https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38394 2026-04-14T14:17:34Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34674 Title: Boomerangs on a small island : Maltese who returned from Australia Authors: Lever-Tracy, Constance Abstract: In 1947 there were 3,238 Maltese born persons in Australia. Maltese emigration records show a further 87,868 departing for Australia from mid-1947 to mid-1986, giving a total of over 91,000. The Australian census of 1986 however shows only 56,232 Maltese born persons still living in Australia. The postwar departures, comprising over a quarter of the entire population of Malta (at the start of the period) are a major component of that mass exodus which is one of the most salient and well known facts of Maltese postwar history. Altogether by the end of 1986 a total of some 149,000 were recorded as having departed permanently, almost entirely to Australia, Canada and Britain, leaving a population of 345,000 at the end of the period. What concerns us in this paper is the gap between the records of departures to Australia and the Australian census figures at the end of the period - the 35,000 missing persons. If these are emigrants who have returned home, they would indicate the departure of almost two- fifths of those who arrived in Australia and the presence in Malta of a large population of ex-Australians, constituting 10% of the population. As we shall see many additions and subtractions do however need to be made to the figure for missing persons before we can estimate return migration. 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34673 Title: Disequilibrium labour market models : a democratic approach Authors: Briguglio, Lino Abstract: In this paper, a simple disequilibrium aggregate labour market model will be proposed. As in the case of most market models, more than one relationship is involved, since in a market, at least three variables, namely demand, supply and own price, may be assumed to be simultaneously determined. The presentation is intended for readers with little or no knowledge of econometrics, and for this reason, a diagrammatic approach is used. Mathematical formulations are kept to the barest minimum in the main text. In a diagrammatic representation of a model, a given relationship is usually restricted to include two variables, generally with the dependent variable on the vertical axis and one explanatory variable on the horizontal axis. Such an exposition implicitly assumes that other explanatory variables involved in the relationship remain constant. Thus, for example, the traditional price/demand diagram, assumes amongst other things, that the income of the buyers, the price of substitutes and consumer tastes remain constant. This ceteris paribus assumption may be relaxed by allowing for outward or inward shifts of the schedule. 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34623 Title: Church and state intervention in feasts and rituals in independent Malta Authors: Koster, Adrianus Abstract: The Maltese population has always loved feasts and rituals. The local Roman Catholic Church has since late medieval times played a central role in these festivities. Boissevain has admirably described these ceremonies in the way they were celebrated just before independence. The same author has pointed to the ever increasing scale of two community rituals, e.g. the Good Friday processions and the village festi. In this paper I would like to emphasize another aspect of feasts and rituals. Ever since Malta became independent many attempts to interfere with various religious ceremonies have been made by different groups within the Roman Catholic Church, each of them claiming to implement the consequences of the Second Vatican Council {1962-1965}. The Socialist Government that was in power between 1971 and 1987,4 also interfered several times with the celebration of religious feasts. This may he seen as a consequence of its policy to curtail the influence of Church and clergy. 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/34621 Title: Wages policy at Malta drydocks : analysis of an ambivalence Authors: Baldacchino, Godfrey Abstract: Relatively high and fixed wage rates in a self-managed firm operating with chronic non-profitability may read as economic nonsense. This is however the present reality of Malta Drydocks, and a matter which has been for some time at the forefront of public debate. Unfortunately, the argument has been both simplified and polarized by partisan statements, making it difficult to break through the cliches and to seek an objective analysis of the situation. This paper attempts to serve as a valid contribution towards a cool, dispassionate discussion of the Drydocks condition. It probes into the apparent ambivalence which surrounds the sensitive issue of what is herein referred to as 'wages policy' - namely, the determination of wage rates and wage structures and their relationship to enterprise productivity and profitability. 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z