Changing patterns of compensation and benefits in multinational and Australian companies 1996-2009

This paper explores the compensation and benefits (C&B) practices of subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs) operating in Australia between 1996 and 2009 and contrasts them with comparable local firms. The evolution of C&B over the period is tracked using a composite index taken from two iterations (1996, 2008/9) of the CRANET Australia survey of HR practices and analysed in the context of significant deregulation of Australian human resource/industrial relations institutional settings during this period. The research finds no overall increase in compensation and benefits sophistication, but significant differences between MNCs and locals and enduring country of origin/region effects within the different MNC groups. Localization pressures on MNC practices appear to have reduced in response to deregulation and there is some, but not conclusive, evidence of increasing dominance effects.