A Comparison of Labour Market Reforms in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia

In reviewing the experience of Ireland, New Zealand and Australia over the last half century, particular attention is directed to Ireland because it has been relatively successful in reducing unemployment and generating a remarkable improvement in its per capita gross domestic product over the last decade and a half. It is argued that Ireland's transformation did not commence around 1987 with the introduction of its 'social partnership' approach to determining wages and workplace conditions, or in 1993 when the so-called Celtic Tiger years commenced. Instead, it is argued that Ireland's transformation commenced during the late 1960s when Ireland's labour productivity commenced its seemingly inexorable ascent.