Economics - Theses
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ItemEducation: tests of whether it enhances productivity or merely conveys information on individual productivity in the labour market( 2001-04)Human capital and screening theories of the role of education in the labour market have similar predictions about individual behaviour and labour market outcomes. This makes it difficult to test between the theories. Nevertheless, the task of doing so is important since the social return to education is likely to be small unless education adds to productivity as human capital theory, but not screening theory, assumes. Education may only convey information about likely individual productivity under screening. It serves this function because individual productivity is difficult for employers to observe. In fact, there is very little evidence from existing tests of the theories that education does not add to productivity. However, few of the tests that have been undertaken between the theories are convincing. The three empirical chapters of this thesis contain tests of some aspects of the theories.
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ItemMarket orientation and business performance: empirical evidence from Thailand( 2001)This thesis studies the business performance of Thai firms in both domestic and export markets by using the market orientation theoretical framework to explain why some firms are more successful than others. It also investigates how firms become more market-oriented and whether the relationship between market orientation and business performance is moderated by business environment.
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ItemHow do organisations align human resource management with information technology: an exploratory study of four Australian firms( 2003)While there is significant evidence to suggest that the alignment of Human Resources (HR) and Information Technology (IT) has a positive impact on firm performance, there is little discussion on how to achieve alignment. Literature in both the HR and IT disciplines provides confirmation of the need to identify and address the people management issues in order to realise the expected returns from IT investments. This research will contribute to these discussions with insights into how an organisation with alignment between IT and HR might appear, who should be responsible for the alignment, and how enabling and inhibiting factors impact the alignment process. The Reich & Benbasat (2000) model of social alignment distinguishes between intellectual planning intentions and executives' understanding of the implications and actions required to implement those intentions. The latter, defined as social alignment provided a useful lens through which to examine the alignment between HR and IT. The social alignment framework, originally designed to investigate executives' understanding of the alignment between IT and business strategies, has been adapted and extended to provide a useful tool to analyse the relationship between IT and HR. Four Australian firms were examined using case study methodology in order to gather and analyse the richness of the data in a field with little prior research. Findings support the view that shared domain knowledge and history of IT and HR implementation success impact on the communication and planning activities that ultimately determine levels of social alignment. Executives interviewed understood that alignment between HR and IT was important to achieving the firm’s strategic goals. Examples were identified and discussed where lack of attention to the IT/HR relationship resulted in outcomes that fell short of expectations. Shared domain knowledge of the business and the IT and HR function, was likely to have a significant impact on the communication and planning connections between the HR manager and the CIO. Similarly, past experiences of working together either in general business projects or in function specific projects such as the HRIS affected the willingness of the HR manager and CIO to collaborate. Management of the alignment process by line or project executives was likely to limit people management considerations to short term implementation issues without reference to longer term strategic directions. As a result of this research the social alignment model has been adapted to provide a valuable tool for the assessment of the alignment process between HR and IT in firms. Two additional factors have been added: responsibility and accountability, and power and influence as contributing factors that are important for management to understand so that they might develop and enhance strategic communication and connections between HR and IT.
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ItemInitial capital and margins required to secure a Japanese life insurance policy portfolio under stochastic interest rates( 2002-09)During the last decade several Japanese life insurance companies failed mainly due to interest losses. In fact, interest rate risk dominates mortality risk for a portfolio of business in force. When the interest rates are modelled as random variables, the yields on bonds are the sum of expected short spot rates and a risk premium for random bond prices. However, in our study, we assume a risk-neutral environment, i.e. zero risk premiums. As tools to deal with stochastic interest rates, various interest rate term structure models are considered. The Vasicek model, the Heath-Jarrow-Morton (hereafter “HJM”) approach and Cairns’ model are explained in detail. The history and nature of the very low interest rate environment in Japan is described in line with the monetary policy framework of the central bank. An unusual interest rate movement in the very low interest rate environment is identified. A modified HJM approach and Cairns’ model are chosen in our study. Cairns’ model is used to graduate the initial yield curve. The HJM approach with a specific volatility function and modified to deal with very low interest rates is used for simulating subsequent developments of the initial yield curve. After the introduction of various concepts needed to investigate a life insurance policy portfolio, we prepare for simulation by collecting information and by fitting parameters to market observations. The Yen swap curve is chosen as a base yield curve. The simulation results show how much initial capital and/or margins are needed in order to avoid the ruin of a portfolio.
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ItemDoes size matter?: employment relations in small firms( 2000-12)In this thesis an integrated approach to analysing small In this thesis an integrated approach to analysing small firm employment relations is proposed and used to investigate the image of industrial harmony in small firms. This approach accommodates small firm heterogeneity, provides an analytical framework for ordering the effect of a range of factors (not simply size) on employment relations, and incorporates a dialectical relationship between structure and agency. In Chapters 2 and 3 some of the key theoretical and methodological gaps in small firm research, particularly their employment relations, are highlighted. At the conclusion of Chapter 2, it is suggested that an analysis of small firm employment relations must start with the totality of economic and social relations in a particular sector, and its contradictory constituents, rather than the small firm per se. Rainnie’s (1989) heuristic device, drawing upon Marxist theory of combined and uneven development, is adopted to accommodate small firm heterogeneity. After reviewing studies of small firm industrial relations and human resource management, it is argued, in Chapter 3, that by incorporating the dialectical relationship between structure and agency with a labour process analysis, an explanation for why ‘industrial harmony’ appears to typify small firm employment relations can be sought. As such the integrated approach is applied to small firms operating in the software development sector of the information industry. In Chapter 4, some characteristics of the information industry in Australia are outlined in order to provide a context and rationale for more specifically focussing (in Chapter 5) on the nature of software development work, its organisation, and the strategies used to manage employment relations. A consideration is given to issues surrounding the management of software developers, while the distinction between primary and secondary software products is used to elaborate the contradictory trends in strategies to control the software development labour process. The critical social science basis of this integrated approach is discussed in Chapter 6, while the rationale for using multiple, complementary, quantitative and qualitative research methods is also elaborated. In Chapter 7, the structures within which employment relations are managed in the information industry are outlined using the results of a survey (N = 206). Where possible the data are analysed to draw out the effects of size, ownership characteristics, product market conditions and management style on the management of employment relations. Chapters 8 and 9 contain the detailed case studies of two small software development firms. In both cases, structure and agency are addressed and therefore the firm's development, product and labour market positions, type of work performed and by whom, how employment relations are managed and the workers' response are all explored. These two firms offer a number of points for comparison and contrast and in Chapter l0 a cross case analysis is conducted. Findings from this study are compared with others and future avenues for inquiry are suggested, while implications of the approach and findings for future small firm employment relations policy and research are addressed.
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ItemA Chinese legal journal in transition( 2005-11)In this thesis I examine the popular Chinese legal magazine Woodpecker, which has been published since 1981. Woodpecker combines crime and police fiction with factual accounts of current legal cases and issues. Woodpecker’s long history has meant that it has undergone a number of major changes. I argue that Woodpecker has made these changes in response to the increasingly competitive media market in China, but that at the same time it is also trying to maintain its traditional target audience. I argue further that these changes reflect the changing perceptions of law and rights in modern China. I begin by describing the political, economic and social context in which Woodpecker emerged. It began as a way of raising consciousness of the socialist legal and policing system as it developed during the reform period: at the same time, it reflected a wave of interest in culture and literature. Woodpecker started its life as a literary publication, but it has become less focused on fiction and more on factual articles aimed at the general public. The change to a bi-monthly publication at the start of 2004 exemplifies this. I argue that this transition has occurred both because of the changes in economic climate (where the Chinese media has expanded, and publications are expected to make profits), and because of the public’s decreasing interest in matters cultural. (For complete abstract open the document)
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ItemOne and many: a comparative study of Plato's philosophy and Daoism represented by Ge Hong( 2006-07)The “one-many” problem is ontological rather than logical. The thesis is a dialogue between thinkers who never met, investigating the question of what reality fundamentally is in the context of change. Textual studies distinguishing Ge Hong’s relational ontology from Platonic causational ontology lead to the conclusion that Daoist cosmogony, moving “from nothing into being” offers an evolutionary solution to Plato’s problem of change “from being to becoming”.
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ItemForeign Direct Investment in Australia: determinants and consequences( 2005-12)Increased globalisation over the last two decades has led to strong growth of international business activity and FDI. Despite the considerable amount of research that has been undertaken to analyse the determinants and consequences of FDI, Australia represents a country with a substantial share of foreign ownership whose FDI experience has been largely overlooked in terms of a comprehensive economic analysis. Not only has Australia received a large amount of foreign investment so far, it is also competing for more FDI. Invest Australia, Australia’s national inward investment agency, is actively promoting Australia as a location for FDI, claiming that foreign investment has made a major contribution to Australia’s economic growth and living standards of all Australians. Instantly, two key issues arise. Firstly, assuming that FDI has positive effects, what causes the inflow of FDI, i.e. what are the determinants of FDI in Australia? Secondly, given the inflow of FDI, what is its actual effect on the Australian economy, i.e. what are the consequences of FDI in Australia? In order to analyse those questions, new and previously unused data on FDI inflows in Australia were explored by applying time-series and panel-data analysis. The time period ranges from 1981 to 2002, with differing coverage for the individual samples. A further contribution of the thesis is the search for new FDI data, bringing together and analysing datasets provided by the ABS and other statistical agencies (from the US, the UK, Japan and Germany). A detailed description of Australian FDI data was given to gain a better understanding of the Australian FDI experience and because no such comprehensive summary has been available. The first part of the analysis focused on the determinants of FDI. Determinants of FDI according to different theoretical models were discussed and tested using five types of datasets: aggregate quarterly data, country-specific annual data, industry-specific annual data, country- and industry-specific data (from the US, the UK, Japan and Germany and US) and US form-specific data. Australian FDI inflows were found to be driven by economic growth and market size, wages and labour supply (though the signs varied across models), trade and openness (though customs duties encouraged Japanese industry-specific FDI), interest rates, exchange rate appreciation, inflation rate (which had a unexpected positive effect) and the investing country’s overall FDI outflows. Corporate tax rates were only significant in the quarterly FDI model, but they had an unpredicted positive sign. Australian FDI was driven by longer term considerations and its determinants could not be fully explained by any single theory, but a variety of theoretical models. Furthermore investment decisions depend on factors such as investment origin, the industry in which the investment takes place and the form of the investment, making aggregation difficult. The second part of the analysis focused on consequences of FDI. Consequences of FDI according to different theoretical models were discussed and tested using two types of datasets: aggregate quarterly data and industry-specific annual data. FDI inflows had positive effects on economic growth and domestic investment, supporting the Australian government’s view that FDI is a favourable source of capital. However, the claim that FDI is favourable for Australia’s balance of payments position could not be supported by this analysis. FDI led to a reduction in export growth and no direct effect on import growth, though the effect of FDI on GDP growth led to increased import growth. Furthermore, industry-specific FDI in Australia had significant effects on employment growth (negative) and labour productivity growth (positive), while FDI growth had significant effects on real wage growth (negative) and industry concentration (positive). However, effects may differ depending on the FDI form, and Australia should focus more on attracting beneficial FDI (such as export-oriented or import-substituting FDI) rather than FDI in general.
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ItemAnti-Chinese violence in Indonesia, 1996-1999( 2002-10)Anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia reached a climax in Jakarta and elsewhere in May 1998 against a background of dramatic social and political change. This study presents close analysis of selected incidents that occurred mainly in Java in the years prior to this and in its aftermath. It tests explanations of anti-Chinese violence based on economic resentment, religious difference or state-sponsorship. By highlighting ethnicity as the single constant, as well as the importance of locating agency and responsibility, and the sources of representations of events of mass violence, the study challenges existing understandings of “anti-Chinese” violence. The approach taken recognises that violence against ethnic Chinese Indonesians must be viewed within the context of Indonesian nationalism and alongside other violence in Indonesia. It cannot be separated from the national political, social and economic turmoil of that time. In addition, it emphasises the competing representations of “Chineseness” and anti-Chinese violence for what they reveal about the motives behind certain explanations of violence and the events themselves. Of central significance is the way in which anti-Chinese violence is represented and perceived in Indonesian society as normal, natural and everyday. This study stresses the importance of listening to the voices of victims of violence and seeks to recognise the moral concerns related to scholarly and “official” generalisations about violence and suffering in particular. Framed in this way this approach poses the fundamental question, “Is there anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia?”
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ItemWork timing arrangements in Australia in the 1990s: evidence from the Australian Time Use Survey( 2004-01)The timing of work over the day or week is fundamental to the nature of paid work and the interaction between work and leisure. However, due to data limitations, little research has been done on the timing of work in Australia. The Australian Time Use Survey, conducted nationally by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 1992 and 1997, provides a unique opportunity to examine actual work timing arrangements in the Australian workforce. (For complete abstract open document)