Publications
Our publications are the most important means of contact between the Centre's ideas and its general readership. Since 1976, The Centre for Independent Studies has produced some of the most authoritative publications in Australasian academia. From the influential Lands of Shame to the authoritative Will China Fail? CIS has published hundreds of publications covering topics from the social policy to legal affairs to religion and education.
In addition to books, the CIS publishes a range of shorter publications: Issue Analyses deal with controversial and current issues and Policy Mongraphs investigate and offer policy solutions. Since 1984, Policy magazine has published feature articles and reviews authored by some of the foremost national and international thinkers on public policy and ideas. The quality of writing and the diversity of topics in Policy ensure its status as a 'must read' by leading politicans, businesspeople and academics.
Hard copies of our publications are available for purchase through the bookstore. Many of the smaller publications are also available for download.
CONTRIBUTIONS
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All Labour market Publications
TARGET30: Reducing the burden for future generations
TARGET30 is a campaign promoting smaller government and cutting government spending to less than 30% of GDP in the next 10...
Relics of a Byzantine IR System: Why Awards Should Be Abolished
Awards are uniquely Australian, and practically as old as the country itself. But in Australia’s modern, competitive economy,...
Australia and the Asian Ascendancy: Why Upskilling is Not Necessary to Reap the Rewards
Government programs to upskill the Australian workforce for the Asian Century are a solution to a non-problem. With more...
Back to the Bad Old Days? Industrial Relations Reform in Australia
Has the Fair Work Act thrown industrial relations back to ‘the bad old days?’ This report analyses the changes in industrial...
Overcoming a Culture of Low Expectations
The most important thing we can do to encourage disadvantaged Australians into work – including people with disabilities,...
Free-Trade Ferries: A Case for Competition
Sydney needs a network of ferries that is able to cater to the city’s changing demographics but is also financially sustainable...
Working Towards Self-Reliance: Three Lessons for Disability Pension Reform
To successful reduce the number of pensioners on disability support, policymakers must apply the lessons of other welfare...
Populate and Perish? Modelling Australia's Demographic Future
Since the publication of the 2010 Intergenerational Report, Australia has been debating its demographic future and whether...
FEATURE: A Fresh Look at Labour Markets
Minimum wage decisions should take into account all costs to the employer and all benefits to the employee.
Indigenous Employment, Unemployment and Labour Force Participation: Facts for Evidence Based Policies
Professor Helen Hughes, Senior Research Fellow at the CIS and Mark Hughes highlight that Indigenous non-labour force participation...
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations Inquiry 2008
We currently employ a bigger proportion of the working-age population (70%) than ever before. Nevertheless, to increase participation...
KiwiSaver or KiwiSucker? A Critical View
The promised benefits of KiwiSaver do not match the high cost of the taxpayer subsidies. With KiwiSaver and New Zealand Super...
What are Low Ability Workers To Do When Unskilled Jobs Disappear? Part 2
Despite low unemployment, working-age welfare dependency remains high, partly because demand for unskilled labour is in decline....
FEATURE: The End of Industrial Relations Reform
WorkChoices polling revealed the political dangers of industrial relations reform.
What are Low Ability Workers To Do When Unskilled Jobs Disappear? Part 1
Nearly two million working-age people are on welfare benefits. The fall in the unemployment figures has disguised a displacement...
FEATURE: Who is The Fairest Of Them All? (With Apologies To Snow White's Mother)
In industrial relations, Liberal and Labor offer a choice between levels of over-regulation.
BOOK REVIEW: Work Choices: What the High Court Said
Work Choices: What The High Court Said by Andrew Stewart and George Williams (Federation Press, Sydney, 2007).
Mismatch: Australia’s Graduates and the Job Market
The Commonwealth-directed higher education system has produced a mismatch between available graduates and jobs. Australia’s...
FEATURE: Low Pay or No Pay?
Economics of the minimum wage: The minimum wage hits the least skilled the hardest.
The Road to Work: Freeing Up the Labour Market
This monograph outlines a framework for a more flexible, deregulated labour market which could strengthen employment, raise...
How Union Campaigns on Hours and Casuals are Threatening Low-skilled Jobs
For several years now Australian unions have been waging campaigns to limit working hours and the growth in casual employment...
Poor Laws (3) How to Reform the Award System and Create More Jobs
Despite the hype about enterprise bargaining and the individualisation of employment arrangements since the early 1990s,...
How To Reduce Long Term Unemployment
More than half the people claiming unemployment allowances in Australia have been on benefits for more than a year. Introducing...
Poor Laws (2): The Minimum Wage and Unemployment
More than half the poor in Australia are unemployed. It is joblessness, not low-paid jobs, that is the biggest source of...
Poor Laws (1): The Unfair Dismissal Laws and Long-term Unemployment
Unfair dismissal laws stifle job creation and compound Australia’s high unemployment problem. Despite a near-decade of...
REVIEW: Are Industry Innovations Discovered In Summits Or In Valleys?
Encouraging Knowledge-Intensive Industries: What Australia Can Draw From the Industrial Upgrading Experiences of Taiwan and...
FEATURE: Better than the Australian Industrial Relations Commission
Getting rid of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and giving trade unions no special rights is likely to do more...
Why Small Business Is Not Hiring: Regulatory Impediments to Small Business Growth
Small business makes an important contribution to the Australian economy, accounting for 42 percent of employment in 1997-98....
BOOK NOTES: War on the Wharves: A Cartoon History
War on the Wharves: A Cartoon History edited by Christopher Sgeil (Pluto Press, 1998.)
FEATURE: Electronic Money and The Market Process
How digital developments are opening new frontiers for Liberalism.
SCHOOLS' BRIEF: How Markets Work: Disequilibrium, Entrepreneurship and Discovery
This paper presents, in non-technical terms, an 'Australian' view of how a market economy works.
BOOK NOTES: The Logic of Action: Two
The Logic of Action: Two by Murray N. Rothbard (Edward Elgar, 1997.)
Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: Moving Toward, Or Away From, Wage Justice for Women?
Concerns about equity for working women are being misused to move back to industry-wide wage fixing and its attendant dangers...
REVIEW ARTICLE: The Victory- Two Views
The Victory by Pamela Williams (Allen & Unwin, 1997.)
BOOK REVIEW: Renaissance: The Rebirth of Liberty in the Heart of Europe
Renaissance: The Rebirth of Liberty in the Heart of Europe by Vaclav Klaus (Cato Institute, 1997.)
FEATURE: Market Definition and The Media: A Reply to Jones
"Products do not need to be perfect substitutes to be in the same market."
BOOK REVIEW: The Political Thought of Karl Popper
The Political Thought of Karl Popper by Jeremy Shearmur (Routledge, 1996.)
FEATURE: Typing Errors
The QWERTY keyboard is used to make a case against markets. But the evidence has been cooked.
FEATURE: Russian Roulette Competition Policy
The danger of the ACCC's misguided market definition.
Working Youth:Tackling Australian Youth Unemployment
Working Youth proposes reforms to the labour market and educationthat would begin the task of creating jobs for Australia's...
FEATURE: Why Employment Performance Differs
The effect of product market regulations on employment.
FEATURE: The Price of Information
The effects of cheaper information.
CONTROVERSY: Doing Justice To Telecommunications Equity
There are significant differences of principle between those who advocate government intervention to bring about social justice...
FEATURE: From Social Workers To Employment Agents
In today's labour market everyone might need an employment agent.
BOOK REVIEW: Telecompetition: The Free Market Road to the Infomation Superhighway
Telecompetition: The Free Market Road to the Infomation Superhighway by Lawrence Gasman (Cato Institute, 1994.)
BOOK REVIEW: God and the Marketplace
God and the Marketplace edited by Jon Davies (IEA Health and Welfare Unit, London, 1993.)
BOOK REVIEW: The Moral Foundations of Market Institutions
The Moral Foundations of Market Institutions by John Gray (Institute of Economic Affairs, Health and Welfare Unit, 1992.)
BOOK REVIEW: Making the Post Competitive
The Future of Postal Services by Robert Albon (Institute of Economics Affairs, 1991.)
BOOK REVIEW: Unemployment: 'Plenty We Can Do...'
Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and The Labour Market by Richard Layard, Stephen Nickell and Richard Jackman (Oxford...
BOOK REVIEW: Regulating Britain's Privatised Utilities
Regulators and the Market: An Assessment of the Growth of Regulation in the UK edited by Cento Veljanovski (Institute of...
FEATURE: Land Degradation, Technology and the Market
This article is an explanation of the significant role of technology in Australia's primary industries, explorting the scope...
FEATURE: What Garbage Crisis?
A market approach to solid-waste management.
REVIEW: Green Fingers, Invisible Hand
Markets, Resources and the Environment edited by Alan Moran, Andrew Chisholm and Michael Porter (Allen & Unwin, 1991.)
FEATURE: The Ethics of Insider Trading
In the second of two articles on business ethics, Norman Barry questions the conventional view that insider trading is intrinsically...
Liberating Labour: The Case for Freedom of Contract in Labour Relations
The legitimacy of the welfare state has survived the shift in recent years towards smaller government and a greater role...
DEBATE: Comparing Governments and Markets
The Private Interest Theory Debate: Gordon Tullocks argues.
FEATURE: Reforming New Zealand's Labour Market: Back to Basics
New Zealand governments have neglected labour market reform, despite the unpopularity of compulsory unionism and of the barriers...
FEATURE: Australia's Economic and Social Immigration Policies: A Labour Market Perspective
In the Winter 1989 issue of POLICY, Mark Harrison and John Logan proposed that Australia's annual immigration quota should...
FEATURE: Enterprise Bargaining: The Key to Post-Accord Wages Policy
Supporters of the Accord between the Australian federal government and the ACTU claim that labour market deregulation would...
FEATURE: The Failing Symbiosis: Labour Market Regulation and the Welfare State in Australia
'Symbiosis' is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as 'union between organisms each of which depends for its existence...
FEATURE: Long-Duration Unemployment: 'Losers' or 'Choosers'?
Regulation of labour markets and the operation of the welfare state in Australia interact to encourage the emergence of long-duration...
The Case Against the Arbitration Commission
The Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission is the main obstacle to much-needed reform of industrial relations...
Wage-Price Control: Myth and Reality
Edited by Sudha R Shenoy with a foreword by Professor C.G.F. Simkin. Contributions by Samuel Britan, Michael Darby, Lee Eckermann,...
