Wage Structure and the New Zealand Court of Arbitration

Abstract

This study is the initial result of a wider investigation into the problems of wage structure and its determination in New Zealand. It was pursued under the tutelage of Mr. J. O. Shearer at Victoria University College while the author was in New Zealand as the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. The approach to the subject contained herein is a generalized one. An attempt has been made to develop a comprehensive theoretical analysis of wage structure in a dynamic economy, in so far as a non-mathematical presentation permitted. This has been followed by a survey of the criteria employed by the Court of Arbitration in the pursuit of its function as a dominant arbiter of structural wage standards. And the final section contains a brief appraisal of the economic significance of these criteria in a dynamic setting. It is hoped to extend this treatment to a specific evaluation of the effects of the policy criteria presented here on the structure of wages in New Zealand in a subsequent dissertation. The foundations of the analysis are contained in this thesis.