With the introduction of enterprise bargaining in 1991, decentralised wage determination in Australia was generally expected to widen the gender wage gap (see Chapter 3). However, as discussed in Chapter 4, the research that underlies this expectation is typically based upon aggregated data and suffers from a number of deficiencies. In contrast, this dissertation utilises unit record data from the extensive 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS95) commissioned by the former Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business to test the hypothesis that enterprise bargaining has affected the gender wage gap in Australia. Whilst the passing of four years between 1991 and the time of data collection may not have allowed for the landmark industrial relations change to have worked itself through the labour market, a noteworthy and major feature of AWIRS95 is that it identifies workers and workplaces operating under enterprise bargaining agreements, as well as containing a female/male split of the enterprise bargaining status (see Chapter 5). Along with hourly earnings data derived from AWIRS95, a clear assessment can be made of gender wage gaps for employees under enterprise bargaining and those not employed under enterprise bargaining. The thesis uses OLS earnings regressions to identify the part of any gender wag gap that can be justified by the difference in measured characteristics between males and females, as well as identifying the part that remains unexplained (see Chapter 7). Given the potential that workplace characteristics can affect the integrity of OLS results, a random effects model is also used (see Chapter 8). Interestingly, the OLS and random effects results are virtually identical (see Chapter 9). It needs to be noted that the component of the gender wage gap that is unable to be justified by direct statistical reference to the regression model has been attributed to discrimination in the labour market. However, this is something of a misnomer as the unjustified component also captures the impact of: � model misspecification, including excluded variables; � mismeasurement; and � errors of calculation. 111 Every effort has been made to reduce these effects. Nevertheless, there may be an element of discrimination in the regression model utilised in this thesis that is not discernible through the observable and measurable variables (see Chapter 3). Results of analysis undertaken in this thesis indicate that the gender gap, as well as the unexplained component thereof, are larger for employee data associated with enterprise bargaining than is the case for workers not so employed. Even so, the result is not deemed to be statistically significant, as is further supported by extensive sensitivity testing (see Chapters 7 and 8). Further research is needed to support the posed hypothesis. Nevertheless, the thesis still provides a wide range of interesting outcomes in providing a greater understanding of an observable gender wage gap in Australia, as well as the associated and contributing characteristics of employees and employers. It is in this capacity that the research work recorded in this thesis provides a new level of knowledge and understanding, particularly given the thorough use made of recent microdata and the observed earnings effects of selected variables. As a consequence, the results of this thesis will form a solid foundation upon which further gender wage gap debate, policy formulation and labour economics research can stand.

Existing theories and literature seeking to explain small business reticence to engage in enterprise bargaining, at times adopt a generalised approach which precludes or at least limits their relevance and ability to explain small business choice at the industry and even organisational level. Such explanations cannot be detached from the external contextual framework in which an organisation operates and its own, often unique, strategic corporate response to the environmental influences which are challenging it. Labour flexibility vehicles including bargaining, if chosen to facilitate broader corporate strategies, can thereby, be regarded as functionally dependent upon and interactive with the corporate orientations and objectives of the organisation which in turn are environmentally influenced and shaped. The research principally provides a focused description and analysis of the experiences of Clothingco, a small, up market, vertically integrated clothing manufacturer and retailer, which has undergone various strategic readjustments at the corporate and industrial relations level throughout the 1990s, in response to externally driven pressures. The research presents firm evidence to suggest that Clothingco has selected its labour flexibility mechanisms so that they are consistent with and able to accomodate prevailing corporate strategies and orientations. Its strategic corporate readjustments throughout the 90s, which can be perceived as falling along the continuum of cost minimisation to productivity enhancement, have in particular registered differing choices with respect to labour flexibility vehicle and strategies. In the light of the findings, the research as a preferred labour flexibility vehicle at Clothingco. These are identified as: an increasing corporate focus towards cost minimisation throughout the 1990s, coupled with an inability by management to countenance union intervention in enterprise bargaining procedures. The interaction of both these factors, rendered enterprise bargaining from the point of view of management, both a strategically and industrially inferior labour flexibility vehicle to the use of contract labour. The research's strength lies in these areas which have been highlighted and which can be monitored and tested more comprehensively in future research. / Master of Commerce (Hons)

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This thesis is a case study about the choices and constraints faced by women clerical workers in a labour market where they have very little autonomy in negotiating their pay and conditions of employment. On the one hand, clerical work has developed as a feminised occupation with a history of being low in status and low paid. On the other hand, it is an ideal occupation for women wanting to combine work and family across their life cycle. How these two phenomena impact upon women clerical workers ability to negotiate enterprise agreements is the subject of this thesis. From a theoretical perspective this thesis builds upon Catherine Hakim�s preference theory which explores the choices women clerical workers� make in relation to their work and family lives. Where Hakim�s preference theory focuses on the way in which women use their agency to determine their work and life style choices, this thesis gives equal weighting to the impact of agency and the constraints imposed by external structures such as the availability of part-time work and childcare, as well as the impact of organisational culture. The research data presented was based on face-to-face interviews with forty female clerical workers. The clerical workers ranged in age from 21 to 59 years of age. The respondents were made up of single or partnered women without family responsibilities, women juggling work and family, and women who no longer had dependent children and were approaching retirement. This thesis contends that these clerical workers are ill placed to optimise their conditions of employment under the new industrial regime of enterprise bargaining and individual contracts. Very few of the women were union members and generally they were uninformed about their rights and entitlements.

This thesis is a case study about the choices and constraints faced by women clerical workers in a labour market where they have very little autonomy in negotiating their pay and conditions of employment. On the one hand, clerical work has developed as a feminised occupation with a history of being low in status and low paid. On the other hand, it is an ideal occupation for women wanting to combine work and family across their life cycle. How these two phenomena impact upon women clerical workers ability to negotiate enterprise agreements is the subject of this thesis. From a theoretical perspective this thesis builds upon Catherine Hakim�s preference theory which explores the choices women clerical workers� make in relation to their work and family lives. Where Hakim�s preference theory focuses on the way in which women use their agency to determine their work and life style choices, this thesis gives equal weighting to the impact of agency and the constraints imposed by external structures such as the availability of part-time work and childcare, as well as the impact of organisational culture. The research data presented was based on face-to-face interviews with forty female clerical workers. The clerical workers ranged in age from 21 to 59 years of age. The respondents were made up of single or partnered women without family responsibilities, women juggling work and family, and women who no longer had dependent children and were approaching retirement. This thesis contends that these clerical workers are ill placed to optimise their conditions of employment under the new industrial regime of enterprise bargaining and individual contracts. Very few of the women were union members and generally they were uninformed about their rights and entitlements.