ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of law and regulation insofar as it might be seen to impact upon or explain certain corporate practices. It also examines the responses by Australian businesses to, among other things, regulatory change and the heightened competition created by global economic integration. On the one hand, Australia has a history of strong labour movements, collectively-based industrial relations and strong protective employment rights. Institutional reform during the period of our study was universally perceived to have fostered the liberalisation of labour markets aimed at making Australia's economy more competitive. It was important for us to see how Australian businesses had availed themselves of the greater freedom provided for managers to organise their labourmanagement systems. Hence the chapter investigates the various hypothesised relationships between ownership structure, corporate governance and labour relations not by reference to comparisons between Australia and other nations, but by reference to the structures and behaviours of different types of companies within the country.
