 The market for skilled labour and the trade cyclePhil Lewis International Journal of Economics and Business Research, 2011, vol. 3, issue 4, 468-477 Abstract: Although experiencing trade cycles, Australia is almost unique in maintaining 20 years of positive economic growth and has survived the global financial crisis relatively unscathed. The economic boom concentrated attention on skill shortages in Australia and their role in preventing the economy from reaching its full potential level of output and putting pressure on inflation. Economic growth, structural change and technological change have had important effects on skills mix. This paper concentrates on the extent to which the market for skilled labour has adjusted to changed economic conditions. It uses unique data covering different stages of the business cycle from 1991, the middle of a recession; 1996, the recovery; 2001, the boom; and 2006, severe skill shortages. In particular, the impact on different dimensions of skills mix and the role of earnings are examined. The analysis is of general interest since the findings shed light on, more generally, how labour markets work. Keywords: Australia; labour markets; trade cycles; rates of return; skilled labour; economic growth; global crises; financial crises; economic booms; skill shortages; economic output; inflation; structural change; technological change; skills mix; business cycles; earnings; economics; business research. (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijecbr:v:3:y:2011:i:4:p:468-477 Access Statistics for this article More articles in International Journal of Economics and Business Research from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.