Econ3x3
What makes the rand so volatile: global or home-made factors?
30th March 2017 Exchange-rate volatility can complicate decisions concerning trade and investment and constrain a country’s economic growth. Understanding what... →
Could informal enterprises stimulate township economies? A study of two Midrand townships
1st March 2017 Informal enterprises are perceived to lack the necessary business and economic fundamentals to stimulate their local economies. However, informal... →
Factors contributing to the demise of informal enterprises: evidence from a Cape township
17th January 2017 The reasons for the closure of fairly well-established informal enterprises are varied. Between 2010 and 2015, in the Cape Flats township of Delft... →
Youth unemployment: what can we do in the short run?
13th December 2016 The challenge of youth unemployment is shaped by factors in both the labour market and the education system, alongside intricate community,... →
The employability of higher education graduates: are qualifications enough?
21st November 2016 The transition from higher education to employment is a challenge, considering persistent graduate un- and underemployment. Qualifications are not... →
Are internal migrants more likely to be unemployed than locally born residents?
12th October 2016 This article compares the labour-market status of migrants and locally born residents. The focus is on migration into Cape Town and the Western... →
Between the devil and the deep blue sea? The financing of higher education
22nd September 2016 Higher-than-inflation increases in student fees since 2009 often are blamed on declining government subsidies to universities. This is not entirely... →
The nuts and bolts of micro-manufacturing in the township - a Cape Town case study
7th September 2016 The informal sector is frequently viewed as comprising only street traders. However, micro-manufacturing of various types constitutes a small but... →
Predicting the impact of a national minimum wage: are the general equilibrium models up to the task?
12th August 2016 This article analyses whether computable general equilibrium (CGE) models are suitable for projecting the likely consequences of implementing a... →
Wealth inequality – striking new insights from tax data
25th July 2016 Although South Africa is known for its extreme income inequality, the degree of wealth inequality is even greater. New tax and survey data suggest... →
Cooperatives: has the dream become a nightmare?
24th June 2016 Over the past 15 years Government has promoted cooperatives at national and provincial levels with the aim of enabling small producers to tap into... →
How accurate is our migration data?
7th June 2016 The reliability of Census data on demography and migration comes under attack periodically. This article sheds light on the reliability of survey... →
Day labourers and the role of makwerekweres: for better or for worse?
18th May 2016 Foreign migrants often enter informal employment as day labourers. They compete with South Africans for jobs in this curb-side labour market. Three... →
A growing informal sector: evidence from an enterprise survey in Delft
2nd March 2016 Using a small-area census approach, this Econ3X3 article reports on changes in informal micro-enterprise activity in the Cape township of Delft... →
Do government spending and taxation really reduce inequality, or do we need more thorough measurements? A response to the World Bank researchers
11th February 2016 World Bank staff and consultants claim that South Africa’s progressive taxation and pro-poor social spending reduce the Gini inequality coefficient... →
Have real wages fallen behind or increased out of line with productivity? A macroeconomic perspective
20th January 2016 Macroeconomic data on wages and productivity suggest that there has not been any constant tendency for real wages either to fall behind or increase... →
What will housing megaprojects do to our cities?
10th November 2015 The building of large numbers of housing units in isolated greenfield locations have had detrimental side effects on our cities over the last two... →
How much is inequality reduced by progressive taxation and government spending? (Oct 2015)
28th October 2015 Through progressive taxation and pro-poor social spending, the SA fiscal system reduces income inequality significantly. The extent of this... →
Labour and unemployment in South Africa: towards a ‘grand bargain’
7th October 2015 The problematics of the situation in South Africa are clear: high unemployment, high inequality and low growth, combined with a lack of consensus... →
A foot in the door: are NGOs effective as workplace intermediaries in the youth labour market?
28th September 2015 It has been argued that properly focused workplace intermediaries can reshape the labour market to become more youth friendly. Case studies of NGO... →
Youth unemployment: can labour-market intermediaries help?
17th September 2015 Labour-market intermediaries can make a significant contribution to the reduction of youth unemployment.They recognise that the demand for labour... →
How flexible is the South African labour market in the short and long run?
31st August 2015 The inflexibility of the labour market is commonly used as a scapegoat to explain high unemployment. Yet new evidence shows that only in specific... →
Informal settlements: poverty traps or ladders to work?
12th August 2015 Informal urban settlements have a poor reputation as hotspots of social unrest, squalor and crime. Yet there is another side to them: as... →
How effective is VAT zero rating as a pro-poor policy?
20th July 2015 In most countries with VAT, certain goods and services are zero rated to alleviate the tax burden on the poor. However, this may not be the most... →
A national minimum wage: moving the debate forward?
29th June 2015 The debate on a national minimum wage appears to occur in different universes. The main institutional protagonists – organised labour and the... →
Domestic abuse of children severely reduces their educational achievement
22nd April 2015 Many South African children are maltreated in the home in some way, but we know little about the long-term effects of abuse on child development.... →
The national minimum wage debate: looking beyond a narrow focus on labour markets
17th March 2015 Most contributions to the debate on a national minimum wage adopt a narrow view of labour markets and accept that the structure of the economy will... →
The layout of the township economy: the surprising spatial distribution of informal township enterprises
3rd March 2015 A small-area census of micro-enterprises in Cape Town townships reveals that informal enterprises are located throughout the township, including in... →
Technology, labour power and labour’s declining income share in post-apartheid South Africa
17th February 2015 The share of labour in aggregate income in South Africa has declined significantly since 1993, while that of capital has increased. Concurrently,... →
Unpacking labour’s declining income share: manufacturing, mining and growing inequality
4th February 2015 While the share of capital increased, labour’s share of total income earned in South Africa fell significantly during the first two decades after... →
What is at issue in the minimum wage debate?
20th January 2015 The debate about implementing a national minimum wage obscures the key point, which is the level at which a national minimum wage should be set. A... →
Should agriculture receive greater support as part of an inclusive growth strategy?
26th November 2014 In developing countries, agricultural growth is generally employment intensive and pro-poor but this sector in South Africa has been subject to a... →
Enabling growth: redistribution priorities for South Africa
12th November 2014 If the National Development Plan is to be effectively implemented, we need clarity about the mechanisms through which growth and redistribution can... →
Redistribution is part of the toolkit to promote growth
7th October 2014 A recent IMF study of several countries provides robust evidence that a high level of income inequality weakens the prospects of sustained economic... →
How inclusive is economic growth in South Africa?
10th September 2014 While everybody seems to favour the pursuit of inclusive growth, this concept is rarely clearly defined in the policy debate. Inclusive growth is... →
How the old age pension is helping young people from rural areas find jobs
31st July 2014 It is important to know whether a social grant such as the old age pension eases financial constraints in rural areas, thereby allowing young men... →
Do poor children really benefit from the child support grant?
10th July 2014 The child support grant has been praised as one of the government’s most successful anti-poverty programmes. The rapid extension of the grant... →
More financial aid is not the best way to close the racial gap in tertiary education
19th June 2014 South Africa’s large racial gap in enrolment in tertiary education can be attributed to the widely varying quality of primary and secondary... →
Poverty may have declined, but deprivation and poverty are still worst in the former homelands
27th May 2014 Former homeland areas continue to have significantly higher levels of deprivation and poverty than the rest of South Africa. Of all the former... →
Poverty may have declined, but women and female-headed households still suffer most
12th May 2014 Amidst a decline in general poverty rates since 2000, women and people living in female-headed households still are significantly worse off. Women... →
Enforcement and compliance: the case of minimum wages and mandatory contracts for domestic workers
14th April 2014 Given South Africa’s small formal labour market and high unemployment, it is important to know whether the regulation of an informal employment... →
