Introduction
In most countries around the globe, there is an established minimum wage and subsidies for the workers, which aim is raising the life quality of the population, reducing unemployment, and decreasing the income disparity. However, is such an instrument effective? Does it have negative side effects? This paper analyses the topic of minimum wages and subsidies as well as their negative and positive effect on business in Australia.
Analysis
It should be noted that the first legislation regarding minimum wages is traced back to Australia and New Zealand, where wage issues between workers and businesses were resolved through such legislation as an alternative to strikes, through the organization of several boards (Maughan). In that regard, understanding such a concept require distinguishing between three types of labor, high-wage, low-wage, and minimum-wage, where for the latter the term unskilled is applicable (Dowrick & Quiggin, 2003). In Australia, the responsibility for setting minimum wages for employees in the national system is taken by Fair Work Australia, a national workplace relations tribunal (Fair Work Australia, 2009).
Positive Impact
The first and the most important impact can be seen through the correlation of minimum wages and subsidy with employment. Such an effect can be seen through the consideration that minimum wages will be reduced. In that regard, such reduction might discourage unemployed workers to apply for jobs, where the reduction of wages would lead to that the work will not have financial worth (Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2005). Accordingly, the increase of the minimum wage should lead to that unemployed job seekers, specifically in the category of unskilled workers will find it financially attractive to apply even for a minimum-wage job. The consequences of the latter can be seen in a workforce surplus, which consequently might lead to an increase in productivity. It should be noted that such an increase might affect the areas of business relying on unqualified labor.
Accordingly, the appositive effect of the minimum wages can be seen in reducing the poverty, which is one of the aims of establishing minimum wages in the first place. It should be mentioned that minimum wages and subsidy separately might not have the intended effect as much as the combination of both. Such a combination can help low-wage workers in avoiding disemployment effects (Husby, 1993). Additionally, it was stated that the correlation between minimum wages and poverty is connected with the distribution of workers across households, where “many minimum wage workers are members of households with total incomes well above the poverty level” (Dowrick & Quiggin, 2003), e.g. teenage children of high-income parents. Nevertheless, it was found that increases in minimum wages reduce poverty, although the strength of the findings varied between the studies (Dowrick & Quiggin, 2003). The logical conclusion leading to the effect on business can be seen through an increase in the consumption power of the population. In that regard, it can be stated that the increase of per capita income of the population has a favorable effect on the business, where the increase in demand leads to an increase in production and profitability.
Another positive impact of minimum wages and subsidies can be seen through the effect on the economy. It is argued that in correspondence to the supply and demand theory, the establishment of minimum wages increases economic efficiency and fairness. The basis for such impact can be seen in that manual and unskilled workers are initially suffering from inequality of bargaining power, leading to low wages, which do not cover the full social cost of labor. In that regard, minimum wages raise wage rates for low-paid workers to the level that covers the social costs of their contribution to production. Accordingly, the subsidy is assumingly having a similar effect, in which it compensates for the inequality of the low social cost of labor of low-paid workers (Kaufman, 2009). In terms of business, such compensation might drive the companies to search for sources of competitive advantage, in which quality of product, technological advancement, and improvement of business processes will be the main factors. The result of the latter can be seen through decreases in the prices of the product as well as increases in profits. These methods of self-correcting social responsibility can be seen in opposing direction with subsidy, where minimum wage reduces the subsidy on low-wage labor and improve production and employment to a competitive level.
Negative Impact
The negative effects of the minimum wage can be seen through decreasing the possibility for labor to be developed. It can be seen that there is a large portion of the minimum-wage workers who are either teenagers or part-time workers, who do not perceive such jobs as an opportunity.
On the other hand, the existence of a minimum wage, which assumingly will increase with the improvement of the economic conditions of the country might lead to many unskilled workers will not be motivated to pursue formal training and professional education, preferring to work on a minimum-wage job, combined with a subsidy received from the government.
Additionally, it can be assumed that the category following the minimum-wage labor, low-wage labor can be seen affected through the establishment of minimum wages, specifically set them relatively high. Evidence from Australia and other countries suggests that “a minimum wage which is set too high can harm the employment prospects of low skilled workers and others who are most vulnerable in the labour market” (“Minimum wages and their effect on employment,”). At the same time, it is argued that many of the recipients of the minimum wage and the subsidy, such as teenagers, might reside in high-income families, and thus, do not need the extra income.
An important factor can be seen through the effect of established minimum wages and subsidies on small businesses. It is argued that the competitiveness of small businesses can be affected, where small businesses might be forced to pay their low-skilled workers higher wages, and at the same time fail to hire additional labor due to increases in minimum wages. However, it should be stated that such a point is debatable, where the results of the studies oppose each other, and in the short term a discernible correlation between minimum wage increases and a rise in business failures might not be found (Bernstein, 2004). Subsidies, on the one hand, can help maintain the balance, compensating labor costs for small businesses. On the other hand, it can be seen that subsidy might help negate such an effect on business, where such effect might take place until a certain balance is restored. In that regard, it can be assumed that such an effect of subsidy might be in that it will be hard for companies to compete internationally, specifically with countries, in which the price of labor is not imposed, being driven only by the market.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that minimum wages and subsidies have both positive and negative effects, where the implementation of both might have a more positive intended outcome than the separate implementation. Accordingly, it can be stated that positive impacts outweigh the negative, specifically in terms of the evidence and the findings provided by supporting studies
References
Bernstein, J. (2004). Minimum Wage and Its Effects on Small Business. Economic Policy Institute. Web.
Brotherhood of St Laurence. (2005). Minimum wages. Brotherhood of St Laurence. Web.
Dowrick, S., & Quiggin, J. (2003). A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE ON MINIMUM WAGES Australian National University and University of Queensland. Web.
Fair Work Australia. (2009). How minimum wages are set. Fair Work Australia. Web.
Husby, R. D. (1993). THE MINIMUM WAGE, WAGE SUBSIDIES, AND POVERTY. Contemporary Economic Policy, 11(3), 30-38.
Kaufman, B. E. (2009). Promoting Labour Market Efficiency and Fairness through a Legal Minimum Wage: The Webbs and the Social Cost of Labour. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 47(2), 306.
Maughan, J. History of Minimum Wage. Life123. 2009. Web.
Minimum wages and their effect on employment. Australian Government Submission. 2009. Web.
Book Fairs And Literary Festivals Exhibitions
Introduction
These are two different types of exhibitions that differ in various ways, from participants to target audience and the targeted outcomes. Both have different target purposes and their purposes have been discussed in detail.
Book fairs
This is an event usually organized by books’ publishers, authors, and booksellers, targeting to market, publicize, exchange, and sell new books, classics, or any other books in general, in one event. The event is usually held in form of an exhibition. They take place in almost all countries especially in those societies that value literary art and creativity.
Book fairs started initially in the trading centers where literature merchants and the elites could exchange, buy and sell manuscripts around the 17th Century. Four centuries down the line, book fairs have developed tremendously and numerous changes can be seen, from their organization to their target audience.
Book fairs are divided into two categories, depending on their target audience. The first category is the rights fair. These target publishers especially from abroad. The booksellers and authors sell them the publishing rights to their manuscripts and the publisher and thus the publisher henceforth owns the publishing rights. These are also forums whereby they meet agents and representatives from various publishers.
Authors and booksellers through book fairs seek to meet publishers to sell publishing rights to as they also demonstrate their literary works. Selling fairs are the second category, and this deals with selling books from the stations straight to customers. Book fairs, therefore, are more inclined to commercialization of literary art.
Examples of Book Fairs
Frankfurt Book Fair
It’s one of the biggest book fairs in the world usually held at the Frankfurt Trade fair in Germany, in October. It is a books trade fair that runs for 5 days with over seven thousand exhibitors from all over the world and almost three hundred thousand visitors
London book fair
It takes place in April in London, with over twenty-three thousand publishers, writers, agents, and readers in attendance from all over the world. It also aims at selling publishing rights to publishers.
Kolkata Book Fair
This is Asia’s biggest book fair, hosting over 2 million people from all over the world. However, unlike London and Frankfurt book fairs, the Kolkata book fair is not a trade fair. It is held from January 23rd to 26th in Kolkata.
Literary festivals
Otherwise known as a book festival, this is a conference attended by both writers and readers (scholars) that features presentations and readings by the readers. It is a forum that portrays the writers’ and readers’ love for literature. Unlike the book fair, a literary festival does not concentrate so much on the commercial aspect in the art for example selling the books and publishing rights, but rather it emphasizes more on the love and appreciation for the literary art.
Just like book fairs, literary festivals started around the 15th century with renowned writers such as William Shakespeare playing a significant role in shaping what was in the future years to be one of the world’s highly appreciated and major literary festivals. The target audience in this case, therefore, includes writers, readers, and people with love and a passion for literature. A literary festival seeks to make the participants express their love for literature and at the same time, also acts as a forum where writers can explain controversial or difficult contents in their literary works.
Examples of Literary Festivals
International Literature Festival, Berlin
It is held in Berlin during autumn, started in 2001. It is held in about 32 different places and has a host of thirty thousand visitors from all over the world. It runs for ten days, from nine o’clock in the morning to midnight.
Karachi Literary Festival
It is among the fastest-rising literary festivals and takes place in Karachi, India. It runs for two days and with a population of about 20,000 authors, publishers, and writers in attendance. The festival takes place between February and March each year.
Edinburgh International Festival
It takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland over the August of every year. It lasts for three weeks, with over 700 events and a visiting population of twenty-five thousand visitors comprising of publishers, writers, agents, readers, etc. it was first launched in 1983.
Ritual In Religion: Their Role And Meaning
A ritual is an activity performed by a person or persons with a belief in supernatural effects. This activity symbolizes faith in supernatural strength. The activity becomes symbolic when the spirit and physicality are abstract. The object of belief may be terrestrial or physical. Terrestrial objects are invisible but exist. Physical objects are touchable. The essay seeks to study rituals in religion.
The ritual is either in secret or in open depending on the observer of the ritual. Rituals performed in secret are not necessarily anti-social. Performance of some rituals follows certain rules, which may dictate time, place, and manner in which to do it. A religion is “a system of beliefs usually involving worship of supernatural forces of beings,” (Kessler 109).In religion, rituals are held for various reasons e.g. as a religious obligation, to demonstrate submission or respect, to show affiliation, to obtain social acceptance, to satisfy self-emotional needs, or sometimes for pleasure.
Ritualistic activities in religion may range from simple activities like greetings to a more socially unacceptable one like offering human sacrifice, which may be termed as murder in other societies. For instance, in the Roman Catholic, before the pope addresses a gathering, he starts with sprinkling water to the masses using a whisk. This is a ritual to symbolize that he is at peace with them and has blessed them. The Bible talks of Jeptha who sacrificed his only daughter to the Lord, being a vow he had made to the Lord that on winning the battle, he will sacrifice anything that will meet him first on return from victory. His daughter was the first. In Islam, washing of legs before entering a mosque, bowing down as they pray, and praying facing mecca are rituals held to demonstrate submission to their god Allah and as a religious obligation.
Mormon temples close doors to the public and to some members who are not sufficiently worthy to be Mormons. Consequently, members who have taken an oath of secrecy hold matters that concern the religion in confidence. A member who wishes to participate in any of the temple rituals must first consult with the pastor of their local congregation. One notable ritual is “Baptism for the Dead,” (Eisenstein 3). “In front of the temple is a large font for baptism placed on the backs of twelve life-sized sculpted oxen,” (Eisenstein 3). A group of teenage boys acts on behalf of the dead. Dressed in white, they line up in front of the font and the officiators immerse them in water and say the words “Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you for and in behalf of N. N., who is dead, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen,” (Kessler 122). The dead person’s name is just before immersion.
Regarding secret rituals performed in various religions, a question of the legality of the rituals and oaths that pertain to them arises. An apprentice in freemasonry take an oath:
“I do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear….my throat cut across, my tongue torn out, and with my body buried in the sands of the sea at low-water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, should I ever knowingly or willfully violate this, my solemn Obligation of an Entered Apprentice,” (Kessler 122).
As Charles Einstein notes in his article on religion and ritual, in the early times, rituals held no meaning as they mainly emanated from observation of activities like animal mating. The symbol arose from the meditation of human and divine realms, which are separately conceived. The divine realm is a disharmony of natural activities from nature itself. E.g., lack of rain and failure of agriculture. To harmonize these two disjoint phenomena, the early people believed that holding an activity to please what or whom they thought was responsible for such shortcomings would solve the problem. This in essence was a ritual and in such a way, rituals developed.
The observance of rituals is still rife since people still believe that that which is unexplainable must be divine and that for a favorable outcome, the divine must be appeased.
Works Cited
Kessler, Gary E. Studying Religion: An Introduction through Cases. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.
Eisenstein, Charles. “The Ascent of Humanity, The Origin of Separation Religion and Ritual.” Sacred Action 005, 1-7. PDF file.