Robert Gregory

Bio: Robert Gregory is an academic researcher from Australian National University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Unemployment & Welfare. The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 73 publications receiving 2960 citations. Previous affiliations of Robert Gregory include Institute for the Study of Labor.

Recent developments in public sector labor markets

Abstract: This chapter reviews recent developments in research on public sector labor markets Public sector labor markets have two important characteristics which account for the interest in their operation First, public sector labor markets are large -- in most developed countries the public sector workforce accounts for over 15% of total employment Second, public sector labor markets are different from private sector labor markets Most importantly, politicians or bureaucrats may have objectives which differ from those of the owners of private sector firms; and the political system can allow scope for achieving those objectives where a market system would not The introductory sections of the chapter present a simple conceptual framework for thinking about the operation of public sector labor markets, and background information on a range of key characteristics of public sector labor markets such as union structure and the institutional environment for wage bargaining The main sections summarize a variety of research relating to earnings and employment outcomes in public sector labor markets First, studies which compare average earnings outcomes of public sector and private sector employees in a range of countries are reviewed Second, studies of the determinants of earnings of local government employees in the United States are described Third, various information on the earnings structure and distribution of earnings in the public sector and private sector is presented Fourth, studies of the level and composition of public sector employment are summarized A concluding section presents an overview of the main findings and themes from research on public sector labor markets, and suggests topics for future research

Intermarriage and the economic assimilation of immigrants

Abstract: This article investigates the assimilation role of intermarriage between immigrants and natives. Intermarried immigrants earn significantly higher incomes than endogamously married immigrants, even after we take account of human capital endowments and endogeneity of intermarriage. The premium does not appear to be a reward for unobservable individual characteristics. Natives who intermarry do not receive this premium, nor do immigrants who intermarry into another ethnic group. The premium is mainly attributable to a faster speed of assimilation rather than any difference in labor‐market quality between intermarried and nonintermarried immigrants at the point of arrival.

Some implications of the growth of the mineral sector

Abstract: The rapid growth of Australian mineral exports, through its effect on the balance of payments, is a significant force for structural change in other sectors. From the viewpoint of the rural sector which exports and the manufacturing sector which competes with imports, this force will be similar to that which would flow from very large tariff changes. Consequently, by observing the adjustments of the rural and manufacturing sectors to the rapid growth of mineral exports, it is possible to calculate indirect estimates of the effect of the Australian tariff on them. It is calculated that the mineral discoveries have had a much greater effect on these sectors than the recent across the board 25 per cent general reduction of tariffs.

Poverty, Inequality, and Growth in Urban China, 1986-2000

Abstract: Although urban China has experienced spectacular income growth over the last two decades, increases in inequality, reduction in social welfare provision, deregulation of grain prices, and increases in income uncertainty in the 1990s have increased urban poverty. Using a large repeated cross-section household survey data from 1986 to 2000, this study maps out the change in income, inequality, and poverty over the 15 year period and investigates the determinants of poverty. It is found that the increase in the poverty rate in the 1990s is associated with the increase in the relative food price, and the need to spend on education, housing and medical care which were previously paid by the state. In addition, the increase in the saving rate of the poor due to an increase in income uncertainty contributes significantly to the increase in poverty measured in terms of expenditure. Even though income growth reduces poverty, the radical reform measures implemented in the 1990s have sufficiently offset this gain that urban poverty is higher in 2000 than in 1986.

Booming Sector and De-Industrialisation in a Small Open Economy

Abstract: This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the 'Dutch Disease': the phenomenon whereby a boom in one traded goods sector squeezes porfitability in other traded goods sectors, both by directly bi ...

Death and dying

Abstract: Death is the new sex, last great taboo in Western society and Western medicine, as Richard Smith discusses in his editorial (p 129). In the trinity of births, marriages, and deaths, only death does not have glossy magazines devoted to stylish consumption at the attendant ceremonies. On the web, of course, …

Booming sector and dutch disease economics: survey and consolidation

Abstract: THIS paper aims to consolidate a growing literature on booming sector economics and the Dutch Disease. The term Dutch Disease refers to the adverse effects on Dutch manufacturing of the natural gas discoveries of the nineteen sixties, essentially through the subsequent appreciation of the Dutch real exchange rate.' The paper is also intended to fill some theoretical gaps, notably in sections 5 (immigration), 6 (endogenous terms of trade effects), 7 (domestic absorption) and 10 (dynamics). The issues have been widely discussed in many countries, notably the oil exporters. The key article in the British discussion on the effects of North Sea oil is Forsyth and Kay (1980).2 Booming Sector models can also illuminate many historical episodes where there have been sectoral booms, with adverse general equilibrium effects on other sectors. Thus there is wide scope for application in economic history. For example, Forsyth and Nicholas (1983) have interpreted the consequences on Spanish industry of the inflow of American treasure in the sixteenth century in Dutch Disease terms. Cairnes (1859) recognised that the gold discoveries in Australia in the eighteen fifties had Dutch Disease effects on some Australian industries, and this episode has recently been studied in Maddock and McLean (1983).

Understanding International Differences in the Gender Pay Gap

Abstract: This paper tests the hypotheses that overall wage compression and low female supply relative to demand reduce a country's gender pay gap. Using micro-data for 22 countries over the 1985-94 period, we find that more compressed male wage structures and lower female net supply are both associated with a lower gender pay gap. Since it is likely that labor market institutions are responsible for an important portion of international differences in wage inequality, the inverse relationship between the gender pay gap and male wage inequality suggests that wage-setting mechanisms, such as encompassing collective bargaining agreements, that provide for relatively high wage floors raise the relative pay of women, who tend to be at the bottom of the wage distribution. Consistent with this view, we find that the extent of collective bargaining coverage in each country is significantly negatively associated with its gender pay gap. Moreover, the effect of pay structures on the gender pay gap is quantitatively very important: a large part of the difference in the gender differential between high gap and low gap countries is explained by the differences across these countries in overall wage structure, with another potentially important segment due to differences in female net supply.