Australian adults are above the OECD average in literacy but only average in numeracy, according to a staff paper released by the Productivity Commission. The paper analyses the profile of adult literacy and numeracy skills in Australia, and how important those skills are for labour market outcomes. Key points: Adult literacy and numeracy skills contribute...

Human capital theory supports the view that people with higher levels of education and lower incidences of chronic illness should have higher labour productivity. This paper examines the Australian evidence. Hourly wages can be used as an indicator of labour productivity. While wages are likely to be a reasonable indicator of the effects of education...