Australian Manufacturing and the State

Australian Manufacturing and the State
Author: Stephen Bell
Publisher: CUP Archive
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1993-08-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521448000

This book examines the Australian state's changing role in post-war manufacturing industry. It provides a comprehensive analysis of federal industry policy since World War II and develops a range of arguments about the limits and possibilities of state-industry relationships in Australia.

Restructuring Australian Manufacturing Industry

Restructuring Australian Manufacturing Industry
Author: Clive T Edward
Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Total Pages: 49
Release: 1978-01-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The rapid growth in exports of manufactures from developing countries has unsettled the performance of manufacturing activities in many developed countries. Asian countries are heavily involved in the export of manufactures. Australia typifies the problems faced by the developed countries. How should Australia respond? Should it attempt to isolate itself from Asia? Or should it attempt to integrate itself with Asia? Is the removal of import restraints a prerequisite for closer integration? Or can closer integration be achieved by alternative approaches which are more politically acceptable? These issues are discussed.

Why Australia Prospered

Why Australia Prospered
Author: Ian W. McLean
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2016-05-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0691171335

This book is the first comprehensive account of how Australia attained the world's highest living standards within a few decades of European settlement, and how the nation has sustained an enviable level of income to the present. Why Australia Prospered is a fascinating historical examination of how Australia cultivated and sustained economic growth and success. Beginning with the Aboriginal economy at the end of the eighteenth century, Ian McLean argues that Australia's remarkable prosperity across nearly two centuries was reached and maintained by several shifting factors. These included imperial policies, favorable demographic characteristics, natural resource abundance, institutional adaptability and innovation, and growth-enhancing policy responses to major economic shocks, such as war, depression, and resource discoveries. Natural resource abundance in Australia played a prominent role in some periods and faded during others, but overall, and contrary to the conventional view of economists, it was a blessing rather than a curse. McLean shows that Australia's location was not a hindrance when the international economy was centered in the North Atlantic, and became a positive influence following Asia's modernization. Participation in the world trading system, when it flourished, brought significant benefits, and during the interwar period when it did not, Australia's protection of domestic manufacturing did not significantly stall growth. McLean also considers how the country's notorious origins as a convict settlement positively influenced early productivity levels, and how British imperial policies enhanced prosperity during the colonial period. He looks at Australia's recent resource-based prosperity in historical perspective, and reveals striking elements of continuity that have underpinned the evolution of the country's economy since the nineteenth century.

Beyond Business As Usual

Beyond Business As Usual
Author: Katherine Gibson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2020-01-23
Genre:
ISBN: 9781741085006

This report summarizes the findings of the ARC discovery project, Reconfiguring the enterprise: shifting manufacturing culture in Australia (DP # DP160101674). Research conducted between 2016 and 2019 collected data from 10 manufacturing enterprises, across diverse sectors, scales and organisational forms through in-depth interviews, site visits and workshops. The project's main finding is that there is a culture of manufacturing that is beyond business as usual in Australia. This report counters ill-founded fears that manufacturing in Australia is dead by presenting convincing evidence of dynamic companies that are committed to just and sustainable manufacturing practices. It demonstrates how there is a viable future for manufacturing in Australia in the 21st century that is being shaped by a culture that is beyond business as usual. Through the case examples we uncovered how this new manufacturing culture: a) maintains firm viability and thereby safeguards manufacturing in Australia; b) provides decent jobs in an inclusive society and thereby builds a more just manufacturing sector; and c) produces with a smaller ecological footprint and thereby builds a more environmentally sustainable manufacturing sector. These economic, social and ecological goods are realised in these firms through practical commitments expressed in the daily enterprise operations and over time.The findings are significant for Australia. Manufacturing supports 1.27 million jobs in Australia. It plays a major role in the social inclusion, nurturing the productive capacity of people from many different backgrounds and experiences. It is a point of concentration for innovation and investment in R&D.However, the current business as usual model is no longer viable. Growth without regard for a social licence to produce is no longer acceptable. Nor is growth with disregard for the environmental impacts of production and consumption. The new culture of manufacturing rewrites the social licence for enterprises. It is building viable firms with the capacity to withstand threats that might undermine the sector. At the same time, their ongoing commitments and practices are helping Australia address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 9 Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production.

The Economics of Productivity in Asia and Australia

The Economics of Productivity in Asia and Australia
Author: Renuka Mahadevan
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2004-03-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781781957110

"Suggests processes and strategies for choosing the best technique to draw up policies for sustainable growth." - dust jacket.

The Cambridge Economic History of Australia

The Cambridge Economic History of Australia
Author: Simon Ville
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 710
Release: 2014-10-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1316194485

Australia's economic history is the story of the transformation of an indigenous economy and a small convict settlement into a nation of nearly 23 million people with advanced economic, social and political structures. It is a history of vast lands with rich, exploitable resources, of adversity in war, and of prosperity and nation building. It is also a history of human behaviour and the institutions created to harness and govern human endeavour. This account provides a systematic and comprehensive treatment of the nation's economic foundations, growth, resilience and future, in an engaging, contemporary narrative. It examines key themes such as the centrality of land and its usage, the role of migrant human capital, the tension between development and the environment, and Australia's interaction with the international economy. Written by a team of eminent economic historians, The Cambridge Economic History of Australia is the definitive study of Australia's economic past and present.