PROFESSOR JEFF BORLAND SUGGESTS HOW AUSTRALIA CAN RE-SKILL ITS WORKFORCE, AND BUSTS some MYTHS ON IMMIGRATION AND JOBS any economic commentators with an interest in
labour markets seem bedevilled by a bogeyman:
the rise ofAsia. Whatever the problem that has arisen in labour markets
employment in Australia. Only within a subset of St
that use labour-intensive production methods as textiles, clothing and footwear ~ can relatively
adverse employment effects ofgrowing competitior
imports be seen.
in Australia in the past 20 years, the elfect of increasing
integration with Asia has usually been the explanation
that is reached for First. Declining real earnings for lowskilled workers? Well, that must be the efiect of more imports produced using lowwage labour in China. Higher rates of unemployment? Mmm, that could only be happening because of higher rates of Asian immigration. Falling employment of clerical workers and middle managers? Surely that has to be the result ofolf-shoring jobs to the Indian IT sector.
WHERE'S THE EVIDENCE?
IMMIGRANTS DON'T TAKE JOBS
The story with immigration has been similar Junankar and Glenn Withers showed in a series ofres
papers written in the 19905 that immigration has
net effect on the labour market in Australia. An immigrant may mean an extra job is needed, but 2
means an extra source of demand for goods and se
produced in Australia. So, the effects on labour de
and labour supply largely wash out.
And while stores ofcall-centre and IT processin being sent offshore to Asia may make interesting re For the supplement sections ofour weekend newsp;
it just doesn't seem that the magnitude of these e
In some ways, this focus on Asia is understandable.
Signs of our closer integration with Asia are all around
are substantial enough to make a big difference to 14
markets. Instead, it is technological change that ap
population, in all the talk ofa mining boom, every time
we buy a whitegood. Yet for all the concern, there is very
administrative jobs.
us in the changing composition of the Australian
little evidence that integration with Asia is having the
dire effects often described. Studies of international trade undertaken by the Reserve Bank and Productivity Commission have
24 E Australia's Fnoaoempni with Am
to be the main driver ofthe decline in clerical and
FIRST PRINCIPLES The story of Australias increasing integration Asia, in fact, seems to be very much as you would pi