Title: The social wage and the Accord in Australia

Authors: Warren Pat Hogan, Susan Elizabeth King

Addresses: University of Technology Sydney, Australia. ' University of Sydney, Australia

Abstract: This paper provides an appraisal of the Social Wage aspects of the wages and incomes policies pursued in Australia between 1983 and 1996, when wage fixing arrangements were known as the Accord, being descriptive of consensus between Government, Labor and Business. The Accord is shown to have been effective in redistributing income between households, but not to the household sector. These conclusions are contradicted by National Accounts showing strong real growth over the Accord period. Official income measures are analysed to validate the appraisal. The appraisal is timely given current Maastricht discussions on social implications of wages and incomes policies.

Keywords: Australia; social wage; wage fixing; income redistribution; income measures; wages policy; incomes policy; economic management; economic policy.

DOI: 10.1504/GBER.1999.006138

Global Business and Economics Review, 1999 Vol.1 No.1, pp.93 - 107

Published online: 07 Feb 2005 *

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