NILS Working paper no 171. Adjusting to skill shortages: complexity and consequences
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Date
2011
Authors
Healy, Joshua Gregory
Mavromaras, Kostas
Sloane, Peter J
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
National Institute of Labour Studies
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Abstract
Skill shortages are often portrayed as a major problem for the economies of many
countries including the Australian economy. Yet, there is surprisingly little evidence
about their prevalence, causes and consequences. This paper attempts to improve our
understanding about these issues by using econometric methods to analyse the
Business Longitudinal Database, an Australian panel data-set with information about
skill shortages in small- and medium-sized businesses during 2004/05. We use this
information to: (1) explore the incidence of skill shortages and the business attributes
that are associated with them; (2) identify which businesses face more complex skill
shortages, as measured by the number of different causes reported simultaneously;
and, uniquely, (3) examine how this complexity affects a business response to skill
shortages and aspects of their subsequent performance. We show that complex skill
shortages are more likely than simpler (single-cause) skill shortages to persist and to
trigger defensive responses from businesses. We reject the conception of skill
shortages as a homogenous phenomenon, and demonstrate the importance of
distinguishing between skill shortages according to whether they have simple or
complex causes.
Description
Keywords
Employment, Skilled labour, Skill shortage, Economics
Citation
Healy, J.; Mavromaras, K; Sloane, P. 2011. Adjusting to skill shortages: complexity and consequences. Working Paper No. 171/ 2011.