movements in regional unemployment rates reflect the impact of region-specific shocks or shocks affecting the entire economy. Previous studies have examined this problem by considering how the regional rates move in relation...

The paper seeks to 'explain' certain stylised facts in relation to flows into and out of Unemployment and especiaIly to identify the 'proximate' determinants of the amplitude and the frequency of fluctuations in the Unemployment Rate over the course of the business cycle. Since the evolution of...

In this paper we examine the volatility of aggregate output and employment in Australia with the aid of a frequency filtering method (the Butterworth filter) that allows each time series to be decomposed into trend, cycle and noise components. This analysis is compared with more traditional...

In this paper we deal with five related questions. What are the 'stylised facts'about the behaviour of flows into and out of unemployment and the Unemployment Rate in Australia, especially in recessions? Why does the number of persons flowing out of Unemployment (including the number flowing...

This paper examines the manner in which labour services are modelled in the aggregate production function, concentrating on the relationship between numbers employed and average hours worked. It argues that numbers employed and hours worked are not perfect substitutes and that conventional...

While it is correct to say that Carlyle first applied the exact phrase “dismal science” to political economy in his 1849 article on plantation labour in the West Indies, I argue that Carlyle came to the view that political economy was “dismal” well before that time. Indeed, his negative...

Students are very interested in lecture examples and class exercises involving data connected to the maiden voyage and the sinking of the liner Titanic. Information on the passengers and their fate can be used to explore relationships between various tests for differences in survival rates...