A Statistical Study of Wages, Prices and Employment in the. Irish Manufacturing Sector. General Research Series Paper No. 29, January 1966

This paper is concerned with the estimation of certain economic relationships in the Irish economy. It seems important that attempts be made to put figures on relationships believed to exist (for instance between the level of unemployment and annual changes in earnings) rather than to speculate on these relationships. This study tries to do this but it is important to emphasise that this is an exercise in statistics and that the statements made about these relationships are essentially probability statements. This means that the degree of certainty attached to any set of figures in this study is far from being of the same order as found in, say, calculations of future eclipses. As it would be tedious to repeat this qualification at almost every step in the paper the author trusts it will be borne in mind. The figures we get may be more usefully regarded as fairly reliable orders of magnitude. This study was completed in the summer vacation of 1964 and the author realises only too dearly that it is an exploratory venture and as such cannot be expected to provide complete answers on the topics covered. But it is hoped that it provides a useful starting point for further studies