Department of Economics. University of Melbourne. Melbourne Victoria 3010 Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the incidence of worker displacement in Australia between 1984 and 1996. Similar to recent international studies a particular focus is on whether job security declined between the 1980s and 1990s. It is found that a significant, but apparently temporary, increase in the incidence of displacement did occur at the beginning of the 1990s. This rise in the incidence of displacement was concentrated amongst workforce groups with low levels of educational attainment, and in blue-collar or low-skill white-collar occupations. The findings provide an interesting cross-country perspective to recent findings on the evolution of worker displacement in the United States.