Ignoring the Evidence: Comments on the Debate on Antipodean Neoliberal Workplace Reform and Labour Productivity

Abstract

This paper questions why a number of leading academics and politicians have ignored recent findings by Statistics New Zealand that support a prima facie case that the individualisation of workplace contracts in that country during the 1990s was associated with - contrary to earlier findings - relatively high labour productivity growth. Attention is drawn to updated estimates of Australian and New Zealand labour productivity growth. These updated data confirm the relatively high average rate of growth of labour productivity in New Zealand during the 1990s when workplace contracts were being individualised. Caution is, nonetheless, recommended when making claims about the determinants of labour productivity growth as, apart from significant measurement difficulties, workplace arrangements are not the only determinant of labour productivity.