Wage Policy Issues in Economic Development: The Proceedings of a Symposium held by the International Institute for Labour Studies at Egelund, Denmark, 23–27 October 1967, under the Chairmanship of Clark Kerr

419 Pages·1969·40.427 MB·English

by  Anthony D. Smith (eds.)

WAGE POLICY ISSUES
IN
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Other publications of the International
Institute for Labour Studies
*
AUTOMATION ON SHIPBOARD
edited by G. J. Bonwick
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES
by B. C. Roberts and
L. Greyfie de Bellecombe
EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS OF AUTOMATION
AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
edited by Jack Stieber
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
edited by Arthur Ross
THE LABOUR MARKET AND INFLATION
edited by Anthony D. Smith
Publication of the International Industrial
Relations Association
*
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
edited by B. C. Roberts
WAGE POLICY ISSUES
IN
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Proceedings of a Symposium held by
the International Institute for Labour Studies
at Egelund, Denmark, 23-27 October 1967,
under the Chairmanship of
CLARK KERR
EDITED BY
ANTHONY D. SMITH
WITH A PREFACE BY
R. w. cox
Director,
International Institute for Labour Studies
Palgrave Macmillan
© The International Institute for Labour Studies 1969
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1969
Published by
MACMILLAN AND CO LTD
Little Essex Street London wc2
and also at Bombay Calcutta and Madras
Macmillan South Africa (Publishers) Pty Ltd Johannesburg
The Macmillan Company of Australia Pty Ltd Melbourne
The Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd Toronto
StMartin's Press Inc New York
Gill and Macmillan Ltd Dublin
Library of Congress catalog card no. 69-13690
ISBN 978-1-349-00107-1 ISBN 978-1-349-00105-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-00105-7
CONTENTS
PAGE
AUTHORS OF PAPERS AND PARTICIPANTS Vll
PREFACE R. W. Cox IX
INTRODUCTION Anthony D. Smith XI
PART A
A CONSPECTUS OF WAGE TRENDS IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Anthony D. Smith
I. INTRODUCTION 3
II. SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 9
III. THE FAR EAST 23
IV. AFRICA 31
V. CONCLUSIONS 41
PART B
A SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSIONS
I. WAGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: TRENDS AND PROBLEMS 55
II. THE GENERAL LEVEL OF wAGES 77
III. WAGE STRUCTURES AND DIFFERENTIALS 88
IV. FORMS OF WAGE PAYMENT 102
V. WAGE DETERMINATION IN THE MARKET 116
VI. WAGES AS AN ELEMENT IN GENERAL ECONOMIC POLICY AND
PLANNING 130
VII. IMPLEMENTATION OF WAGE POLICY AND PUBLIC
INSTITUTIONS FOR WAGE FIXING 142
VIII. A REVIEW OF THE DISCUSSIONS 153
PART C
AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROCEEDINGS
Anthony D. Smith
I. THE PURPOSE OF WAGE POLICY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 163
II. THE FoRM OF WAGE PoLICY IN DEVELOPING CouNTRIES 170
III. THE FoRMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION oF WAGE PoLicY 197
IV. CONCLUSIONS 212
v
Contents
PART D
THE PAPERS
PAGE
Paper 1. OBJECTIVES OF WAGE PoLICY IN DEVELOPING
CouNTRIES. Lloyd G. Reynolds 217
Paper 2. WAGE, FISCAL, SociAL SECURITY PoLICIES AND
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES AS A MEANS OF
REDISTRIBUTING INCOME IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
U. A. Aziz 235
Paper 3. EcoNOMIC STRUCTURE, PRODUCTIVITY AND WAGES IN
LATIN AMERICA. Anfbal Pinto 256
Paper 4. LEVELS OF REMUNERATION, FACTOR PROPORTIONS AND
INCOME DIFFERENTIALS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
DEVELOPING CouNTRIES. Samir Amin 269
Paper 5. WAGE STRUCTURES IN LEss-DEVELOPED CouNTRIES.
Elliot J. Berg 294
Paper 6. MINIMUM WAGE FIXING AND EcoNOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
N. N. Franklin 338
Paper 7. THE FoRMULATION OF WAGE PoLICY. H. A. Turner 354
Paper 8. WAGE PoLICY IN DEVELOPING CouNTRIES.
Ashok Mitra 371
Paper 9. TRADE UNION ATTITUDES TO WAGE PoLICY IssuEs
IN DEVELOPING CouNTRIES. P. P. Narayanan 383
Paper 10. EMPLOYER ATTITUDES TO WAGE POLICIES IN
DEVELOPING CouNTRIES. David Richmond 395
INDEX 399
Vl
AUTHORS OF PAPERS AND
PARTICIPANTS
I
Chairman
Clark Kerr, Professor of Economics and Industrial Relations, University
of California, U.S.A.
Director of the Symposium
R. W. Cox, Director, International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva,
Switzerland.
Co-Director
H. Jensen, Economic Adviser, Federation of Danish Trade Unions,
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Technical Adviser
A. Tarp, Chief of Division, Danish Employers' Confederation, Copen
hagen, Denmark.
General Rapporteur
K. F. Walker, Senior Staff Associate, International Institute for Labour
Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.
Participants
S. Amin, * Lecturer in Planning Techniques, African Institute for Eco
nomic Development and Planning, Dakar, Senegal.
U. A. Aziz,* Dean, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University
of Malaya, Malaysia.
E. Berg,* Professor of Economics, Center for Research on Economic
Development, University of Michigan, U.S.A.
G. G. Bannick, Economist, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Central
Planning Unit, Kingston, Jamaica.
J. Cauas, Executive Secretary, Economic Committee of Ministers, Central
Bank of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
N. N. Franklin,* Economic Adviser, International Labour Office, Geneva,
Switzerland.
E. Kane, Deputy General Secretary, Mauritania Workers' Union,
Nouakchott, Mauritania.
1 The position of authors and participants given is that at the time of the
Symposium.
* Author.
Vll
Authors of Papers and Participants
A. Mitra,* Chairman, Agricultural Prices Commission, New Delhi,
India.
Z. Morecka, Professor of Economics, Faculty of Political Economy,
University of Warsaw, Poland.
P. P. Narayanan,* General Secretary, National Union of Plantation
Workers, Selangor, Malaysia.
H. M. Ofurum, Head, Industrial Relations, Shell B.P. Petroleum De
velopment Co. of Nigeria Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria.
A. Pinto,* United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America,
Santiago, Chile.
L. Reynolds,* Professor of Economics, Yale University, U.S.A.
D. Richmond,* Director, Federation of Kenya Employers, Nairobi,
Kenya.
A. D. Smith,* Staff Associate, International Institute for Labour Studies,
Geneva, Switzerland.
Tan Boon Chiang, President, Singapore Industrial Arbitration Court,
Singapore.
H. A. Turner,* Professor of Industrial Relations, Faculty of Economics,
Cambridge University, England.
S. V. Utamsingh, Chief Personnel Adviser and Honorary Professor, The
Associated Cement Companies Ltd, Bombay, India.
F. Walcott, General Secretary, Barbados Workers' Union, Bridgetown,
Barbados.
*Author.
Vlll
PREFACE
ONE function of the International Institute for Labour Studies is to
focus attention on significant issues of public policy within its field.
With this aim, two symposia have been convened by the Institute in
successive years on problems of wages and incomes. One, held in
the autumn of 1966, resulted in the publication of a book entitled
The Labour Market and lnfiation.1 The second, held in the autumn
of 1967, dealt with wages in the context of economic development
and has led to the publication of this book.
The Institute is a forum, not itself a policy-maker. These sym
posia are not intended to adopt or recommend conclusions. Never
theless, it is possible to discern points of agreement and to define the
main options of policy through a confrontation of experts and policy
makers. Thus, while the present volume is in no sense a formal
report, it does present the views expressed in the papers and the
discussions together with an analysis made subsequently by the
reporter and editor, Anthony Smith, showing consensus where it
emerged and also the areas of persisting disagreement.
The symposium approached wages policy in a broad context,
recognising at the outset the real diversity of conditions which lies
behind the term 'developing country' for which no single general
policy prescription can possibly suffice, and exploring not only what
may be deemed desirable in the mind of a welfare oriented expert
but also what is probable or possible in terms of political structures
and political pressures. It is hoped that the discussions and this
volume which results from them may both conveniently synthesise
existing knowledge and approaches to wages policy in developing
countries and also suggest new approaches or directions of enquiry.
I would like to express thanks to Professor Clark Kerr of the Uni
versity of California, who chaired the discussions and gave structure
to them. The Danish Board of Technical Co-operation with De
veloping Countries provided financial support for the undertaking
and its representatives, Messrs Holger Jensen and Aage Tarp, looked
after the organisation of facilities in Denmark as well as participating
in the discussions. The Danish Employers' Confederation provided
its magnificent site at Egelund, north of Copenhagen, assuring
1 Ed. Anthony D. Smith (1968).
A2 ix