Econ3x3
Covid-19’s economic effects: tourism’s supply-chain impacts
13th August 2020 While the impact of the Covid-19 lock-down on the tourism sector may seem clear, the potential impact on its supply chain has not been... →
Finance and businesses in the time of Corona
1st April 2020 The lockdown and physical distancing measures of government impact small and medium-sized companies severely as they lack the financial reserves to... →
Soaring deficits and debt: restoring sustainability amidst low economic growth
24th February 2020 The debt burden of the national government has steadily increased from 27% in 2007. It is heading towards 70% in 2022/3 if this trajectory is not... →
Hiding in plain sight: high-value agriculture’s large-scale potential to grow jobs and exports
18th September 2019 South Africa has a major but overlooked opportunity to expand the production of high-value agricultural products that are both labour-intensive and... →
Socio-economic class in South Africa: playing snakes and ladders with loaded dice
13th August 2019 Experiences of poverty over time differ markedly. Out of four South Africans, two experience persistent poverty with few future prospects. Another... →
The informal economy: Is policy based on correct assumptions?
19th February 2019 We analyse the emphasis in informal-sector and informal-economy policy, highlighting who runs the risk of being missed. We then interrogate... →
Why has manufacturing employment declined so rapidly?
3rd October 2018 The manufacturing sector has performed poorly and employment has fallen sharply. Policy has tended to push manufacturing onto a more... →
The top 1% of incomes are increasing rapidly even with low economic growth
12th September 2018 We use tax data (which include accurate data for the very rich) to investigate the patterns of income growth over the period 2003 to 2016. Despite... →
Creating jobs, reducing poverty V: Is ‘formalising’ the informal sector the answer?
21st August 2018 This extract from a new REDI3x3 book proposes a constructive way to approach the possible ‘formalisation’ of the informal sector. A common impulse... →
Creating jobs, reducing poverty I: Why the informal sector should be taken seriously and enabled properly
26th July 2018 It is not uncommon to find researchers and commentators viewing informal-sector participants as being without aspirations or entrepreneurial... →
What affects job retention and job creation: reservation wages or reservation what?
2nd July 2018 Unemployment research typically inquires how to generate more jobs and how to keep workers working. Researchers often probe the reservation wage... →
Informal enterprise ownership: the importance of previous employment experience
12th June 2018 Enterprises in the informal sector are known to have a precarious existence. The economic value and survival of an informal enterprise depend on... →
The sudden jump in the unemployment rate in 2015: Is there a break in the QLFS data?
17th May 2018 This article argues that there is a time-series break in StatsSA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) in the first quarter of 2015. The principal... →
Does moving to a city mean a better life? New evidence
17th April 2018 Moving to a city in search of work seems to pay off for many poor people in the countryside. Data that track changes over time indicate that as... →
Meeting food security needs in very poor households in the Eastern Cape: the role of own agricultural production
8th February 2018 Small-scale agriculture evokes strong views in terms of both its current and potential roles in rural development. We examine how many (or few)... →
Poor land governance stifles rural development and have knock-on effects in urban areas
24th November 2017 Several researchers in the REDI3x3 project focused on poverty in rural areas in the Eastern Cape, which contains two former apartheid homelands,... →
Are we measuring poverty and inequality correctly? Comparing earnings using tax and survey data
4th October 2017 Calculating the earnings Gini coefficient with survey data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) may lead to an underestimation of... →
Reservation wages found in surveys can be very misleading
12th September 2017 The responses of unemployed workers to the typical survey question about their ‘lowest acceptable wages’ are susceptible to error and... →
Land and property rights: 'title deeds as usual' won’t work
25th August 2017 Renewed emphasis in policy discourses on systematic land titling to solve insecure tenure in South Africa is understandable. A staggering two... →
The Transkei Wild Coast: still waiting for something to happen
12th July 2017 The Wild Coast, in the former Transkei Bantustan, is characterised by natural beauty and great poverty. Since 1994 rural land administration has... →
Technology and minimum wages are likely to change the mix of capital and labour in industry
20th June 2017 While technology is making capital cheaper, policies like the national minimum wage will make labour more expensive. What does this mean for the... →
A job in the informal sector reduces poverty about as much as a job in the formal sector
30th May 2017 In the aggregate, earnings from jobs in the informal sector play a small role in reducing national poverty rates, especially because there are... →
‘You can’t bite the hand that feeds you’: Contracts between SME suppliers and the large supermarkets
10th May 2017 This article examines the implications of the contracts between the four main South African supermarkets and their SME suppliers. Supermarkets’... →
Innovative joint ventures can boost agricultural production and promote agrarian transformation
19th April 2017 Growing agriculture can reduce poverty, create economic opportunities in rural and peri-urban areas, and boost employment, particularly for semi-... →
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... →
