Regulating for Job Creation

Job creation is accepted as a key responsibility of the modern nation state and the way in which the state regulates for job creation has significant implications for labour law as traditionally conceived. Despite this, job creation is largely invisible in labour law studies,hidden by the nature of many job creation initiatives as promotional and facilitative forms of regulation. Regulating for Job Creation addresses this shortcoming in labour law scholarship by employing a regulatory perspective to chart the trajectory of Australian Government efforts to create jobs and reduce unemployment over the period 1974-2006, an era when, paradoxically, there is said to have been a hollowing out of the state. In order to more closely explore the regulatory character of job creation policies and programs, in particular the nature and function of law in this context, the book presents case studies of three key Commonwealth job creation programs from the last three decades: the Community Employment Program; JobStart; and the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme. Howe argues that the state has played an increasingly complex and diverse regulatory role in the formulation and implementation of labour market policies such as job creation programs, contradicting any suggestion of a withdrawal by the state from the realm of governance.The book also reveals that job creation programs are a significant aspect of the role of the state in both the formation and regulation of labour markets as the primary mechanism for the distribution of labour in capitalist democracies. In this way, the book contributes to our understanding the connections between the regulatory regimes of labour law and social security.