Many economies have recently experienced a growth in temporary employment within their services sectors, and both the determinants and implications of this phenomenon are of interest to academics and policymakers. Past literature has often suggested that changes in the temporary workforce pool are the result of progressive labour market deregulations and shifting preferences towards increased employment flexibility. Alternatively, it has also been observed that demand for temporary workers is more cyclical in nature (Bentzen, 2012)1. The implications of temporary employment for the productivity, job security and well-being of both temporary and permanent workers are equally important. Specifically, this special issue aims to examine a variety of facets specific to temporary workers, such as (but not limited to) the aforementioned, in order to highlight the key determinants, challenges, concerns and related outcomes of the temporary workforce.to) the aforementioned, in order to highlight the key determinants, challenges, concerns and related outcomes of the temporary workforce.

It is envisaged that the special issue will focus on (but not limited to) key areas relating to:
– Labour market flexibility reforms and implications
– Promotion of the temporary workforce industry
– Cost-Benefit analysis of a two-tiered labour market
– The comparative levels of productivity between temporary and permanent workers
– Levels of job security and well-being associated with temporary employees
– Stakeholder perceptions of non-permanent employees

This special issue is to be guest-edited by Associate Professor Gail Pacheco (email: gail.pacheco@aut.ac.nz) and Professor Tim Maloney (email: tim.maloney@aut.ac.nz) of the Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.

The Australian Journal of Labour Economics is a journal published by the Centre for Labour Market Research (CLMR) at University of Canberra, Australia. It is the Official Journal of the Australian Society of Labour Economists and focuses primarily on theoretical and policy related developments with respect to the Australian context. Please note, application to the Australian context is not a criterion for acceptance.

It is requested that submissions be made to Pat Madden (email: patricia.madden@cbs.curtin.edu.au) and that you indicate that you wish your paper to be considered for the special issue on temporary employment. The selection of papers to be included within the edition will follow peer review process, and the final versions of accepted papers must be submitted in a format compatible with MS-Word.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2014
1 Bentzen, E.J. (2012) What Drives the Demand for Temporary Agency Workers? Labour 26(3), 341-355.