The Division of Economic and Financial Studies and
the Labour-Management Studies Foundation
invite you to one or both Seminars
| Date | Friday 16 May 2008 |
| Venue | Seminar room, Level 3, Division of Economic & Financial Studies Building E4A, Macquarie University. |
| Presenter | Bruce Kaufman, Professor of Economics, Georgia State University. |
| Fee | No charge. |
Program
| Time | Seminar |
| 11 am - 12.15 pm | Why the Minimum Wage is a Good Idea: The Webbs and the Social Cost of Labour |
| 12.15 pm - 1:15 pm | LUNCH kindly provided by Cengage Learning Australia |
| 1:30 pm - 2:45 pm | Theorizing Human Resource Management and the Firm's Demand for HRM Practices |
Seminar 1
Why the Minimum Wage is a Good Idea: The Webbs and the Social Cost of Labour
Abstract:
Neoclassical economists typically conclude a legislated minimum wage is harmful to economic efficiency and social welfare. The standard competitive model predicts it reduces jobs for low-skill workers, increases unemployment, leads to higher consumer prices, reduces profits, and causes a misallocation of resources. I challenge this negative evaluation of minimum wages with ideas developed a century ago by Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Based on the social cost of labour concept, I show that a legislated minimum wage does just the opposite of what the neoclassical critics allege – that is, it most likely increases economic efficiency, promotes a more prosperous society, and ends the inequitable social subsidization of capital by workers, their families and the community.
Seminar 2
Theorizing Human Resource Management and the Firm's Demand for HRM Practices
Abstract:
Drawing on the economics and industrial relations literatures, this paper argues that the conventional conceptualization and theorization of human resource management, and the attendant empirical literature on the HRM-firm performance relationship, are likely to suffer from significant problems of mis-specification and limited domain. A new theoretical framework is advanced that generalizes the HRM concept, models the linkage between HRM practices and firm performance (the “black box”), generates an HRM input demand function and demand curve, and demonstrates how these analytic tools can explain major features of the distribution of HRM practices among firms and over time.
Registration
To register for one or both seminars, please register online or email Pam Morpeth.
